Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Furia

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

beautifulpaxielreads's review

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

the murder of a young girl

, it's all here - and I appreciate that the author didn't shy away from the topic but confronted it head-on.

Diego was a sweetheart, and the way Saied Méndez writes him, it is easy to see why Camila

falls for him all over again

. He's effortlessly charming, down-to-earth, and caring. I was thinking that maybe he was a little too perfect, but towards the end of the novel, when

he revealed that he had come back to take Camila back with him to Italy

made him a bit more realistic to me.

Furia is a novel that wears its heart on the sleeve of a fútbol jersey - and that's a good thing.

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whatannikareads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

sometimes i’m like mmmm maybe i’ve outgrown YA, but books like these show me i can find books i enjoy out there! i didn’t play soccer, but i appreciate this as a girl who grew up playing sports. i think mendez does a great job of highlighting layers of argentinian culture, from fùtbol to the rising feminist movement to the shackles of domestic abuse and violence and trying to make it out of the barrio. i liked the combination of realistic outcomes but still daring to dream big and reach the reader’s imagination with achieving your dreams. i’m down to read whatever the author puts out in the future; she’s solidified a follower in me. now i just want to read books like this! will be seeking more fiction about girls playing sports, a genre i didn’t realize would touch me so closely :)

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bex_williams's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

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mads1706's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

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sunshine8473773's review against another edition

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challenging emotional

4.25

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alabiblioheck's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

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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? No

3.75

This book was an excellent exploration of patriarchy in Latin America and how that affects the advancement of women outside of the roles assigned to them by society. Camila is an Argentinian teenager of Middle Eastern descent who wishes to become a professional soccer player, against the wishes of her parents. Her father is abusive, unhappy, and sexist man. Unfortunately we see how some of his attitudes trickle down to his son (Camila's brother) Pablo. There is a particular conversation between Pablo and Camila that highlights this. It is pertaining to the recent murder of a local young woman. Pablo believes that her death could have been avoided had she not been out so late at night, effectively blaming the victim for the tragedy. Despite adopting some of his father's thoughts on issues like this, he is also another victim in his household. Pablo's father consistently compares him to others in terms of where he is in his soccer career and expresses his disappointment in his son's aspirations. Pablo serves as a foil for Camila as well. By the end of the story, he makes choices about his life that are the opposite of Camila's. Whether those choices are damning or not is open to interpretation. However, I found it incredibly interesting that Camila and him end up in seemingly opposite positions than at the beginning of the story.

Throughout the book it feels like Camila is encased in this protective bubble by the men around her, including her love interest, Diego. As the story progresses, Camila takes steps to gain her independence and prioritize what she wants despite her circumstances. She bumps into opposition in this process and is forced to reevaluate her relationships with the men around her. Overall, I think the men in the story are given nuance. Overall, with the exception of maybe Camila's father, have good intentions. However, those intentions don't always translate well into seeing Camila as a respectable and independent equal that does not require rescuing. Overall, I think Camila is able to gain the respect of most of the men in her as well as her own mother. Camila's mother also finds her own independence as Camila finds hers and by the end is happier for it.

In terms of representation, Camila is of Arabic descent and also has an Arabic last name. Her friend Roxana is also an Argentine with Asian parents. I appreciated that these details about the characters highlighted that Latinxs have diverse backgrounds. We also see Roxana's wealth and the support her family provides her juxtaposed against the poverty and lack of support Camila has from her family. They do have issues that they face and eventually overcome throughout the book in their relationship. I think their friendship was well written and compelling and I always love seeing that in books.

If you are looking for a story that is hopeful and has excellent character development and commentary on machismo culture I highly recommend this book.

Content Warnings