Furia

I love stories where young women triumph over their odds and Yamile Saied Méndez gives us a glorious one in Furia with Camila.

Overcoming patriarchy is hard everywhere. Having to overcome it in your own family and country, and then add poverty on top of it can be impossible. Sometimes luck does play a hand in life, but so does sacrifice and dedication. Camila demonstrates all of these characteristics.

Her family dynamics will be familiar to a lot of readers as will the state of her surroundings. Méndez does not soften any of the characters, even Camila as she missteps with her family. There is a saying in the book, “a lie has short legs” and this will come true many times in the book in ways that are expected and illuminating. The struggle to escape makes people take desperate actions.

Méndez creates a dramatic story in the background which runs throughout the book in which every female's lives are judged against. It is an intriguing technique to utilize to illustrate the patriarchal ideas which run in men and women. It is also a sad reality of life.

There is a brief moment of domestic violence in the book. Méndez gives us a satisfying resolution to this situation.

Overall Furia, is a coming of age story about Camila, who with nowhere else to go but the soccer field is determined to succeed there and on fields everywhere. You will be cheering “Furia” too by the end as Camila races across the field.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.