The Henna Wars

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A part that really hit the nail on the head for me was when she said Flávia was making henna “adaptable for white people” and how people were fawning over her designs when they’d never been interested in Nishat wearing it before. I love that this book is opening the commentary on cultural appropriation in this way, showing how elements of a culture can be taken and only enjoyed by others only when taken out of its cultural context. I really like how the reason whycultural appropriation is bad is shown in this book through events and not just talk. I’ll admit, I was confused about the concept when I first heard of it as well. And I can see why people who take elements of other cultures and use it to make a profit would think that they’re doing others a favour. This one’s a hard one to review because I’m struggling a little to put my thoughts into coherent words. It was a super adorable book to read. I truly wanted to love this. But The Henna War was not the book for me. I was not particularly blown away in my reading experience. My first thoughts when I finished this book was: is that it? Nishat is outed very close to the end (I don’t want to put this in spoiler tags in case it’s triggering for some - I know many people don’t want to read books in which people are outed, and I don’t blame them!)

I am about to say something so heinous, so deeply upsetting, so profoundly unforgivable, that it may change the course of your life forever. The exposure to Bengali culture was awesome. The food, clothing, wedding ceremonies and pretty much everything else was very fun to read. She looks bewildered. “No, I’m… that’s…” She knits her eyebrows together, like she’s really thinking about this. “That is your name. I remember, you’re from Bangladesh. Ms. O’Donnell made you do a presentation about it in your first week in class and you were so embarrassed or shy or something that your entire face was on fire, and you stuttered through the whole presentation.” I love how precious is the sisters bond here. Without Priti, Nishat would really have had a bad time. One of those in which the little sister is more mature and life smart. there were some good things though! (help) i liked some discussions between nishat and her parents. nishat's sister bond with priti was sweet. i thought some romance moments were cute (very few) and i always love to see desi culture in books and relating to some of it.

Latin America

One thing I liked in this book was how the parents’ perspective was shown. Generally, we only see and talk about the main character’s experiences and struggles but we usually don’t ever get to really understand the parents or where they’re coming from. the love story The Henna Wars was published May 12, 2020 in the United States and October 2021 in the United Kingdom. The book follows Nishat, a Bangladeshi teenager who comes out as a lesbian while in high school. Flávia is gorgeous and outgoing—she is the girl of Nishat’s dreams. Unfortunately, their mutual attraction is put on hold when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses because both Nishat and Flávia have declared themselves as henna artists. Nishat and Flávia have become rivals because they want to prove who is the best henna artist but they can’t deny the fact that they are drawn to each other.

One of my favourite things about this book is the side characters and their importance in the progression of the story and the growth of the main character. I really love when stories have positive sibling relationships, and I loved the relationship between Nishat and her little sister Priti.

a b c Narang, Nimarta (30 June 2020). "Author Interview: Adiba Jaigirdar of 'The Henna Wars' ". Brown Girl Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 January 2022 . Retrieved 30 January 2022.