“Impossible to put down.” – Kirkus, starred review Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat decide to … Flávia and Nishat decide to showcase their talent as henna artists. In a fight to prove who is the best, their lives become more tangled–but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush, especially since Flávia seems to like her back.
As the competition heats up, Nishat has a decision to make: stay in the closet for her family, or put aside her differences with Flávia and give their relationship a chance.
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Adiba Jaigirdar writes another story that is full of culture and great characters. After reuniting at a wedding, Nishat and Flavia find themselves head to head in a business competition. I enjoyed learning about henna and the details about the henna culture. I felt proud for Nishat to continue to stand up for herself with the continued familial pressures to not be true to herself. I look forward to more by this author!
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: The Henna Wars
: Adiba Jaigirdar
: 4/5
This book has a trigger warning, make sure you check that out before reading. This is one of the books I wanted to read for Pride month and I am so glad that I did. It also is one of the first F/F books I’ve read. It is just such a heartwarming and cute story whilst also talking about so many important topics and serious issues. That’s why I also feel like I learned a lot from this book. The book very easy to read and it was paced really well. The characters felt real and super complex and I think the character development is one of the best thing about the book. The characters make mistakes which sometimes is hard to read and feels annoying, but it does fit with the high school setting, so you can’t really blame the characters. It doesn’t focus as much on the romance as it does on the plot and I think this worked really well for this book. Overall, recommending this book to those who want to read a cute and sweet queer YA romance.
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So many feels in this book!! I felt literally everything. Happiness for so many reasons, sadness and frustration with familial responsibilities and expectations, anger for being wronged and dismissed, hopeful that things can work out in the end. The list goes on and on. I loved Nishat standing up for herself so much throughout the entire book. I loved how much she discovered about herself, and what she is capable of. So heartwarming, while also being extremely informative, and I loved how wrongdoings were pointed out and dealt with, without a ton of arguing or hateful feelings. And also, the food! Another book that left me feeling hungry and wanting to eat all the things!
Book 147 towards my goal of 290! 4/5 stars for this YA Contemporary read. A great coming of age story set in an all girls school. The girls have been tasked with creating a business, and the winner gets $1000! Deals with coming out, bullies, racism, and more! Love the cover. Narration was great. Highly recommend!
3.5 stars! There’s a lot I liked about this book, especially the depiction of culture, the fact that it’s own voices, the intersectionality, and the friend drama (that showed how friends work through shit and still support you) but the romance wasn’t my favorite. I’m excited to see queer, but especially sapphic middle grade, but I didn’t like Flavia for most of the book and so I wasn’t rooting for love the way I like to when I’m reading romance. I will say there’s some hard discussions, looking at racism and cultural appropriation, and growth, and I’m there for that, I just wish some of it had come sooner so that I could’ve rooted for their relationship longer!
Absolutely delightful cover, and charming contents, too. Nicely written / edited, which earns it the 5th star. The author is obviously far wiser than her 16-year-old main character, which made it interesting to experience the story as a grown-up who remembers the agonies of high school. Not that the author deviates from her character’s voice, but both perspectives are present in how the story is told. If that makes any sense!
Recommended for anyone interested in a sweet YA tale of queer teens in a multicultural environment.
Heartbreakingly beautiful! The title was the first thing that caught my eye. It’s been more than a year since I last wore henna on my hands or hair. And I suddenly missed it. Of course after reading the blurb, it was a no brainer! FF romance with rivals to lovers? It was made for me!!
The Henna Wars is both achingly familiar and different at the same time. Be it attending tons of weddings during holidays or eating with my hands or gossiping relatives or the idea of bringing shame on your family. The culture is so ingrained it almost feels like home. This book deals with so many important topics and I love that each one is given enough time.
As a lesbian and a South Asian, I’m really grateful this book exists. Nishant is incredibly realatable. I adore her relationship with her sister, Priti. Thei banter and support is amazing. Honestly everything in this book feels so real. Especially Nishant’s parents.
I would highly recommend this book. The romance, while important, is not really the main part the story. Nishant and Flávia are adorable together though. Also please heed the trigger warnings.
Trigger warnings for racism, homophobia, bullying and a character being outed.