Review: The Henna Wars

Out this week, The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar follows the story of Nishat, a Muslim girl who just came out to her parents. As she struggles to figure out how to win her parents’ acceptance, she also enters a business competition in school. She decides to create a henna business. As does her crush, Flávia. A part of her own culture, Nishat is desperate to win. But she just can’t get Flávia out of her head.

As her young adult debut, Jaigirdar captures a culture that isn’t often represented in the young adult world. We get to see first hand how Nishat struggles with balancing her culture and her sexual identity. There’s a lot of emotion included in this book, as Nishat tries to date and attempts to make her parents understand her identity. Not only do the characters make this story, but the plot line is unique as well. The book itself becomes a little of an enemies to lovers story line, accented by the art of henna.

The Henna Wars also includes a lot of discussion about how to use elements and traditions from other cultures. What Flávia originally thinks is harmless (in using henna) actually hurts Nishat because it’s a part of her culture. Jaigirdar doesn’t shy away from these difficult discussions, making this book all the more important.

In the end, you don’t want to leave these characters when the book ends. Definitely a perfect read for those who want a little romance thrown in with a friendly competition. The book itself is also designed beautifully, with henna images scattered throughout. (5/5 stars)

Book Information

The Henna Wars

by Adiba Jaigirdar
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Release Date: May 12th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, LGBT, Contemporary, Queer

Synopsis:

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this rom com about two teen girls with rival henna businesses.

When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants—as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she also doesn’t want to lose her relationship with her family. And her life 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 choose to do henna, even though Flávia is appropriating Nishat’s culture. Amidst sabotage and school stress, their lives get more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush on Flávia, and realizes there might be more to her than she realized.

Book Links

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/44286258

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3a8XIHV

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-henna-wars-adiba-jaigirdar/1132911539?ean=9781624149689

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-henna-wars

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Adiba_Jaigirdar_The_Henna_Wars?id=WYCoDwAAQBAJ

Author Information

Adiba Jaigirdar is a Bangladeshi/Irish writer and teacher who lives in Dublin, Ireland. She has an MA in Postcolonial Studies from the University of Kent, England and a BA in English and History from UCD, Ireland.