Alone with the majority of the world this will be in my top 5 books of the year. I care not a single thing about tennis. But this book made me want to be a tennis fan. You don’t have to understand the game to LOVE the book.

This is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her finest. Carrie Soto is one of the best tennis players to ever play the game. She holds the record for the most championships while also being known for her cold demeanor on and off the court. While in retirement, she watches a player match her record and decides to come out of retirement to win a championship and hold onto her legend as the best tennis player ever. The next year of her life changes everything for Carrie.

This is a story of determination and grit. About dreams and the work needed to achieve them. It's about what it is to be a woman in the world today...especially as a minority. It's about the love of a father and daughter and learning to open your heart to friendships and more. Carrie learns about who she really is and who she wants to be. I'm not a huge tennis fan and don't know much about the game but the writing not only brings understanding easily to the reader, it has you on the edge of your seat along with Carrie's father and friends to see if she will really be able to do it. Can she defeat the current reigning champion? I couldn't wait to find out. I couldn't believe how much TJR made me care.

I loved this book. I loved everything about Carrie and how unapologetic she was for who she is. I loved the relationship she had with her father and I loved the relationships she forms with another tennis pro, Beau, as well as her agent. I was so proud of her in the end and only wish that she were real and I could look up to see how and what she is doing today. Read this book. It's exceptional.

I always love a good TJR book. This one did not disappoint. I wished it stepped a little more outside of just tennis, but still really enjoyed it!

When I was young, I was never interested in tennis, even though my mother was an avid watcher, but that changed after I happened to see a Federer vs. Nadal match. I still can't explain it, but I loved the way Nadal played, and that's how I kind of got into watching the sport, which would eventually lead me to reading this. I do think a familiarity with the rules helps—while I wouldn't say the author throws you into the deep end, she also doesn't explain everything. The other thing that's important to know is that there is a LOT of tennis in this book. Everything else ends up taking a backseat. I personally didn't mind it, but if you're looking for a character-driven story, I don't think this will scratch that itch.

Carrie is an unlikeable heroine, not because she's extremely ambitious and competitive, but because she's abrasive, rude, and has no filter. It was hard to root for her when she never showed a sense of sportsmanship, and hid behind a shield of "(brutal) honesty is the best policy" regardless of how that made other people feel. Her motivation at the beginning of the story is clear: someone is about to beat her record of Grand Slam titles, and she's determined to prove to everyone that she was, is, and will always remain, the best in tennis. But as you progress through the story, the way she clings to this conviction makes less and less sense, and it's almost like she's only clinging to it so we have a book to read. There are moments of her starting to realize that what she's doing isn't logical or in her best interest, but every time they simply get pushed away in favor of, "I must win!" This means that the growth we see at the very end feels very abrupt, and not in line with how she was acting for the other 95% of the story.

There has always been a double standard when it comes to women who play sports, and the expectation that they should always smile, and be pleasant, and not say an unkind word to anyone, whereas men receive more leeway when they have a bad day and start slamming stuff. I've never understood the latter—personally, I expect all professional players to show professionalism, which means not breaking rackets on the court, and being polite to the people they work/play with. I understand what the author was trying to do with Carrie, but I think there's a way to discuss this topic without making Carrie as unlikeable as she was.

Did not finish this book. It lacked the charm of TJR's other books and truthfully I don't love this celebrity universe she's created and keeps coming back to. Wish she'd focus on regular modern love stories again.

I loved this book way more than I expected! I really didn't like the glimpse of her character in Malibu Rising, but I loved the transformation of her character throughout this book.

I couldn't really get into this one. I loved TJR's other books, but this one feel flat for me. It could be because I'm not crazy about tennis? I wanted to like this one but I just didn't connect to any of the characters.

I think this could be my favorite TLR book! Carrie Soto is back, with her dad coaching and a few rivals to push her on, and off, the court. Carrie is determined at an older age for the sport to become #1 again. Through the training, the matches, her dads death, she finds that winning in life and opening herself up to love and relationships is harder, but more rewarding than a championship title

Another big success from TJR. Carrie Soto was someone I had to know more about after Malibu Rising and this definitely fulfilled my wishes!!!!

I was a bit disappointed with this one. Although I love the connection and world building between all of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books - this one felt like the least dynamic of the bunch, I enjoy a sports forward novel, but if I didn't this one would have been hard to get through. I can appreciate the trials and tribulations of a professional athlete but I felt that we lost a lot of character growth in this one. It was hard to understand/accept how she changed in the end and became more open because we weren't entirely entrenched in her emotional/mental journey.

Classic Taylor Jenkins Reid! What a fun progression through time. I was never a fan of tennis before this book, so I learned a lot about the game. Not my favorite book by this author, but she still has her spark.

I'm not a big tennis fan but I watched enough of it when I was a kid to appreciate the game. That doesn't mean I understand the scoring though. Carrie Soto is a polarizing character, but I liked her tenacity and drive. If those attributes were in a man, they would be exalted. Ms. Reid is a master storyteller with plot and characters driving the story.

It took me about 50% into this book to be fully invested, but once I was in, I was in! I really appreciated the relationship between Carrie and her father. This was extremely tennis-heavy, so I think that if you absolutely hate sports and won't be able to get past that, I would not recommend this.

(3.5)
This was good. If you are a tennis player or fan you may find more enjoyment in it than I did. Still, it’s Taylor Jenkins Reid. If you are a fan of hers you’ll like the writing style and her characters.
Carrie Soto is a tennis player whose fierce determination to win and bad attitude has made her less than popular. Still, by the time she retires from tennis she is one of the best players the world has ever known. She broke all the records and won twenty grand slam titles. Carrie, if asked, will tell you how she is entitled to each and every one of them. She sacrificed everything in order to be the best along with her father and coach, Javier. Javier was once a champion as well and has been training her since she was just two years old.
Now, six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands during the 1994 US Open as her record is being taken away by a stunning and brutal player, Nicki Chan.
Carrie, at thirty seven, decides that she is going to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one final year in an attempt to get her record back. The sports media openly says how they have never liked “the Battle-Axe” as it is, her body isn’t as fast as it once was, and she finds that the only way she may pull all of this off is if she works with a man she once loved, Bowe Huntley. Just as she is trying to prove herself, he has something to prove as well.
This book was good but I admit I got just a bit bored when the technical tennis stuff was discussed. I’ve just never watched tennis and don’t play it so I was disconnecting a lot with the story. Carrie Soto is also a character that is rather unlikeable for a good bit of the book.
This book is slightly predictable but incredibly well written. The author does pull some characters in at times in a name dropping sort of way. That’s going to be fun for fans of her other books. You’ll find quite a few little “Easter Eggs” throughout the story.
If you are a fan of this author or tennis, I definitely recommend this book.

Taylor Jenkins Reid never fails to hit it out of the park for me every time, and her newest offering is no exception. Carrie Soto is Back made me actually care about the world of tennis. After first, I was not a big Carrie fan...I found her to be totally unlikeable. But she grew on me and she grew up. Her relationship with her father was the highlight of the book for me.

Carrie Soto is back on the tennis court to defend her tournament title records as a tennis champion.

I wanted to like this book, but overall it was very boring. Most of it reads like a recountment of tennis matches. I read Agassi's "Open" which had similar recitation of tennis matches, but at least those were real tennis matches that occurred.

I did find the end a little more interesting, which kept it from 1 star rating. Carrie Soto is highly unlikelable and rude, and I guess we are supposed to figure she is this way because her mother died when she was younger? I dont know.

I also wanted more tie-in with Malibu Rising. Reid puts in about a 2 sentence part, almost like an afterthought. It appears her editor told her, "you know, people are going to want to read about Brandon, can you at least put in 2 sentences?"

I would say skip this one unless you love reading "love-love...she served the ball, Carrie broke the serve." I do not.

For a book about tennis and a reader who doesn’t care about tennis, I kind of loved this book. Carrie Soto is Back is about tennis, sure, but it’s also about legacy and family and friendships and love and reputation and following your dreams and representation and what happens when life doesn’t turn out how you expected and passing the torch. Excellent storytelling. Another TJR masterpiece.

Esperava e não esperava gostar desse livro. Até por que Marília Mendonça nos iludiu ao dizer que amante não tinha lar.



A vida de Carrie Soto se resume ao tênis. Desde pequena ela foi treinada pelo pai e foi um prodígio do esporte desde cedo. E nada menos que a perfeição é o que lhe interessa. Ela quebrou todos os recordes do esporte e deixou uma reputação de ser implacável. Agora, cinco anos depois de sua aposentadoria uma jogadora nova está perto de se igualar a ela e é aí que Carrie decide retornar as quadras. Será que ela consegue voltar a glória depois de tantos anos parada?



Eu tenho uma relação de amor e ódio com a escrita da Taylor Jenkins Reid, ela escreveu um dos meus livros preferidos dos últimos anos e o PIOR livro que eu li nos últimos cinco anos, então ler algo que ela escreveu sempre é uma roleta russa pra mim. Dessa vez ela conseguiu criar uma protagonista com quem eu consegui me conectar, mas por quem eu não consegui torcer.



Carrie Soto simplesmente não conseguiu me fazer torcer completamente por ela, mas eu não a odiei como pensei que odiaria depois que li Malibu Renasce. Ela é só uma garota que não aprendeu a perder e que foi alimentada com sonhos de grandeza. Ela é esforçada e isso eu posso reconhecer é algo nela que eu gostei, sua tenacidade e perfeccionismo. Mas parou por aí, ela nunca parou para pensar que suas ações puderam ter consequências na vida de outras pessoas, tanto que em seu livro tudo que ela fez com Nina Riva não ocupou mais de 5 páginas. E isso me deixou put4 com a autora! Pelo amor de deus, mulher por qual motivo a Nina tinha que sofrer tanto?



Por outro lado, se você estava esperando outro livro mais romântico, coisa que os outros livros nesse universo, com excessão de Evelyn Hugo, não tem pode comemorar que temos uma relação madura e um mocinho que não vai desistir fácil dessa tenista.



Além disso tudo, pudemos ter finalmente um pai não tóxico nesse livro, eu nem sabia que essa autora sabia escrever machos não tóxicos que são pais. Como pode né?

Another fabulous book from author Taylor Jenkins Reid. As an athlete, I enjoyed the main character and could identify with the grit that comes from a long career in athletics. TJR writes her characters with a depth and skill that keeps readers entranced and turning pages. Carrie Soto was an emotionally charged read that had me hooked and will have me lined up for Reid's next novel release.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. This author generates page turners at every turn so I wasn’t surprised I was in it to win it from the beginning. But that also means I have high expectations from the beginning as well. And I did not disappoint. Carrie Soto has taken 10 years off from tennis and now her title of most wins is about to be taken from her. She is torn on if she should make a come back at 39 years old to try to keep the title of number one. Nobody liked her when she played tennis because of her hard attitude and the way she took down opponents so it definitely will not be an easy journey. I love the storyline, the character build ups and the overarching theme. Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.