When Nishat comes out to her parents, and their reaction is less than desirable, she's left devastated and confused. She gets a chance to distract herself with a school business competition and she opens up a henna business which lets her celebrate her culture and cherish memories of her grandmother at the same time. The only problem is, new girl Flavia and Nishat's school crush, also starts her own henna business and doesn't seem to care that's cultural appropriation.

This was a lovely book to read, and I'm so glad it was our group pick for The Irish Readathon 2021. I loved seeing the story of a young Muslim girl in Ireland going through a lot of the trials and tribulations of what it's like to be a teenager and have to deal with parental expectations, horrible school peers and crushes in a way that sometimes feels like the end of the world.

I really felt for Nishat a lot in this book particularly for her sadness around her parents' reaction to her being gay. However, I really liked how that particular point was explored throughout the book and there were some real 'lump in the throat' moments for me as her parents opened up to learning and accepting and loving their daughter for exactly who she was.

I will admit it took a while for Flavia to warm up for me, and I don't really know if I was 100% Team Flavia by the end, though I did understand some of her reasoning for going along with her cousin Chyna (horrible), and her own struggles with her identity as an Irish-Brazilian girl. I hated seeing some of the horrible school behaviour in this, and I felt ashamed that people in an Irish school (Catholic or not) would behave the way some of the girls here did because of someone's sexuality. I probably, naively, like to think that things would be better and different in real life as the teens of today are so 'woke' and I like to think gender identity and sexuality isn't as much of an issue now for people, and anyone blatantly homophobic would be called out. But I also haven't been in a school setting in 10+ years so I have no idea what it's like now.

One of the things I loved the most in this book was the sister relationship between Nishat and Priti. It was so lovely to see how they supported and loved each other throughout everything, and that they were not just sisters but best friends. They had their arguments but they made up swiftly like all sibling ups and downs.

I definitely recommend this as a lovely YA book that looks at some serious issues while also delivering some heartwarming moments. I can't wait for Adiba's next book!