I smiled and ran to the field to sing the wordless song of the captive women who roared in my blood. My ancestresses had been waiting to sing for generations.

I was their medium.

Furia, p. 169

Synopsis

Camila Hassan has one true love: fútbol. When she’s on the field, she becomes La Furia, a goddess of footwork and precision. It almost lets her forget about home, where her parents’ disapproval of women in fútbol forces her to hide her greatest talent, and her misogynistic father rules with an iron fist. The only thing Camila wants is to take her fútbol dreams to the next level, and her team’s qualification for the South American tournament may just get her there.

But Camila doesn’t factor Diego into the equation. After Camila’s first love left Rosario, he became an international fútbol star. But now he’s back home, over-complicating Camila’s life and her fútbol goals. Amidst tension about women’s rights, uncertainty about her future, and drama on her fútbol team, Camila will have to harness La Furia to stay true to herself and her dreams.

Review

Have you ever felt honored to get to read a book? I hadn’t before I finished Furia. It’s hard to find a book that is both a delicious page-turner and an example of awe-inspiring prose. As you can see from the quote above (which I am absolutely obsessed with, I would like a T-shirt of it please), Méndez is a beautiful, lyrical writer whose sentences pack a punch every time. But rather than bogging the story down with unnecessary poetics, the occasional life-changing quote moves the narrative along seamlessly.

As someone who only reads novels in English, I rarely encounter books (especially YA and middle grade) set in countries other than the U.S. and England. The glimpse of Rosario, Argentina that Méndez gives us in Furia feels rich and lived-in, and it was a privilege to get a glimpse into a place I’ve never been before.

Finally, Camila. Camila is the definition of a Strong Female Protagonist. Her determination and ambition are unmatched, and the way she prioritizes her desires in a world that tells her to sit down and shut up is truly inspiring. But she’s far from perfect–she’s a teenager, and her decisions and uncertainty complete her to form one of the most well-rounded characters I’ve read in a long time.

Content Warnings: Familial abuse, systemic violence against women (discussed; not on page)