Rating: 2/10
Books Like This: Pet, Silver Meadows Summer
For People Who Like: Hispanic/Latina Representation, Soccer/Football, Romance
Synopsis:
In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life.
At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father.
On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university.
But the path ahead isn’t easy. Her parents don’t know about her passion. They wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol—and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn’t have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren’t the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her.
Introduction:
So......I got this book for free. It wasn't for me. Honestly, the fact that I still own my copy is mind boggling. I knew it was going to be a struggle to read from the very beginning. From the moment I saw the author referring to her as "La Furia". Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the hispanic culture and language that was mixed into the book. On the contrary, I actually love it. I just hate the thought of someone thinking of themself like that. Especially with the little blurb on the back. -_-
But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself, on to the actual review.
Review:
Now, back to the blurb on the back that I mentioned earlier. The synopsis took up more space than I expected it to so I'm just going to share the most (I thought) irritating parts. "La Furia met her equal in el Titan" and "The latent goddess inside me pulled at her bindings until she snapped them". -____-
Honestly, I feel like I took this book so hard because I was actually hoping that there would be some supernatural element in it. And they weren't just over-inflating themselves (I'm not sure if that's a thing but I think it fits). KEEP IN MIND THOUGHT, I LITERALLY GOT TO PAGE 65 OUT OF 350. This book was actually one of the first that I experience annotating with. Probably because I knew it would be hilarious if I could actually get all the way through it. But, I didn't so.... yeah. My annotations where mostly "ewwwwwwww", "stop it" and "I hate this". ANOTHER DISCLAIMER, I HATE SOCCER/FOOTBALL. I've played sports but I've never really had a large passion for them so I could NOT relate to that part of the book once so ever. And soccer/football has never entertained me in the slightest. Also, the romance just felt so forced onto me as the reader. I feel like I didn't even get a chance to like Diego before she was literally obsessed with him. And I thought she was going to be all independent and not need him when (from what I read) it seemed like a constant battle for her to have that independence from him and her feelings for him and their "past" which was literally a kiss. -______________-
I did like the political undertones of the book though I do wish I had read more of that before I completely gave up on the book altogether. There were also real world problems that were artfully mixed into the plot of the story. Like, for instance, the cost of going to college, the opportunity gap between men and women, the suspicious uncle who gives me the creeps and the pro-choice movement.
Wow, who knew I would have so much to write about literally 60 pages of I book that I didn't even like. I'm sorry if my opinion of this book hurt anyone's feelings or misrepresented their culture. I am not a part of that community and have very little education in what terminology is appropriate. I this is all my opinion and we don't have to agree. Thanks for reading! And thank you Yamile Saied Mendez for writing this book that made Latina/Hispanic girls feel less alone.
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