Furia by Yamille Saied Mendez follows the story of seventeen-year-old Camilla, and the double life she leads. Living in Argentia, Camilla plays the sweet, innocent, smart daughter her parents expect her to be. Her brother, a football player in Argentina, overshadows his little sister, and the dreams she cannot openly pursue of becoming a football player as well.

 But when she sneaks away after school to go “study,” Camilla secretly heads to her own football team’s practices and matches, training for tournaments and a way to get out of Argentina. Camilla dreams of being a football player in North America, and getting a scholarship to attend American universities.

When Camilla’s team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camilla is stuck in a difficult situation. Her parents would never allow their daughter to play football, and her teenage crush, Diego, has come home from Italy all at once. A football star like her brother, Diego returned to Argentia on break from his Italian team, only to spark Camilla’s feelings for him again.

This is not a regular “meet cute” novel, nor is it too serious of a novel that it becomes boring. The story balances itself out between the worlds Camilla lives between. Her family life is unpredictable yet shows how close relationships can be between mothers and daughters, or sisters and their brothers. Her relationship with Diego, while also unpredictable, feels as if the characters picked up right where they left off in their relationship without even knowing them too well! The author truly throws their audience into the story, and makes it seem as if the reader has known the characters as long as they’ve known each other.

I enjoy reading novels with great female heroines, and I believe Camilla is a character that has realistic issues and dreams that anyone could relate to. As someone who really likes the show Ted Lasso, I was looking for a story with a strong underlying meaning behind a facade of something else.

Picking up Furia was definitely a good choice, and it would be a great book for anyone to enjoy.