Status Updates From Artista Henna

So I looked at reviews-- hard not to notice that a lot of the reviews are written by Indians. It is perhaps obvious that while the author is Indian, she did not grow up in India. My basic knowledge of the place and time seem to also be more than hers...also, these characters all blend together.

I bet I could skip whole chapters (which are very long) and miss nothing.

I am worried that this book is neither plot nor character driven, but rather author driven and comes off as pandering. And I may not be an expect but I don't think people are just going around getting henna on the daily as this book seems to imply.

I am struggling with this book, I love the history of henna art and how colours are made!
The extreme shallow nature of the henna artist is off-putting for me.
Everything she does is to benefit herself. Would that really be how Indian people would be?
Would a henna artist who does this for a living really be that self-serving, almost manipulative in order to get money?