Welcome to Litsy!

Two girls in the same Catholic high school in Dublin—one the daughter of Muslim Bengali immigrants and the other with a black Brazilian mother & a white Irish father—have competing henna businesses. And the hots for each other. But being out as queer is a problem for religious & cultural reasons. Drama ensues. My emotions were engaged, despite my impatience with the frequency of stomach butterflies. Audio read by Priya Ayyar #LGBTQ YA #OwnVoices

It doesn‘t seem like much but sometimes just being yourself, really truly yourself, can be the most difficult thing to be.

This book deals with homophobia, racism, bullying, and xenophobia whilst being a uplifting and gentle read. Nothing was glossed over and it felt realistic. The ending was positive and affirming and a little bit messy.

The relationship between the two sisters was done so well and was such a joy to read. Loved the entire book.

This is an interesting book & I love the plot & character relationships. It also does a good job of representing Nishat‘s emotions as she deals with bullying, homophobia, love, & racism. Her refusal to be flexible with her friends on their business was a little tough to be sympathetic about. I liked her determination, & thought it would be cool for her friends to support her idea, but she really did steamroll their ideas without a thought.

I finished this book a few days ago and I really enjoyed. It was nice to see such a happy ending which I always love! I am definitely going to read more sapphic books and am going to order more by this without. A perfect introduction to Sapphic and for YA‘s
I gave this book 4 stars ✨
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#book #books #bookshelf #read #reading #sapphic #lgbt #lgbtq

Today I finished my first ever sapphic read in just 3 days and it‘s fair to say I was pleasantly surprised and I cannot wait to read more sapphic fiction. Review in the post to follow!
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#book #books #bookshelf #bookly #read #reading #stats #statistics #bookstats #readingstats #sapphic #lgbt #lgbtq

Time to start my 1st Sapphic Book Journey. Please be good! #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtq+ #lesbian #sapphic #book #books #bookshelf #read #reading

July #BookSpin (whoohoo!)+ bk8:
I could see this being an important book for some young person in its depiction of a 16 year old Bangladeshi girl who comes out to her (Muslim) family as gay, and how she deals with discrimination and cultural appropriation in her all-girls Irish school. And, yes, that‘s A LOT; sometimes I found it a little overwhelming! #queer #readdiversebooks

Great book! I loved the story line and the characters. It seems tense in the beginning it at the end it‘s heartwarming. My one thing is that there were some conversations in different languages that seemed kind of important when I put them through google translate. And it didn‘t really make sense that they were speaking French because they‘re in Ireland??? And non of them are French??? 4.5⭐️

@Andrew65 is hosting his choose your own goals readathon. Pick your goals and join #NutsinMay!

These are the books I hope to start and finish by the end.

Thanks Andrew for hosting! Hope we can help lift you out of your slump.

This book covered so much ground with such heart: two girls find themselves crushing on each other while setting up competing henna businesses. I wish I‘d read it instead of listening as the narrator didn‘t do justice to the book‘s Dublin setting.

What I liked about this was that all the characters are so emotive. Jaigirdar writes relationship dynamics extremely well, so you don‘t end up only caring what will happen between 1 or 2 people but about lots of relationships, not all of which even involve the main characters.
This book handles a lot of heavy topics. I think the way they‘re woven into the plot is overt & heavy handed-they basically are the plot. But once she‘s jumped into them⬇️⬇️

#foodandlit
In my latest impulse read one of the main characters house‘s is filled with art on the walls because she and her mother both love to paint. The girl‘s mother is from Brazil, so many of the artists are Brazilian. A scene where she tells a friend, who hasn‘t seen much art before, the names of some of the painters gracing her wall, had me off down an internet rabbit hole looking up Brazilian artists. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

This book is able to tackle serious themes while still maintaining softness and comedy. I enjoyed the relationship between Nishat and her sister; they fight but still manage to be there for each other. I also appreciate the way @dibs_j talks about microaggressions, racism, homophobia, and cultural appropriation. The GR blurb pitches this as When Dimple Met Rishi x Simon vs. but I want to add that this reminded me a bit of Felix Ever After. #ya

Read as part of the Dragons and Tea Book Club

Interesting and cute book, gave me alot of feelings 5/5

*TW for racism & homophobia*

Oof, can a book be cute & tough at the same time? Nishat is Bengali, Irish, Muslim, queer, & a teen girl, & so is constantly made to feel like she belongs nowhere. Conversations with friends & loved ones were often heartbreaking. I adored her sister, who was the exact right amount of silly & loving. The romance was also cute, but felt kind of secondary to Nishat learning to come into her own, despite everything. ★★★★☆

This book. ❤️❤️❤️ I have always been partial to YA books, but wow—some of the YA releases in the past year or so have blown me away. Highly recommend this one!

5/5 I really loved the way this book talks about cultural appropriation versus appreciation as well as the romance of two girls in an all white school. Plus it is so cute and queer🥰

Y'all this book filled my heart up with joy, broke it, then filled it back up again. Nishat and Flàvia go head to head in a school business competition with rival henna stand--but cultural appropriation, feelings, and school rumors start to make things get out of hand. Adorable, affirming, and just an all-around great read from a fellow Rioter, which just makes it even better.

5 stars / ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"I'm like your emotional support...sister."

@sebrittainclark is this you?

A little sunday reading and iced coffee

Really cute story about a girl trying to deal with her identity when her school finds out she likes girls. The Henna Wars deals with family, sisters, friendship and relationships.

Morning reading

Afternoon plans

Books and puppy snuggles

Dinner reading

Art by Harsh Malik. This was an amazing book about a teenage, Bengali/Desi girl named Neeshat who lives in Ireland with her family. If you read one YA book about coming out, multiculturalism, and the growing pains that lead to the strength to be yourself no matter what happens, this should be it. There is a sisterhood in here that will melt your heart. It‘s well written. All the henna stars. I honestly just wish it had a better cover. Pick!!!

The audio is a little odd since its set in Ireland but everyone sounds American.
Could be used for #RippedBodiceBingo Debut Novel.
Content note: bullying, forced outing

CUTE CUTE CUTE. I loved reading about these girls from different worlds fall in love. I fell in love with their bravery and the way they stand up for each other. What a cool way to portray cultural dilemmas on a small scale - in a henna competition at a high school! The heartbreak and teenage drama was real here, folks. And I loved it.

#Two4Tuesday

This week is dragging a bit... hopefully reading this really sweet and uplifting book will help!

1. I really miss bookstores and libraries, just being around books without having to talk to anyone, just hiding in corners with books.
2. I haven‘t read as much as I would like to over the past couple years, but all the extra time has brought me back to reading - I love getting back into it! ❤️

https://bookriot.com/2020/03/05/sweet-spring-romances/

Some arcs, some library books, some TBR

Dying over the cover for Adiba Jaigirdar's debut novel

https://bookriot.com/2019/11/12/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-the-henna-wars-by-adiba...