La Furia fights for the ball with fire and passion but most importantly, fights for her family and believing in what she wants, even if she has to hide it from her family.

Camila Hassan, a 17 year old soccer star in Rosario, Argentina hides her love for fútbol from her short-tempered father and her strict

Book: Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: September 15, 2020
(Thank you Algonquin Young Readers for a physical ARC in exchange for an honest review)
Tags: Young adult, sports, romance
Links: Goodreads | Ebook | Paperback | Hardback | Audio
Read: September 6, 2020 to September 8, 2020

Welcome to my review for the Furia blog tour!

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In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life.

At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father.

On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university.

But the path ahead isn’t easy. Her parents don’t know about her passion. They wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol—and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn’t have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren’t the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her.

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Spoiler free review

La Furia fights for the ball with fire and passion but most importantly, fights for her family and believing in what she wants, even if she has to hide it from her family.

Camila Hassan, a 17 year old soccer star in Rosario, Argentina hides her love for fútbol from her short-tempered father and her strict and narrow expectations mother. It’s not until her fútbol team qualifies for the South American tournament and is deemed La Furia on the field and her first love comes back, does her life start to spin.

I gave Furia five stars, believing every step of the way that Camila could find her way to shine through her love of fútbol and tell her family that she wants to play, not just for fun, but for her future. Her story showed me as a reader that you have to fight hard for your passions and dreams the way Camila did with fútbol. Her life is filled with complications and we could see throughout the book that she is working hard to make her family happy even if that means she has to hide what she loves.

No matter what, Camila held her head high even through complications with her family and with fútbol. Even when her first love, Diego, comes back to Rosario, she must hide her feelings for him from her parents and brother which causes tension between her and her family.

This book pushed me to realize that many families have similar problems like Camila’s and many young teenagers had to hide their identities from their family because it wasn’t allowed or was frowned upon their religion/society/family. Camila had to hide her love of fútbol because her parents thought it was unladylike to play.

I love the way Camila was a strong character and was mature and responsible throughout the book. She was a powerful main character that showed that you don’t have to constantly rely on other people to be able to achieve your goal. She didn’t give up her dream to fall in love with Diego who she loves, or give it up because her parents forced her to. She was headstrong and followed her own dreams at her own standards.

Furia doesn’t paint a picture perfect world, but a realistic world through the eyes of Camila. Her family isn’t very well off and that forced her to deal with domestic abuse and her misogynistic father who is money hungry. Her brother is forced to be the star of the family and we are given information to his true feelings throughout the book. Her mother doesn’t want her to think about fútbol but become something that could better provide their family, make her father happy.

Furia pushes readers to look at the hopeful side of the book, even through the negative feelings you might feel during the book. I rooted for Camila throughout the book, I rooted for Diego and I rooted for her mother and her brother, because even though I could not relate to their situation or Camila’s, the story of their family and Camila’s journey as La Furia made me feel hopeful that their story got the ending it deserved.

Thank you again to Algonquin Young Readers for providing me a physical ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I hope you guys have a great day, please like and comment down below if you enjoyed this book as well or if you plan on reading it!

Loves,

Honey Roselea Reads