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A review by apireading
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
5.0
** this ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
You know what I love the most? A really good queer love story. This one has it all.
The Henna Wars follows the young Nishat who has to land a business project for High School and decide to commercialize her passion for henna art.
The narrative of the story is told by Nishat’s mind, allowing us to get to know the real issues she is struggling with which are her coming out to her parents, the racism in school, the homophobia, and the cultural appropriation her the henna by her main competitor, Flavia.
More than a love story, The Henna Wars deals with many subjects with wisdom and relevance: the look upon the Bengali community is never judgmental nor critical despite the homophobic contents.
Homosexuality is a real issue among the children of immigrant parents: no one will react the same because of their own story, their own history, their social backgrounds, their cultures, their religion. I’m so glad that we can have more and more books about this in YA literature. It reminded me of a book I loved in 2019 which is called ‘The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali’ by Sabina Khan which is also an excellent book about being gay in the Bengali community.
Being gay is complicated, and it’s even more complicated when you are already facing racism on the daily basis. Not only Nishat is struggling to be accepted by her own parents, but she must face her nemesis Chyna, a white racist and homophobic girl. She is extremely brave and courageous, and I loved her for that. She is a true heroine.
The problematic of cultural appropriation is very well shown: it’s never never (…) never a good “homage” or “artistic inspiration” but it simply is a perverse form of racism. The author presents the subject with a critical eye but a pedagogical approach in order to explain that’s is not right, whether you mean well or not.
One of the most refreshing things about this book is the glorious and adorable relationship between Nishat and her younger sister Priti. They are fusional, they support each other no matter what, protect each other, and have each other back in time of need. Family is everything you want it to be. For Nishat, her sister is what makes her whole and it made my heart melt.
Also, thumbs up for that amazing scene in French class, as a French reader I loved it and it made me laugh so damn much!
[rep : Asian (Bengali) PP, latinx (Brazilian) PP, PP bi, PP lesbian, ownvoice]
[TW are printed inside the book but here there are : homophobia, racism, cultural appropriation, bullying, a character being outed]
You know what I love the most? A really good queer love story. This one has it all.
The Henna Wars follows the young Nishat who has to land a business project for High School and decide to commercialize her passion for henna art.
The narrative of the story is told by Nishat’s mind, allowing us to get to know the real issues she is struggling with which are her coming out to her parents, the racism in school, the homophobia, and the cultural appropriation her the henna by her main competitor, Flavia.
More than a love story, The Henna Wars deals with many subjects with wisdom and relevance: the look upon the Bengali community is never judgmental nor critical despite the homophobic contents.
Homosexuality is a real issue among the children of immigrant parents: no one will react the same because of their own story, their own history, their social backgrounds, their cultures, their religion. I’m so glad that we can have more and more books about this in YA literature. It reminded me of a book I loved in 2019 which is called ‘The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali’ by Sabina Khan which is also an excellent book about being gay in the Bengali community.
Being gay is complicated, and it’s even more complicated when you are already facing racism on the daily basis. Not only Nishat is struggling to be accepted by her own parents, but she must face her nemesis Chyna, a white racist and homophobic girl. She is extremely brave and courageous, and I loved her for that. She is a true heroine.
The problematic of cultural appropriation is very well shown: it’s never never (…) never a good “homage” or “artistic inspiration” but it simply is a perverse form of racism. The author presents the subject with a critical eye but a pedagogical approach in order to explain that’s is not right, whether you mean well or not.
One of the most refreshing things about this book is the glorious and adorable relationship between Nishat and her younger sister Priti. They are fusional, they support each other no matter what, protect each other, and have each other back in time of need. Family is everything you want it to be. For Nishat, her sister is what makes her whole and it made my heart melt.
Also, thumbs up for that amazing scene in French class, as a French reader I loved it and it made me laugh so damn much!
[rep : Asian (Bengali) PP, latinx (Brazilian) PP, PP bi, PP lesbian, ownvoice]
[TW are printed inside the book but here there are : homophobia, racism, cultural appropriation, bullying, a character being outed]