The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar - Book Review [Blog Tour] ⋆ Wonderfully Bookish

Title: The Henna Wars
Author: Adiba Jaigirdar
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
Cover: Illustrated by Nabigal-Nayagam Haider Ali and designed by Molly Gillespie
Date Published: January 7, 2021
Genre: YA Contemporary, LGBTQ+

Date Read: December 30, 2020
Format: Paperback

Note: The links below are affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission on any purchase you make. Thanks!

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The Henna Wars Synopsis

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 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 lives 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?

Book Title by Author – Review

Please note: This book has content warnings for racism, homophobia, bullying, a character being outed. There’s a full list of warnings in the front of the book.

The Henna Wars has been on my radar for a while now, but since it wasn’t published yet in the UK, I didn’t have a chance to read it – until now! I found out that the book is being released here on 7th January 2021 (just a few days away at the time of writing), and I want to thank Hodder for asking me to be a part of the blog tour. In fact, I’m kicking off the tour! See at the end of this post for the list of bloggers taking part in the tour.

The Story

Nishat knows she is a lesbian but when she feels brave enough to tell her parents, their reaction isn’t exactly positive: they believe she can’t be a Muslim and a lesbian. At a family wedding, Nishat is unexpectedly reunited with Flávia, a Brazilian girl she went to primary school with, and realises she has a huge crush on her.

On top of dealing with her parents’ rejection of her sexuality and her new crush, Nishat is challenged with taking part in a school business project. She decides to set up a henna business — but when she discovers Flávia is setting up a henna business too, it throws a spanner in the works. What can Nishat do when she realises Flávia is appropriating her culture? And that she’s also related to — and is working with — a girl that has bullied Nishat for years?

The Henna Wars is a fun, light-hearted story, but it also brings in some very important and often hard-hitting themes and plot points. Some of the main themes were rejection after coming out, cultural appropriation, and racism. I haven’t read many YA books that deal with the theme of cultural appropriation, so this was a great introduction.

Cultural Appropriation & Racism

It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between cultural appropriation and appreciation (this YouTube video by Shaaba is a great discussion about this), and The Henna Wars was a great way to learn about this. It comes in the form of Flávia setting up her own henna business for her school project, despite not being Bangladeshi. Nishat tries to explain that this isn’t appropriate because she’s using something that is a large part of Nishat’s culture, and that just because it’s an art form, it doesn’t mean anyone can do it.

One good thing to come out of this is the character development and Flávia’s realisation that her views are flawed, and that she’s also been distancing herself from her own culture due to trying to fit in with her white family members. It also turns out that Flávia’s cousin, whether she realises it or not, has been racist towards Nishat and others – for example, she constantly jokes about Nishat’s Bangladeshi heritage, especially the food she eats, and this leads to others bullying her too.

These themes of racism and cultural appropriation lead to some great discussions between the characters and it could potentially encourage readers to think more deeply about their own views too. I was so happy that Nishat and her friends found the strength they needed to stand up for themselves.

Other Characters: Priti, Chaewon, and Jess

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.

Priti was the first person Nishat told about being a lesbian, and she’s incredibly supportive and loving. She gives me the impression that she adores her older sister and she sees her as a real role model. She’s the first person to come to her defence, to help her with her business, and to make sure she’s okay. They have their low points too, and it’s these low points that make their relationship more realistic and special.

Nishat’s friends, Chaewon and Jess, are great too, and similar to Priti, they also have their low points – but the way they temporarily drift apart due to miscommunication feels so real and natural. They’re perfect friends for Nishat because they’re supportive and add to her strength and ability to stand up for herself, but they also don’t let her get away with some of her not-so-great decisions in their friendship.

Side characters can make or break a book, and all of the characters in this book, including Nishat’s parents, Flávia’s family, and even smaller characters like the teachers and Nishat’s fellow students who come to support her business, add so much depth to the story.

Final Thoughts

YA is so often overlooked by people who don’t go near it, especially contemporary YA, for being fluffy or pointless in the literary world, and that view makes me so mad. Because when you get a gem of a book like The Henna Wars, which not only covers important topics that everyone should learn about like cultural appropriation and racism, but also tells a fun, lovely story featuring LGBTQ characters, how can you overlook it?!

One thing that makes me love The Henna Wars even more is that the characters actually get a happy ending — and if you know anything about the “bury your gays” trope, you’ll know this is unfortunately something that doesn’t happen as often as it should.

If you want to read The Henna Wars, it comes out in the UK on 7th January – you can find some links to buy a copy at the top of this post! Make sure you check out the rest of the bloggers on the tour this week, too!