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karyboobooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is just… I have no words for the way this book took me back to memories of playing fútbol as a little girl in Colombia & the emotions that came with it. Although the books takes place in Argentina, the descriptions of the houses, streets, views, vendors, children asking for help/donations in buses & other things felt soooo much like being taken back home to Colombia. These are truly things that you couldn’t explain to someone who hadn’t experienced them first hand.
No book has ever made me feel so close to home while breaking my heart apart with the reminders of all the ugly parts mi tierra has. Some of the topics addressed in this book are very hard but they’re SO real! I’ve felt the exact things this book touches on & it only makes it that much more heartfelt.
I try to be a big supporter of Latina/Latino authors & honestly this book was one of the most heartbreaking positive surprises I’ve had with books as I hadn’t seen or heard anything about it before picking it up. This story will live in my heart forever, truly.
I’d recommend this book to absolutely EVERYBODY but especially to my fellow Latinas who may have felt the need to dim their light, hide their goals & dreams or been told to reduce themselves to a smaller version of who they truly are simply because we seem like too much & we call attention on to ourselves which could make us seem disrespectful at or home or a target when we leave our house. Let us all break the generational cycles we’ve been told to continue.
¡Ni Una Menos! ¡Vivas Nos Queremos!
No book has ever made me feel so close to home while breaking my heart apart with the reminders of all the ugly parts mi tierra has. Some of the topics addressed in this book are very hard but they’re SO real! I’ve felt the exact things this book touches on & it only makes it that much more heartfelt.
I try to be a big supporter of Latina/Latino authors & honestly this book was one of the most heartbreaking positive surprises I’ve had with books as I hadn’t seen or heard anything about it before picking it up. This story will live in my heart forever, truly.
I’d recommend this book to absolutely EVERYBODY but especially to my fellow Latinas who may have felt the need to dim their light, hide their goals & dreams or been told to reduce themselves to a smaller version of who they truly are simply because we seem like too much & we call attention on to ourselves which could make us seem disrespectful at or home or a target when we leave our house. Let us all break the generational cycles we’ve been told to continue.
¡Ni Una Menos! ¡Vivas Nos Queremos!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Murder, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Death
dalstellar's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexism
Minor: Pregnancy
year23's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I loved the last half of the book, there was more futbol, more exploration of the challenges Camila is facing (family, relationships, career dreams), all while shedding light on the day-to-day for women in Argentina.
It is terrifying to see the trend of missing women show up in multiple countries, though not surprising. Having recently read more about Argentina's history, it was interesting to see the ways things have shifted (in positive ways), though still lag behind in others. This story feels, at its heart, a love letter to these women (those still here and those not), celebrating their continued dreams and ambitions, pursuing them even at risk to their lives and agency.
This is a profoundly hopeful story, even as oppression and other horrors are detailed here. Do check the content warnings (only one scene).
Do recommend it - it's a slow burn, as it spends too much time on the romantic relationship with Diego for the first half. But once he leaves, the story opens up and it's definitely worth your time.
It is terrifying to see the trend of missing women show up in multiple countries, though not surprising. Having recently read more about Argentina's history, it was interesting to see the ways things have shifted (in positive ways), though still lag behind in others. This story feels, at its heart, a love letter to these women (those still here and those not), celebrating their continued dreams and ambitions, pursuing them even at risk to their lives and agency.
This is a profoundly hopeful story, even as oppression and other horrors are detailed here. Do check the content warnings (only one scene).
Do recommend it - it's a slow burn, as it spends too much time on the romantic relationship with Diego for the first half. But once he leaves, the story opens up and it's definitely worth your time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping
bjdarby's review against another edition
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Infidelity
amberinpieces's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Misogyny
Minor: Cursing, Medical content, Homophobia, Rape, Abortion, Blood, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Alcohol, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Murder, Death, Grief, and Racism
laureliz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Rape and Murder
leahkarge's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Sexism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, and Medical content
Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I picked this up to finish one of my 2022 reading challenges. Sports stories aren't necessarily my jam otherwise. Yamile does an excellent job representing Camila's sports aspirations and how those clash with mysogeny in the culture around her, as well as her developing romance. Content warnings for mysogeny, abusive father, and murdered or missing girls.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual assault
Missing or murdered girlscamillej's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Death, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Lies have short legs.
What a big-hearted roar of a novel this is.
In Furia, Yamile Saied Méndez skilfully and explosively explores the intersection between misogyny and football (soccer as we know it in Australia, fútbol in Spanish) that exists in Argentina.
On the pitch playing for her women's team, Camila is the fearless, brilliant "La Furia". Off the pitch, however, life is a bit more complicated. As well as the very real threat she faces just by walking home after dark, she has to deal with her overbearing, bullying father, her kind but cynical mother, and her elder brother Pablo, whose career in the professional men's league feels like a shadow she can't escape from under.
Then there's Diego, her childhood sweetheart - who has returned home for a visit after a dazzling career and international fame at the Juventus club in Italy. Now that he's back, he wants to pick up where he and Camila left off - but does she feel the same?
I'll confess that at first, I had a hard time getting into this one. There are a lot of Spanish words and phrases sprinkled throughout Furia, and I constantly felt the need to go and look up anything I didn't understand. But after a while, I let this urge go (mostly) and my reading experience was so much better for it.
I learned so much from reading this book. Firstly, I had no idea how multicultural Argentina was - Camila herself is of mixed Palestinian, Spanish, and Eastern European heritage (much like the author herself), and other characters are of Chinese and Indian ethnicity - and there are probably others which I don't remember. And the sense of place you get - as well as the Spanish language intermixing that I already mentioned - is really well done.
I had heard that gender-based violence (and murder) is a huge problem across Latin America (as it is in many other parts of the world), and it is in depicting this issue (and the attitudes enabling it) that Saied Méndez really excels. From casual misogyny to systemic, from domestic violence to
Diego was a sweetheart, and the way Saied Méndez writes him, it is easy to see why Camila
Furia is a novel that wears its heart on the sleeve of a fútbol jersey - and that's a good thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, Child death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Lesbophobia
This book deals with heavy topics such as femicide and violence against women and in some scenes graphically. There is one strong scene of domestic violence where