The Henna Wars

Nishat is a Bengali teenage girl whose family lives in Dublin, Ireland. Her younger sister Priti knows Nishat is a lesbian, but their parents have no idea. Likewise, none of Nishat's friends and peers at their all-girls Catholic secondary school know. After a family wedding where Nishat runs into an old friend, things get complicated, then convoluted, then ugly. Friendships are challenged, boundaries are toppled, and henna tubes are the weapon of choice.Fundamentally, The Henna Wars is about learning to own aspects of your identity others are quick to judge, and reconciling culture and faith of origin with queerness, embodying both simultaneously with pride and challenging assumptions about their capacity to coexist. Sometimes learning to accept yourself can be enough, even if others don't, and even if you wish they could.Don't let the pretty pink cover fool you, though; this is a pretty painful book. The protagonist deals with rejection from all fronts, but Nishat can be hard to root for at times. Sometimes her anger feels unjustified even though she may be right, and other times I felt she was wrongly blamed for abstract failings. In general, both the pacing and tone felt erratic to me. There's less an enemies to lovers trope and more just a hot and cold dynamic that neither readers nor characters can fully grasp. It's confusing and bad things keep piling up through the very end, which makes certain resolutions feel unconvincing and a bit too convenient. But if you enjoyed [b:The Hate U Give 32075671 The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1) Angie Thomas https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476284759l/32075671.SY75.jpg 49638190], [b:Here to Stay 38571446 Here to Stay Sara Farizan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519835672l/38571446.SY75.jpg 60180442], [b:I Wish You All the Best 41473872 I Wish You All the Best (I Wish You All the Best, #1) Mason Deaver https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1538483349l/41473872.SY75.jpg 61277384], or [b:A Very Large Expanse of Sea 38720939 A Very Large Expanse of Sea Tahereh Mafi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1558453377l/38720939.SY75.jpg 60301626], and you're prepared to read about a rough coming out experience, try The Henna Wars.