The Henna Wars

tws: racism, homophobia, intentional outing, bullying, a girl named chyna

oh... i'm a little disappointed. this is not to say that i didn't really enjoy this book but i didn't love it as much as i thought i would. i liked the murky relationship between nishat and flávia, but i felt like there should've been more. and the book gets so close to packing some punches towards racism, homophobia, and using religion as justification for homophobia, but it didn't quite get there either. a lot of issues wrapped up conveniently... but at least we got out HEA

however at the end of the day it's a wonderful story about a very hardheaded MC who just wants to be herself, despite the world telling her not to. fantastic representation and approaches to very real POC experiences. can't wait to see what adiba jaigirdar has in store next!