THE HENNA START-UP

Seventeen-year-old Abir Maqsood, a Muslim girl from Bangalore, India, has her life all planned out.

She hopes to ace her exams, study software engineering, and make her own life choices. Her conservative, working-class parents, keen to get her married off, think otherwise. When Abir’s mother, a part-time bridal henna artist, is cheated out of her full compensation, a seething Abir ensures the clients pay up. This success inspires her to want to continue helping her mother—and after Abir hears about an incubation program competition, she dreams up a henna service app for booking and prepayment. Executing this plan involves teaming up with her friend Keerthi, her crush, Sahil, and the annoying class Casanova, Arsalan. As the group presses on with an app prototype, Abir finds herself caught in a web of changing feelings, deception, lies—and her parents’ wishes. The fast-paced story skillfully tackles issues of class, societal constraints, and first brushes with romance with spirit and humor. Abir’s strength of conviction and belief in her abilities make her a likable, well-defined character. The writing paints a realistic and relatable portrait of barriers that girls from conservative families must deal with. Though the enemies-to-lovers trope is continually underscored, the book posits many thoughtful questions about societal restrictions and shows there is room for grace in shifting one’s perspective about oneself and others.

A delightfully inspiring story that champions loving yourself.