Tag Archives: soccer

Review: Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,
Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

Furia
Yamile Saied Méndez
Algonquin Young Readers
Published September 15, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Furia

An #ownvoices contemporary YA set in Argentina, about a rising soccer star who must put everything on the line—even her blooming love story—to follow her dreams.

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.

My Review

I remember really wanting to read this book when it came out. I haven’t read a lot of soccer books, and I’m not super familiar with the game, but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this book at all.

At the surface, this is a story of a girl who wants to win an important soccer tournament that could open doors for her to play on a professional team. She must balance school, an after-school job, family pressure, and the pull of romance with her passion for soccer. The team experiences trouble, from losses, injured players, and people forcing players to quit, so the stakes rise as the story progresses.

In the early chapters, the romance kind of dominated the story. I loved the relationship between Camila and Diego, so I didn’t mind this at all. It also allowed us to see the contrast between how Diego treated Camila and how her father and other men in her life treated women.

We still got to see a lot of scenes of Camila practicing and playing soccer, and I loved that, too. I felt like those scenes were very easy to follow, even for someone who isn’t super familiar with the game. I found it easy to lose myself in the intensity of the game and Camila’s fierce desire to win.

Underneath all of that, though, the author shares commentary on Argentinian culture. Not too long ago, it was illegal for women to play soccer. Even still, the players in the book faced enormous prejudice and pressure to quit. The story references how often girls disappear and how little law enforcement has done to address the problem. As a result, Camila worries for her safety when she has to be out at night and while she rides the bus. Sometimes family members use the danger as reason to squash her independence.

FURIA is definitely a book that swept in during the pandemic and didn’t get nearly as much notice as it should have. I think fans of YOU DON’T HAVE A SHOT by Racquel Marie or WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH by Elizabeth Acevedo will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Camila is multi-racial, with a Russian great-grandmother, Pakistani grandfather, Andalusian grandmother and Black great-great-grandmother. She is also Argentinian and lives in Rosario.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used once. Mild profanity used fewer than a dozen times.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. A woman tells Camila she wasn’t allowed to play soccer because her parents thought it would make her a lesbian. Two of the female soccer players on Camila’s team are dating.

Spiritual Content
Camila thanks la Virgencita for a good thing that happens. She buys a card for La Difunta, a saint who died in the desert and was found still nursing her baby in a beam of sunshine. Camila makes plans to bring water to a shrine for the saint and asks for her help. Camila visits a healer who calls on the saints and the Lord to heal her and says the healing will depend on Camila’s faith.

Violent Content
Camila gets hit in the face by a soccer ball and knocked down during a game. A twelve-year-old girl goes missing and is later found murdered. Camila reflects on how often this happens to young women in Rosario and the injustice of that. A man knocks a teenage girl down and hits her with a belt.

Drug Content
References to alcohol and smoking.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog.

Review: You Don’t Have a Shot by Racquel Marie

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

You Don’t Have a Shot
Racquel Marie
Feiwel & Friends
Published May 9, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About You Don’t Have a Shot

A queer YA romance about rival soccer players from author Racquel Marie, perfect for fans of She Drives Me Crazy .

Valentina “Vale” Castillo-Green’s life revolves around soccer. Her friends, her future, and her father’s intense expectations are all wrapped up in the beautiful game. But after she incites a fight during playoffs with her long-time rival, Leticia Ortiz, everything she’s been working toward seems to disappear.

Embarrassed and desperate to be anywhere but home, Vale escapes to her beloved childhood soccer camp for a summer of relaxation and redemption…only to find out that she and the endlessly aggravating Leticia will be co-captaining a team that could play in front of college scouts. But the competition might be stiffer than expected, so unless they can get their rookie team’s act together, this second chance―and any hope of playing college soccer―will slip through Vale’s fingers. When the growing pressure, friendship friction, and her overbearing father push Vale to turn to Leticia for help, what starts off as a shaky alliance of necessity begins to blossom into something more through a shared love of soccer. . . and maybe each other.

Sharp, romantic, and deeply emotional, You Don’t Have a Shot is a rivals-to-lovers romance about rediscovering your love of the game and yourself, from the author of Ophelia After All .

” You Don’t Have a Shot has every ingredient that makes rivals-to-lovers such a great trope, but it’s also so much more. It’s a story of grief and loss, of legacy, of culture, of holding the things and people that bring us joy close. I don’t think anyone will be surprised when I say that Racquel Marie has done it this is truly young adult contemporary at its best.” ―Jonny Garza Villa, author of the Pura Belpré Honor Book Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun

My Review

Okay, so, I’m not a very sporty person. It’s just not something I’ve got real natural talent in, so not something I’ve personally pursued, though I think it’s cool. So the soccer is not what drew me to this book, is what I’m saying. I read Racquel Marie’s debut, OPHELIA AFTER ALL, and absolutely loved it. The insightfulness of the characters’ emotions. The movement of the story. All of it, so good. I was so moved by that book that I wanted to read Marie’s next book pretty much no matter what it would turn out to be. So… soccer.

Y’all. I cried over soccer in this book. More than once!

Again, the characters are so deep and complex. I loved the relationships between them and the growth that Vale experiences as she begins to bond with her team and see them and herself in a new way, and through that, to see soccer in a new way. It is an incredible book. I loved it so much.

I felt like the soccer parts of the story were all really accessible and easy to understand, even for someone like me who doesn’t know much about the game. (Knowing the positions of the players probably would have helped a little bit, but I feel like I picked up enough from the context of what was happening to be clued in to what I needed to know.) It was so easy to invest in the characters and to want them to succeed. I also loved the banter, especially between Vale and Leticia. So perfect! So much fun.

I also just really enjoyed the theme about learning to fall in love with the game again and learning that you get to define success for yourself. Great stuff. I think fans of Racquel Marie’s first book will definitely enjoy this new one. And rivals-to-lovers fans will get lots of satisfaction from the snappy banter and romantic tension. All in all, a perfect summer romance.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Vale and Leticia are Latine and romantically interested in girls. Vale’s two best friends, both girls, are dating. One minor character is transgender.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
I’m not totally sure where the line is between verbally toxic and verbally abusive, but one character says pretty high pressure, harsh things to another character.

Vale picks a fight with a rival during a soccer game.

Drug Content
References to teens drinking alcohol (off-scene).

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: A Bird, a Girl, and a Rescue by J. A. Myhre

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

A Bird, a Girl, and a Rescue (Rwendigo Tales #2)
J. A. Myhre
New Growth Press
Published September 13, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About A Bird, a Girl, and a Rescue
Eleven-year-old Kiisa had no idea why her parents would send her away to boarding school. She wondered why they couldn t all stay together in their beautiful African valley home. But no matter what she said they were firm: she must go, and she must go to this school.

As she said a tearful goodbye to her father, he whispered, For such a time as this. . . . Remember that phrase, and try to open your trunk soon. You ll find something unexpected inside. When Kiisa opened the trunk, she was astonished to find a small heap of black and white feathers that quickly unfolded into a little bird, a wagtail to be exact. Her surprise only deepened when the bird started to speak, My name is Njili. I am one of the Messengers, though a small one. I have been sent to assist you with the Rescue. Kiisa had no idea what she meant, but she would soon find out.

My Review
I liked the foreign setting of this story and some of the cultural details. Even though it’s set in a made up place, the author clarifies that some of the events in the story were based on things she witnessed while living in Africa serving as a doctor. I thought Kiisa was an interesting character and identified with her homesickness and her feelings of otherness at school.

While I liked that the author talked about prejudices girls face with regard to playing sports, I guess I found it odd that even though Kiisa was talented, she played for a while without being truly interested in soccer. I wondered if someone would do that when faced with all the teasing and pressure to quit that she must have faced. I also wanted that part to tie into the rest of the story somehow. It ended up being this sort of side vignette that didn’t really relate to the story’s major plot—the rescue Kiisa would need to perform.

Other elements of the plot seemed disjointed, too, or like they kind of came out of nowhere. I liked the idea of animals as messengers from God and found that to be an imaginative idea, but I expected them to mentor Kiisa in her faith as well as help her with the practical steps toward a rescue.

I liked Kiisa’s relationship with her family, her dad especially. The setting made me think a little bit of Katie Quirk’s A Girl Called Problem, also set in a small village in Africa. Readers who liked Escape from Sudan might also like A Bird, a Girl, and a Rescue.

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Cultural Elements
Characters are African—takes place in an imaginary place in Africa.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Kiisa encounters Messengers, animals which speak to humans and are sent by God to help with His purposes.

Violent Content
Rebel soldiers with guns attack Kiisa’s school, taking one girl hostage. They set fire to the building where Kiisa and other girls sleep. A crocodile tries to attack two girls in the water. No graphic descriptions or details.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.