Funny, wholesome, rich, diverse—all things that describe The Henna Wars. This queer contemporary romance will make your heart flutter.
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I was so excited to read this book! An f/f romance YA novel with the rivals-to-lovers trope? Count me in!

The Henna Wars is funny and light, however, there are also moments that provoke emotions and keep the mind running. It’s the perfect balance for me! However, though the writing style is good, I can’t help but feel like something’s lacking. I kept waiting for something that will truly enthrall me.

Despite that, Nishat is a likeable and relatable main character and all throughout the book, I can’t help but feel for her. We see Nishat go through new feelings for this old friend and navigate the new, complicated relationship they found their selves in. We see her suffer through her parents’ conservative views. We see her deal with racist and ignorant schoolmates, we see her make mistakes and bad decisions. And we see her try to grasp the realness of her sexuality and the need to make her parents and other people realize that it’s still her and she hasn’t changed at all.

I also loved learning about the Bengali culture in this book—how Nishat’s family keeps their culture and tradition alive even though they’re not in Bangladesh anymore, and also how different lives and environment are.

The romance is good, although, I feel like Nishat fell for Flavia a little too fast. Not exactly insta-love, but she was quickly smitten. Although, maybe this is just me not liking the insta-love trope in general. In any case, the romance was cute and sweet (and of course, the tension!).

Bottom line is I really enjoyed reading this book and I just know others will, too!

Check out the book playlist I made for The Henna Wars here!

(This review was first published on Enthralled Bookworm as part of The Henna Wars Blog Tour.