Review: The Henna Wars, Adiba Jaigirdar

I’m going to review The Henna Wars today, a young adult contemporary that perfectly balances heavy themes and soft moments, about identity, figuring out who you are, family and more.

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
Published by Hodder Children's Books on January 7, 2021
Genres: contemporary, romance
Format: Paperback
Buy on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Blackwell's
Goodreads

Nishat's parents say she can be anyone she wants - as long as she isn't a lesbian. She doesn't want to lose her family, but she also doesn't want to hide who she is, which only gets harder once Flávia walks into her life.
Beautiful and charismatic, Flávia takes Nishat's breath away. But as their live become tangled, they're caught up in a rivalry that gets in the way of any feelings they might have for each other.
Can Nishat find a way to be true to herself... and find love too?

☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS:

racism, homophobia, bullying, character being outed, cultural appropriation.

☂️ DIVERSITY:Bangladeshi-Irish Muslim and Lesbian main character, Brazilian-Irish and Bisexual main character, side Korean character.

There are no spoilers in this review.

This blog post contains affiliate links. If you buy something on my recommendation, I will receive a small commission. Purchasing via these links will not cost you any extra and will help me cover the costs of book blogging. You will find more info on my privacy policy and disclaimer pages. Thank you!

I ENJOYED…

☂️

• I’ve been wanting to read The Henna Wars for a little while now. A lot of blogging friends have been recommending it and loving it and I knew I could, too. I’m really glad I jumped in because it was such a lovely, important read.
• This is the story of Nishat, a Bangladeshi-Irish Muslim teenager coming out to her parents as a lesbian. The thing is: they don’t take it well, at all. Between feeling like she’s denied this gigantic part of her identity from her own family, trying to survive high school, the racism and bullying there AND handling a business competition that takes a wrong turn… you’re in for quite a ride.
• This book is, more often than not, promoted as an f/f hate to love relationship and I have to say that it’s not exactly that. It’s more of a business rivals-to-more relationship. Nishat and Flávia meet at a wedding in the summer and find themselves against each other in a school business competition, each of them wanting their own henna business to win. The relationship between the girls is ever-changing, from tentative friends to enemies, to growing closer to each other again.. While it seemed like, at times, there were a lot of ups and downs, hot and cold kind of moments, I felt like this was a realistic depiction of what can be a complex relationship to figure out, especially in those circumstances.
• In addition to the competition and the relationship growing and changing between the two girls, this book also explored cultural appropriation with this plot line, something I really appreciated.
• Most of it all, The Henna Wars is a story about identity, coming out, embracing who you are and facing your family’s rejection. Nishat’s parents are very conservative and having a hard time with their own daughter following a different path. While I personally can’t speak about any of the representation in the book, I can say that I really enjoyed seeing the growing relationship between Nishat’s and her parents as they try to come to terms with her sexual identity.

• The best thing about The Henna Wars is, for me, the sisters’ relationship. I just found it so pure and adorable and god, I adored them together most of it all. I thought that the siblings bonds were absolutely excellent, the support they show each other, the fights they get into, the ups and downs of their relationship felt so realistic. I just wanted to hug them both, I loved them so much.

I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…

☂️

• I was a little disappointed by the writing style, to be honest. This is entirely personal, of course, but the simplistic writing, while it made me flew through the pages, sometimes made me feel like I wasn’t connected enough to the main character and… I craved more, in a sense. If that makes any sense, at all?

OVERALL

☂️

The Henna Wars is such an important read that I hope many more readers will pick up, relate to and find comfort in, too. I ended up having a lovely time with those characters, fell for the strong siblings relationships and rooted for everything to be okay. Recommending it!

FINAL RATING : 4 drops!

📌 Pin the book review of The Henna Wars, by Adiba Jaigirdar on Pinterest!

📚 Books similar to The Henna Wars that I’d recommend:

• For great hate-to-love f/f romance with a movie competition, try I Think I Love You, by Auriane Desombre.
• For a little bit of rivalty between families and romance blooming in between, try Verona Comics, by Jennifer Dugan.
• For more f/f romances but in fantasy worlds, try Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust or We Set The Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Meija.

Did you read The Henna Wars or do you want to? What’s the latest YA book with a great romance you read and enjoyed? Let me know in comments!

Twitter ☂️ Bookstagram ☂️Goodreads ☂️ Bloglovin’ ☂️ Support the blog