The Henna Wars

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Saunders, Molly (1 April 2020). "The Henna Wars". School Library Journal . Retrieved 30 January 2022. There were a couple of less strong points. Some of the plot turns were glaringly obvious many chapters in advance, such as Ali being the one who sent the text and Chaewon and Jess winning the competition, but I'm not sure that knowing that really weakens the overall story. I didn't totally buy into her Ammu spinning what seemed like homophobia into just not wanting Nishat to feel anger and shame like she did, though I did appreciate her efforts to educate herself about LGBTQIA+ people. I also thought it was strange that we never got an update on her Nanu. After immigrating to Ireland at age 10, Jaigirdar attended an all-girls Catholic school. [4] She has a Bachelor of Arts in English and History from the University of Kent, as well as a Master of Arts in Postcolonial Studies from University College Dublin. [2] [4] Career [ edit ] While the homophobia Nishat experiences from her own parents is inexcusable and of course parents should always have unconditional love and be there for their children no matter what, it is truly a deeper problem than her parents being bad people. It is more than just an individual issue of homophobia but also stems from the overbearing pressure of the community. i definitely expected this book to be cuter and less angsty, so when a ton of bad things just kept happening to the main character, it wasn’t great. but i think that’s generally just the way contemporaries go, and it works for some of them, but in this book it felt sort of manufactured? like, especially when priti lashed out, that was really surprising and it didn’t seem to me like she had a great reason to do that.

This book had so many different important conversations in it, such as: Bullying, cultural appropriation, homophobia, and racism. These are such important topics to be discussed especially in a young adult novel and I absolutely loved that aspect of the book. The characters were so well written too and felt fully developed to me and even their dialogue was so accurate to a 16 year old. It really made them feel like such real characters for me. I also love how although this book can be seen as just a competition between rival businesses, it actually is more about Nishat’s journey to loving herself and being happy with everything that makes her who she is. It was such a beautiful growth story and the contrast between the start of the book and the ending was just amazing to read. Definitely brought some tears to my eyes and I just loved it so much. Would highly recommend, such a beautiful book. This book is also set in Ireland, so I absolutely loved understanding all of the locations and references. Paxson, Caitlyn (30 June 2020). "Mermaids, Werewolves And Witches: Welcome Summer With These 6 New YA Novels". NPR . Retrieved 30 January 2022. Jaigirdar identifies as a queer Muslim woman of color. [4] [5] [6] Like characters from her novel Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating, Jaigirdar "has been told that parts of her identity cancel out others and couldn't exist in the same person." [7] Her writing is now inspired by her history and with hopes that young Muslim people of color can embrace their queer identities. [7] [8] Education [ edit ]I found it difficult to reconcile queerness with Muslimness when I was growing up' – Adiba Jaigirdar on growing up in Ireland". independent . Retrieved 30 January 2022. Like, I’m Chinese-Australian and there were aspects of the novel that I could relate to, such as say people being racist even if they weren’t aware of it or perhaps having a family that may have conservative views on certain things. I do remember that presentation. It was my first week in school, my first month in the country. Everything was still new and everyone’s words blurred together in an accent I couldn’t yet understand.

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.

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What a stunning debut. I hoped this book would be good but I didn't expect it to be extraordinary. I read this book in one sitting and stayed up until 2am to finish it. These are only minor quibbles, though. I really do highly recommend it. It contains themes that should interest even adult readers, but is also clean and simple enough for younger readers (as long as you're okay with mild profanity like "shit"). It's several important lessons wrapped up in a heartwarming romance. 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 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.

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.I’ll start by saying I loved Nishat. This probably doesn’t mean much, but it’s so rare for me to like the main character. Despite all the wrongdoings that were done to her, Nishat never gave up and was always steadfast in her decisions. To have a main character that felt real, believable and authentic without being annoying just made it easy to follow her journey. And also Nishat’s relationship with her sister was so sweet. Seriously! This book made me realise how much more I wanted to see strong sibling relationships in books rather than only children, or family reduced to minor mentions. Jaigirdar was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, [2] then alternated between living in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh as a child. [3] At age ten, she and her family immigrated to Tullamore, Ireland; [3] she has lived in the Dublin region ever since. [2] a b c d Khan, Mariam (16 June 2021). " 'I didn't know Asian people could be queer - I hope my book helps other Muslims' ". Metro . Retrieved 30 January 2022. I enjoyed reading about certain elements of Bengali culture as I don’t actually believe I’ve read a book by an author originally from Bangladesh, which is sort of wild, but it’s true - and it shows that so many more stories from cultures around the world need to be told, and then once they are told, people need to give those stories a voice and a platform so that the people that need those stories can experience them.

I am truly in awe of how many faces and layers of racism this book explored very efficiently and tactfully. We have examples of how easily it is for people to turn on you and how even you friends won’t necessarily defend you, we see how people do not like when POC voice their pain and concerns, forever trying to silence us by telling us we are overreacting and when they get uncomfortable, we’re “playing the race card.” Priti was another character that stood out to me. She is Nishat's supportive sister and ohh to have her as my sister and sell the one currently sleeping on the couch to circus bears. 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. the writing felt incredibly childish at points and remained consistently bland. there was something so weird about it that made it difficult for me to feel connected to the story and characters. and i think it comes down to the fact that nishat's narrative voice came across as incredibly juvenile and it was hard to look past considering this is...YA? I can’t deny my expectations for this book were high and it just about delivered. I enjoyed the story a lot, but the finished product didn’t exactly give me what I thought it would. I was looking forward to in-depth dives into cultural appropriation, a Sapphic enemies to lovers romance, and just a story generally dealing with the aftermath of coming out. I still got one of those things, so that’s still decent but this book felt like it could've been so much more.There are two relationships that Nishat has that really stand out to me, the ones with Flávia, her crush, and Priti, her sister. The romance is so sweet and you want them to be together so much, and throughout the story Nishat wonders, Does Flávia like girls? Can I get together with my business rival who’s appropriating my culture? But even though the romance is a big part of the novel, it also doesn’t overtake Nishat’s own personal development, which I loved! a b "Adiba Jaigirdar's The Henna Wars Was Inspired by a Trip to Bangladesh". We Need Diverse Books. 28 May 2020 . Retrieved 30 January 2022. Sorry?” is all I can say, though there are a million other things I could have said that would have made me seem a little more charming and a little less dumbfounded. She stated that she found it "difficult to reconcile queerness with Muslimness[ sic]" when she was growing up, and that this influenced her portrayal of identity and sexuality in the book. [6] While writing the novel, Jaigirdar tried to avoid Islamophobic stereotypes, particularly the portrayal of Muslims as homophobic and intolerant. She said that "I knew that this was the context I was writing in, so I wanted to be careful about how I portrayed sexuality, and its acceptance or rejection within Nishat’s family." [3]