Hello Gemmies! I have an exciting book review to share with you today. Please note: I received a digital ARC of this book (via NetGalley) from its publisher in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Furia is a debut YA contemporary coming of age story by Yamile Saied Mendez. I was so excited to receive this one to review and man I was not disappointed, Furia absolutely blew me away. I cannot believe this is Yamile's first novel. Furia pulls you in from the very first page. This is very much a story about female empowerment and resilience in the face of insurmountable odds. Let's start with the story. The plot was unexpected, fresh, and new. Although this is a YA novel, there are some very serious themes throughout like machismo, misogyny, toppling patriarchal structures, child abuse, domestic abuse, and gender and class inequality that take this novel to the next level. I found myself fully immersed in this world. The world building is so fresh and authentic. Yamile's passion for her Argentinian culture was beautifully woven into every page. I found myself transported to Argentina sipping a mate while nibbling on an alfajor. The writing also flowed at a great pace all throughout this novel. I had to put the book down because I didn't want it to end! Otherwise I would have finished this gem in one sitting!

Furia is also an extremely well written character driven story with a diverse cast of characters that I found to be complex, dynamic, and relatable. I absolutely loved our main protagonist Camila Hassan aka la Furia. She is so fierce. Despite all the obstacles she faces, she remains true to herself. Camila is also a great role model for young girls. Too often in literature we see young women who need a man to save them or to help them achieve their goals. Not here, Camila is determined to see her dreams come to fruition and not even her love can distract her from doing it. Speaking of love, I LOVED the relationship between Camila and Diego. The chemistry between these two was amazing. Their relationship felt natural, it never came off as forced or rushed. Although there is romance in Furia it does not overpower the story. This is very much a feminist powerhouse of a book about breaking generational cycles of abuse that I recommend all girls and women read.

This gem published by Algonquin Young Readers is set to release on September 15, 2020 and is available for pre-order from all major booksellers. I give Furia 5 out of 5 gems. I cannot wait for this story to be out in the world for all to read and enjoy. Happy Reading!

I absolutely loved this book! It was such a fun read with a powerful MC whom I adored and admired for all she did!
She did not back down or live according to other's expectations but instead, reached out to live her dreams and that made her one of the best characters I've read!

Moreover, I enjoyed the plot and the various important issues that the author talked about and how they were resolved, especially with her abusive father.
I also liked the romance, it was sweet and it made to yearn for more. I also liked the ending with how Furia refused to give in and eventually, Diego came around for her and accepted her for all she is.

I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Recommended: To anyone who enjoys YA Romance, especially the friends to lover trope.

I have so many thoughts on this powerful and moving #ownvoice ya.

This book is uber special to me because I come from a HUGE soccer family and I’m #Latinx. This book was basically written for me ❤️

I want to talk about the soccer side of this book before diving into the cultural aspects of it.

I want to talk about why the USWNT is so dominant. The US started supporting its women way before other countries did. I remember reading an article a few years back about a husband not letting his wife play in a regional soccer tournament. This really helps explain the battles Camila faced. Being a professional women’s soccer player is extremely rare, and even more so in other countries. Tbh women in the NWSL don’t even get paid enough (look up Sydney Leroux’s article with Forbes).

Her dad was sadly an accurate representation of a lot of Hispanic fathers. Machismo (chauvinism) is way too common in my culture. His thoughts and beliefs may seem over the top for you but it’s something we grew up being familiar with. The family dynamics was also spot on 😔

One my favorite things about this book was the blend of so many languages and cultures. It really captured how diverse people, cultures, and countries are.

Mendez nailed the soccer side of this book and that’s coming from someone who lives and breathes international soccer. The Juventus details were exceptional! 🤍🖤

She also gave us some age appropriate romance that I was really here for. It didn’t overshadow the message of this book and I love that. Camila harped about not needing a savior and being her own rescuer.


You simply cannot miss this coming of age book that is so moving and just makes you feel good.

Camila is a promising young fútbol player who keeps her dreams a secret from her family. Her brother is a fútbol player and her parents support him, but she is a woman and they expect another life for her. But as the opportunities become more real and closer, she must face her family and tell them the truth. She is la Furia and will do everything possible to achieve her dreams.

Furia is a coming-of-age story that touches on topics such as machismo, violence and the struggle for women's rights that is currently taking place in Argentina (and all of Latin America). This book talks about breaking stereotypes, leaning on your people and striving to achieve your goals.

I really liked it, it is written in such a way that it is impossible to put it down. It is very good paced and reflects very well what it is like to live in Argentina as a woman. It makes clear the levels of machismo in society and the importance of fighting for women's rights and for justice. Because yes, it also talks about the missing and murdered girls. A number that is growing alarmingly and it seems important to me that it is something that is known in other parts of the world.

I really loved Camila as a character. She seems real, with flaws and things to change. She is not depicted as a perfect person. She is fierce and I particularly enjoyed seeing her finding her voice and gain confidence off the pitch as well.

Her family reflects a sadly common reality, where the man exercises both physical, verbal and psychological domestic violence on his family. I really loved reading how things turn out for her family. Both her mother and her brother have attitudes to change, machistas comments to erase from their vocabularies and thoughts, but I think that towards the end it is shown that this is going to change gradually. Hopefully. Living in a patriarchal and machista society shapes us and makes us believe that these ways of thinking are correct and they are not. Here we use a term for this relearning: deconstruirse. Even Camila must deconstruirse herself. There are some comments from her towards the botineras that are not right but I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe that it is just because of this, she still needs to deconstruirse.

About the love relationship, I must say that I was not surprised by Diego's attitude, but I was very happy with the way Camila handled it and how she decides to follow her dreams even though it means ending their relationship. It was a very mature and wise decision. I also think that Camila had to change certain attitudes that she has with him. Several times she talks about who has the most power over the other and that is not right, is not healthy or would lead to a healthy relationship. Growing up seeing her parents' relationship must have led her to think that way.

Another little thing that seemed strange to me is the handling of money, I feel that it is not entirely real. Surely it has to do with the fact that the author does not live here or handle pesos in her day to day life, so the concept of what is little money and what is a lot of money is not quite right. But it is a detail that only those who live here or know our economy and its costs well could notice.

One last thing that sounded strange to me is a comment at the beginning about the feminist movement and the struggle to achieve the right to legal, safe and free abortion. At one point Camila talks about the handkerchiefs (the green represents the pro-choice movement and the lightblue the pro-life movement) and she does it as if it were a football club fight and it is not like that. That trivializes the issue and that is not okay. It is a serious and important issue and it does not seem right that it is presented to the world as a team fight when we are talking about the right of pregnant people to choose about their bodies and lives.

(I was approved weeks ago through Edelweiss, that's why I already have the review)

I have to say that I stayed up all night so that I could finish FURIA, and I wasn't disappointed. I feel so honored to have been able to read an early copy of it. Coming from the angle of a White, gay male, this novel really opened my eyes to the life of Camilla in Argentina. Her fighting spirit rang throughout me the entire time. The writing style was perfect, and the cover pulls you right in. Thanks to this book, I will make more of an effort to read more books like FURIA.

Reading this story was really weird in a good way. I was reading a book written by an Argentinian author in English and it narrated things that even if they weren't that similar to my own experience, since I'm not from Rosario, were incredibly near to similar. Maybe I didn't recognize the street names, but I did recognize the mate with facturas. I might haven't found myself in the pasión futbolera for the barrio's team or the famous goalie, but I did see my friends and family there. Maybe my dream isn't being la Furia in professional fútbol, but I found myself in Camila and her passion for what she does, how hard she feels and fights.

I may have not found myself in Rosario, but I saw Camila in my friends and her mother in a couple of mothers and grandmas I know. I saw someone I don't see anymore in Marisa, and I saw a second grade girl I once met in a really poor school in Karen. I see Eda every time I turn on the TV. And that's why Furia is important.

We first get sold on fútbol, and yeah, it is about fútbol. We experience everything in this story through fútbol, from family dynamics through love to dreams and goals of our protagonist and everyone she knows. To be honest, I don't really care about fútbol. Like, at all. I don't get hurt by the stereotypical fútbol-loving Argentine trope, but I couldn't care less for having the shirt or the autograph of a certain player. You're lucky if I ever remember to watch Argentina matches when the World Cup's on.

But loving this book this much shows how important it is, even if you don't like fútbol.

Furia is about fútbol, yeah. It is also about love, friendship, identity, our roots and gender violence, street violence, child poverty and the reality of those who grow up way too soon not really having a childhood, yet not being really adults. The topics didn't always convince me while I was reading, but at the same time I felt it was way too mine, too similar to what we all live every single day, mostly in most remote and poor barrios.

The author narrates this story through the sharp and crude eyes of a teenager that already went through too much. Many of these experiences aren't mine, yet I felt them on my skin every single time. The scenes at the merendero, for example, broke my heart because I've seen them for myself. The scenes with her father, mostly those where she suddenly remembers she didn't lock the door that night and that she's only wearing a Juventus shirt and her underwear, gave me goosebumps.

It is sincerely one of those books that I'm really happy I got to read. First, because it's really weird reading myself in a book published in another language, in another country, marketed for a very different public: when she describes the mate's afteraste as green I wasn't really impressed, but at the same time my mother gave me a mate and after that I couldn't help but think yeah, that aftertaste tastes like the concept of green, and not only because of its color. I might sound as if I'm bullshitting this, but I didn't feel this kind of feeling of proximity with any US published book ever before.

Second and mostly because I liked how she treated the book's topics. I think the feminist scenes, thoughts and its topics could have been introduced less abrupt way, but even then I'm thankful our green handkerchiefs can be now read in other countries. How many times do we read here's a thread on what's happening in x country on Twitter? How many times do we get updates on marchs, countermarchs, social movements and activism from the US, while we don't even know what's happening on the other side of the General Paz?

Talking about not only the machismo so, so rooted in our society but also about the gender and family violence, the grooming, children poverty, the hunger at the barrios and the rupture of family cycles is something we need to see, read, consume for us to experience them, if not on our own then through someone else's voice.

Furia is a beautiful and needed book, and its tiny details I have to criticize exist only because I searched for, as we say in Argentina, the cat's fifth paw. It's in its essence a feminist and liberating book that's about fighting for your dreams and believing in yourself.

And we're all Eda. They keep blaming us for our mere existence and they keep on killing us. Let Eda be the last victim of patriarchal violence in both a fictional world and our reality. The Ni Una Menos movement is as present as ever ✊🏽🔥💜💚

More like 3.75/5

HEY HI IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR AN OWNVOICES REVIEW THIS IS IT, I WAS BORN IN ROSARIO, I LIVE IN ROSARIO WHEN THERE'S NOT A GLOBAL PANDEMIC GOING ON!!

Okay so, as someone who went back to Rosario as a uni student my experience in it and whit it is entirely different from Camila's. I've never really been to her barrio, though I've passed by, because it's so freaking far away from anything and everything. I do go to zona sur literally every single day since my uni is there (that's where El buen pastor is), and I know la costanera even though I go there way less often than I would like to. Central's stadium I've passed by but I'm not really interested in. Unlike Camila I couldn't despise fútbol more so the fact that I gave such a high rating to a book that centers around it speaks volumes about the quality of the author's writing.

But despite all of our differences, the book truly captured what it is to be rosarina. There's something I can't quite explain about the family dynamics, the atmosphere, the small day-to-day gestures that spoke to my personal experience. And I don't even like mate!! But the curandera, the noisy neighbors, the monoblocks, sitting by the river watching the sunset, taking public buses, the small barrio clubs, not having a phone when everyone else does, the way christianity is woven with charity work, the green handkerchiefs, buying facturas first thing in the morning. It's always the little things that make a work of fiction feel real, and this book hit the nail on the head.

As for the plot, I had to suspend my disbelief for a bit but I liked it overall. As I said, fútbol is not really my thing at all so I couldn't connect with Camila in that department, but I didn't find it boring at all. The matches kept me on the edge of my seat long enough to power through them and get to the parts I was more excited about. Camila and Diego's relationship felt so real, too, and it might be because it wasn't easy and it wasn't really a happy ending, either. There's some things that love just can't overcome and it's okay because it's not the end of the world to be 17 and single. I loved that Camila put herself first every step of the way.

What I would've liked is for the feminist movement to be a stronger plot point. I think Eda's march was supposed to feel like a turning point for Camila but it was rushed, and the author didn't get into how it feels to be in the middle of a wave of women crying and chanting because we don't want any of us to be the next reason to march. It's such a large part of my and my friends' life, and I don't think it got enought page-time in this book.

To round up, we need more books set in Rosario. I'm begging please.

Amazing!
What a powerful book for girls and women to read. A wonderful YA, coming of age, feminist book set in Argentina, all about a girl's dream of playing soccer (Argentina Futbol). But it's not only about soccer. It's about the darker parts of life in Argentina, a family that is scared of their father mixed in with a little bit of childhood romance. This book is not only empowering for #ownvoices females, but for ALL females with a dream.

Camila "La Furía" Hassan has been keeping a secret from her family. She has been playing on a local soccer team with other girls that have a passion for the game. Her parents have only let her older brother pursue his love of soccer because "girls don't play sports" after a certain age. But Furia is just that. She has a passion and we get to see it played out on the field. The images the author uses to describe her playing style just flows right off the page. I could see Camila on the pitch and being taken over by her love of the game. I was there and I saw the passion dripping from the pages. This wasn't just a game, this was a way of life for her and she was going to make it happen any way she could. But keeping it a secret from her family won't hold for long once her team qualifies for the big SudoAmerican tournament.

"We'd made the space. We'd filled in the cracks of the system and made room for ourselves where there was none. No one had given us anything. We had taken it. But no one wanted to hear the truth."

But Camila's love of the game is further complicated by a childhood friend that returns home to visit Argentina from Italy where he is playing professional futbol. Diego and Camila have grown up together along with her brother. But he wants more from her and she isn't sure if he is enough. She wants futbol AND Diego. Can they survive distance and a difference in opinion? Or will Camila continue to carve out her own path?

I loved the messages in this book and I loved how strong of a character Camila was. Her strength passed onto her brother, her mother, her teammates, and even to a child she ended up teaching. The way Argentinian life was portrayed was heartbreaking, but obviously real and something that I'm glad the author addressed. She didn't shy away from the hard subjects, but dealt with them carefully without going too deep into the matter. This was a girl's story. A girl's dream. A girl's fight to conquer what she had set out to do with so many hurdles in her way. I enjoyed each moment of it, even when life got hard.
This book has so much passion put into it and you can feel it. I hope many girls with dreams and with goals will get their hands on this book. It's needed in this day and age when much of what women here is 'you can't do that'. Yes, YOU CAN! And you will!
Highly recommend this powerful and stunning book by Yamile Saied Mendez

"I don't want you to save us, at least not in the way everyone else does. I want you to break the cycle, Camila."

Fierce!!!!!!!
That's the only way to describe this book and Camila's passion.

I do hope that young girls all over the globe will keep breaking the cycle of patriarchy and leading new paths for others to follow.

Read the rest of my review on the blog:
http://www.oliviasose.com/furia-by-yamile-saied-mendez-book-review/

Furia was a story that swept me away from the start with its resilient protagonist and message of female empowerment. It was great to read a about a girl’s passion for sports set in South America, as the cultural aspect really impacted my reading experience for the better.

~★~ What is this book about? ~★~

Camilla is a seventeen year old living in Rosario, Argentina. Over the years she has grown used to concealing her love for soccer, as her strict mother and abusive father would never approve of something like this from their daughter. Her brother being a rising-soccer star only fuel’s Camilla’s dream, and so she has made a routine of lying to her parents every time she goes to soccer practice. As her talent reaches great heights, Camilla believes she may be on the edge of a breakthrough to something huge.

~★~

Camilla was a truly brilliant protagonist. She was strong willed from the very start of this novel, and I couldn’t help rooting for her. It was amazing to follow her through every hardship and success as her future became ultimately bright.

The writing flowed at a great pace all the way through; I ended up finishing this book in one sitting because I simply couldn’t put it down. The author’s Argentinian culture was integrated into the narrative so well, I really did feel like I was in another continent while reading.

Best of all, I felt empowered by Camilla. She never gave up hope when things seemed dark, and always continued to push towards her dreams. It was wonderful to see the love and friendship between girls in this book; I had such a great time reading!

This is a story I cannot wait for others to get their hands on. Furia is magical in it’s own way, with a protagonist’s voice that is sure to stick with you for a long while. This was a complete gem of a book.

I was | | close to rounding up on this one because there are aspects of this story that are so strong, so wonderful, but I can't quite boost it.

<i>In my barrio, most of the people didn't know my name or even that I existed. To them, I was only Pablo's sister, or Andrés and the seamstress' daughter -- my mom, too, was nameless. But I was determined to leave my mark.</i>

If what you've always wanted in life is a YA version of KULTI by Mariana Zapata but with a heavy dose of feminism and very relevant, and present, topics of life in Argentina, you absolutely have to pick this up. This story is both empowering and heartbreaking and sometimes those conflicting feelings are rooted in the same moment.

<i>Fútbol could do that -- make people forget about the price of the dollar, the upcoming elections, even their love lives. For a few hours, life was beautiful.</i>

There were many triumphant moments both for our protagonist, Camila, and for her team. But not every triumph was due to winning. I loved how the author made a point to balance this group of women's ambitions, including that of the coach, but constantly remind the team -- and through them, us -- to play for themselves, for joy, no matter the score. I feel like if you take away nothing else from this story, particularly the younger readers, that would be enough. But there are even more powerful messages within the pages, too.

<i>I'd leave the house the first chance I got, but not by chasing after a boy, including my brother. I'd do it on my own terms, following my own dreams, not someone else's. </i>

I think what really took away some of the enjoyment for me were the family dynamics. I have no doubt it is more common than not but some of it just felt a little OTT or extra and while much of it shaped Camila, drove her, to be something else.. I don't know, I just wanted those moments over with. So that's definitely a personal thing. As for the romance, I initially thought it might have been the weaker element of the story but I was pleasantly surprised to have been wrong and, also, surprised by how that turned out. No spoiling!

Overall, I think this is definitely a book worth picking up, even moreso as it's #ownvoices. And, I mean, did you read Micky's review? Even I wanted to award this five stars after reading her thoughts -- and even though I'm not, I would definitely read this author again.

3.5 stars

Young Adult drama set in Argentina about a teenage girl called Camila, nicknamed Furia, who lives in the shadow of her football superstar brother and even bigger football superstar childhood crush, Diego. More than anything she wants to leave her rough neighborhood and her abusive father behind to start a new life elsewhere, and she tries to achieve this by breaking the mold and becoming a female football player, something unheard of in her neighbourhood. But she has to make a tough decision- football, and the opportunity to move to America or be with the boy she loves who plays professionally in Italy.

An empowering and immersive drama. Although I found the narrative a bit weak at times- the conflicts felt a little unnatural to me, such as with the side narrative of a young woman’s murder. This felt a little random, and only in there to inject some drama.

Yamile Saied Méndez’s Furia ignited my inner feminist.

Camila Hassan’s family dynamics set the stage for multiple confrontations as she leads multiple lives: the dutiful daughter, the talented soccer player, and a woman seeking equality and respect.

As a daughter, Camila sees how her mother cowers to her father and accepts the limitation he and society place on her. The freedom and respect Camila feels on the pitch juxtapose the two worlds in which she lives creating a conflict that is authentic and relatable for someone feeling limited or restricted by family expectations and societal norms. Camila’s internal struggle adds another dimension and perspective to the story.

As Camila evolves, I found myself cheering for her as she confronts her detractors. The universality of her struggle adds to the novel’s appeal and is a book my students will relish.

I am definitely adding Yamile Saied Méndez’s Furia to my classroom library and look forward to discussing the many conflicts Camila tackles.

I received Yamile Saied Méndez’s Furia from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I don't really know how to start this review, I'm not even able to describe how much gratefulness I feel for the existence of this book. This is the unapologetically argentinian and feminist tale of Camila Hassan, a rosarina with big dreams and a powerful voice. I loved every second of it and I'm leaving this book sort of speechles, sort of teary but very emotional and very eager to read it again.
Camila is forced to live a double life. At home she has to be very careful, between pretending to be what her mother thinks she has to be, living in the shadow of her older brother (rising fútbol star, the stallion), the abusive rule of her short-tempered father and hiding her true passion, fútbol.. When she is out playing on the field she is better known as la Furia, the dynamite that exudes talent and hard work. However, things start to get complicated, as her team qualifies to the Sudamericano. This tournament might just be her chance to show she's got what it takes to chase her dreams and play professionally abroad, somewhere where they respect and aprecciate her craft, but at the same time, this tournament requires her family's sign, and her Furia-power. With her childhood sweetheart, international star athlete Diego Ferrari, back in town, Camila will have to hold on to her ambitions and her core to navigate her way through a world that doesn't exactly welcome girls with dreams like her.
This story has a lot of heart and pulls the reader in from moment cero. It's very endearing. From the well-developed complex characters to the action on the field, it fully enganges you. Even the romance I found it to be very sweet and I was extremely satisfied with where the story decided to take it.
Like I said earlier, the characters are great. They are real. I've met these people (even those who I wish I hadn't). Even very secondary characters who only said one line, I've come across them in my life. This story felt real because the people were real, and that's the beauty of it. It has those details, even though it's contemporary, it is palpable that the world was very well constructed and thought-out. And this reality didn't take anything from the feeling of the story.
In adittion, the message and representation are awesome. I can't get into specifics because I will start crying again, but this book does a wonderful job of denouncing and empowering at the same time. It's very inspiring. I wish girls (and boys) from here in Argentina and everywhere get to read the story of Camila, and Roxana, and coach Alicia, and little Karen, and Camila´s mom, and the team, and everyone who reaches from the page to be heard. This book felt like holding my mom's or my friend's hand when mourning those who aren't with us anymore, yelling a victory gol en la cancha, a burn of ambition and love, and the howl of our past ancestresses leading us to the future, all simultaneously.

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez was a beautiful read. During the story we follow Camila known as “Furia” a talented soccer("futbol")  player who has to hide her love and passion for the sport due to her parents believing women shouldn’t play sports. Much to her dismay she constantly lives in the shadow of her older brother Pablo, a rising soccer player. One day Camilia’s former love interest Diego returns, as their romance rekindles Camilia is forced to decide whether she’ll go with Diego to Europe or go against what her family wishes and follow her dreams to play professional soccer in the US.  
Camila was an amazing character that I admired. She overcomes so much during the story. I loved her strength, her passion and her ambition to achieve her dreams especially dealing with pain from her abusive father and not having the support she needed. She was so relatable and I was able to connect to her. My heart went out to Camila and her mother, struggling to allow their voices to be heard in a country that is so male dominated. With some men that view women as objects, possessions and even punching bags. 
I enjoyed the relationship between Camila and Diego; they had amazing chemistry. Their relationship never felt rushed or forced. I like that Camilia didn't lose sight of her dreams or what she wanted in order to make Diego happy during their relationship. She stayed true to herself. 
I admired the author's writing and discussed specific topics in the story such as domestic violence, family dynamics, women's role/rights, masculinity and romance/relationships. The way Yamile Saied Méndez used soccer as a tool to discuss misogyny was done in such an incredible way. 
Although I enjoyed the read, I did feel the ending was a bit rushed Overall, Furia was an impactful read. Thank you Netgalley and Algonquin of the ARC.

At home, in her barrio in Argentina, Camila Hassan is the dutiful daughter who follows the strict rules of her home, lives in the shadow of her brother the rising fútbol star, and avoids her abusive father's short fuse.

But Camila lives a double-life, and on the fútbol field she is fierce, she is La Furia, she is a powerhouse that leads her women's team and has dreams of playing in North America.

Living two lives is not easy. When her brother's friend and international fútbol star comes back to town, she can't deny the fire that's kindling between them, but she has to focus on her own dreams. As her world comes crashing down around her, Camila is forced to publicize her secret life, but at what cost?

Furia is a great blend of Argentine culture, first love, and fútbol action on the pitch.

This phenomenal YA presents an engaging and memorable main character that readers will cherish, along the lines of The Poet X and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. The author presents universal themes of YA in the context of a unique story. Students who are fans of sports books will particularly enjoy this title. Highly recommended.

This reads as an Argentine version of Bend it Like Beckham, albeit a version filled with a very authentic background in Argentinian society. Camilla's devotion to her team and concern for her brother and mother will resonate with readers who are deeply into sports; the history and concerns in Argentine society at that time don't overwhelm but will inform readers looking for #ownvoices insights.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

Furia is about Camila "Furia" Hassan, a talented Argentinian "futbolera" who has to hide her passion for soccer from her parents who don't think women should play sports. She lives in the shadow of her brother. Pablo, who plays for a local club, and her former love interest, Diego, who is an internationally recognized soccer star. When Diego returns to Rosario, their romance is rekindled, forcing Camila to decide whether she'll go back to Europe with him, or defy her parents and society's regressive gender roles to follow her dream of playing pro soccer in the US.

This book uses soccer as a lens to examine so many different issues, but systemic misogyny is the all-pervasive undercurrent that runs through the story, whether just below the surface or erupting into view. The Ni Una Más (Not One More) movement, which demands an end to gender-based violence, is part of this story as a reminder of the most brutal result of misogyny. Camila navigates the world with this knowledge hanging over her. However, I don't want to make this book sound like it's all about women being brutalized and marginalized. These elements are very real, but it's ultimately about how Camila is a fighter, as are so many other women and girls around her.

There is a pretty big romance element to this book, but because I am not a fan of romance in general it didn't grab me, I am sure other people will enjoy it. Other than that one element, which is totally just a matter of personal preference, this book is a winner for me.

This is a powerful story that grapples with real-world misogyny without diminishing women's power.

This is a compelling story full of heart and feminism and kick-butt female athletes. I have no interest in soccer, but that didn't put me off at all; the soccer parts are really well-written and the story is much more about the relationships and deeper wants, while still having plenty to offer the reader who does love soccer. The Argentina setting is vividly drawn.