Can’t-Wait Wednesday | The Henna Wars

Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings where bloggers share the books they can’t wait for. I use it here on my blog to highlight an upcoming release I’m excited for and tell you why it should be on your TBR!

Title: The Henna Wars

Author: Adiba Jaigirdar

Publisher: Page Street Kids

Release date: May 12, 2020

Goodreads Summary: “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.“

• I basically live for f/f romances, and the fact that this one is between two girls of color is even better in my book
• We definitely need more YA books that address cultural appropriation
• Rivals to lovers is one of my favorite romance tropes
• The Muslim, queer, and Bangladeshi rep are all #OwnVoices! I am always looking for intersectionally diverse books to read and purchase for my library
• Okay, seriously, that cover! Illustrated covers with queer girls of color are my literal weakness.

• Because you should be supporting #OwnVoices books by queer & Muslim authors!
• It’s being marketed as When Dimple Met Rishi meets Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which sounds literally perfect
• We should all be reading more books that center queer, POC, and Muslim voices. Especially if you’re a white reader, you should be reading and listening to voices like Adiba’s!
• Honestly, don’t we all need a queer rom-com right now?

 

Is The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar on your TBR?