Carrie Soto is an Argentinian-American tennis player who not only sets the world record for the most grand-slam wins once, but sets out to do it a second time when her record is beaten.

The story was certainly a moving one. Carrie is single-minded in her determination to be the best. But to achieve her level of success she has to make a lot of sacrifices, and at some point her body simply won’t be able to keep up with her desire to win. Not only that, but she’s sacrificed her mental health and indulged in unhealthy behaviors that aren’t serving her in her retirement from tennis. She lost her mother at a young age, and decided that it's easier to push people away than let anyone have the power to hurt you like that when they leave.

After the loss of her mother it is just Carrie and her father. They're incredibly close, and her father ends up coaching her so they are always together. Carrie’s father was such a beautiful character. The way he not only cheered her on, but you could feel the love streaming off the page.

The story is set between the '70s and the '90s so it's just long ago that social media, cell phones etc weren't a thing, but not so long ago that the world is completely different. While it's hard for me to come to terms with something within my lifetime being 'historical' fiction, I enjoy the slight step back in time.

The Australian Open is a huge deal in Australia, and while I never got to go in person I have so many memories of watching the matches on TV, and it would be all anyone was talking about while it was on. I even played tennis for a while as a kid because I was so enamored with it all. (Spoiler, I wasn't very good).

It’s so surreal to think of elite athletes as having a full career by the time most of us are just getting started. One of my best friends is an ex-Olympic gymnast and it still blows my mind that she retired when I was still in college, and then started a whole second career from that point.

Once again, TJR writes an extraordinary book! Carrie Soto had a very different feel to me than Evelyn Hugo or Malibu, but was not any less gripping. I could not put this book down and I couldn't wait to see what happened in the Carrie Soto comeback story.

One thing I love about TJR is her ability to create characters that have "flaws," but are still extremely likable and relatable. Even though Carrie is known as a "bitch" in the tennis world and doesn't have the easiest time making friends, TJR makes her feel real and knowing her backstory helps you understand Carrie as a person. I loved the female friendship between her and Gwen and also Nikki. Female friendships do not have to be cookie cutter ideas, and I think this book explores different types of friendships well. I do not know much about tennis, but I still found this book fascinating. It was technical enough without excluding people who are not familiar with the game.

I also happened to be reading this book while Serena Williams is doing her final rounds at the US Open and it was just perfect timing. Two exceptional women making history. Love this book!

Better than Reid's last book for me.

I'll admit it, tennis doesn't really thrill me. I enjoyed the movie King Richard and the story about the Williams girls, but I don't know much about it otherwise.

This, however, while it's about tennis (and a lot of tennis I might add) it's also about more than that. It's about a father and a daughter and their relationship. It's about learning how to deal with failure and defeat, even if you're dragged kicking and screaming to deal with it. It's about determination and yes, even obsession, to reach your own goals, even to the detriment of everything else.

I didn't like Carrie through most of this book. I couldn't relate to her, I couldn't understand her drive to be the best at all costs. I couldn't identify with her single mindedness when it came to tennis. Yet, by the end of the book, I could see the changes in her personality, in her ability to relate to others and let others into her life. While I did like the romance portions of this book, that really takes a back seat to the tale of a father and a daughter and what their love for each other looks like. That's the absolute strength of this book for me and what kept me reading even when I didn't care for much else.

It was a fairly quick read and I didn't let myself get bogged down by the tennis terminology and descriptions of the games. I just cruised right by and was captivated by the relationships and the growth of the characters beyond the scores and faults and other tennis minutiae.

Worthwhile read.

Going into this book, I have never been a tennis player nor have I ever enjoyed watching tennis, BUT this book did catch my attention from the start and kept me interested, even though I have never cared for this sport. Taylor Jenkins Reid did a fantastic job of creating a book that is different from what I've read of hers before. Although I don't understand one bit of tennis, through her beautiful writing, I was able to at least get the gist of what was going on! The character development that happened throughout the story was phenomenal. I felt all of the feelings from happiness, hate, to sadness. There were many parts that made me giggle or laugh out loud. This was an excellent book to be added in the TJR universe where she brings in parts or just people from some of her other books.

Carrie Soto is the G.O.A.T. of women's tennis. Being taught how to play from a young age, by her professional tennis playing father, her life centered around tennis at all times. But once Carrie has retired, and has been retired for some time, another women's tennis player rises up in the ranks to be, possibly the G.O.A.T.? Carrie Soto is a player and does not want that title taken away from her, so she does what anyone would do: Come out of retirement and try to win back her title. Carrie Soto is back!!

I have read as much Taylor Jenkins Reid as I can get my hands on and I couldn’t wait to read her newest book, Carrie Soto Is Back. Tennis star Carrie Soto made an appearance in Malibu Rising and I was excited to hear more of the fictional famous athlete’s story.

I really love Reid’s writing, but I was worried about this one. The first third of the book details Soto’s rise to tennis stardom but there is just only so much tennis that can be interesting to read about. I was a gymnast, and my hand-eye-ball coordination is HORRIBLE so tennis may as well not even be in my vocabulary. My husband has never looked at me with more disgust than when we were on a tennis court together. And although Reid tries to explain the game, I still had to square the difference between game, set, and match with my husband to fully understand it (and maybe even then I still don’t get it).

So the beginning of this book is just cataloguing drills and games or matches or whatever they are and it was just plain boring. Carrie is a little spicy in the beginning but nothing to really hold onto. Then finally we get to the comeback and things start to get more interesting. The relationship with her father becomes more a centerpiece and other relationships enter the scene that make it overall more interesting to follow.

By the end I was almost crying over these characters so it really turned around for me. It was a slow start but it ended as a grand slam! (That is a tennis term right?)

Once again Reid had me, and this ended as one of my favorites by her. Daisy Jones & The Six will still be my all time favorite but this was very good.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine Books for an ARC of this book.

I am usually a huge fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid. Daisy Jones and the Six was one of my all time favorite books. This author's strength is writing character driven stories. Unfortunately, Carrie Soto is Back was not for me. I tried so hard to love this book. I really wanted to be swept away as I have been with all of the author's other books. Unfortunately, I felt there was way too much focus on tennis itself. I thought the story would focus more on the characters than the world that they lived in. I also really didn't feel that Carrie was a likeable character. I really struggled with this book.

I really enjoyed this novel and the strong characters in it. The main character, Carrie Soto, came out of a 6 year retirement to defend her incredible record. I played some tennis while growing up so it was easier to follow, but even for someone that is not into tennis, I still feel they would find it would not be an issue. Carrie was so intriguing to me and I loved seeing the emotional development in her and her relationship with her father, Javier. I loved Javier and his outlook on things. Carrie was her own person that did not play to the press and sportscasters. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity for the ARC and to review this incredibly interesting novel,

I don't know how TJR does it, but she can make anything captivating to me! Carrie Soto was once the greatest tennis player of all time. Now she's in her late 30's and sees women ten years younger than her getting close to taking her title. She decides to come out of retirement to prove to everyone, including herself, that she's still the greatest.

I like tennis, but I wasn't particularly excited by the description of this book. I'm a big TJR fan so I picked it up anyways and still don't understand exactly what made me so obsessed with this book. Tennis is all Carrie Soto cares about and it's very clearly her whole life. This whole book is constant tennis - practice, games, talking to other people about tennis. If someone had told me that before I read it, I might not have picked it up. I'm glad I did. I loved having a peek into the mind of someone considered "The Bitch" of their sport. Even though Carrie is fictional, its changed my perception of athletes that I consider to be full of themselves.

As always, a highly recommended read from Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Carrie Soto has put her all into her tennis career - it has demanded a lot and she has given it all - at the start of the book 37 years old and 8 years into her retirement, she feels it’s time to come back because her record of most Slam titles could fall - and who is she really if she is not the greatest tennis player ? This is the question she needs to confront but she evades and throws herself into training to be the greatest again.

This book is a masterpiece in character development. I am not a tennis player or a tennis watcher and I was worried that a book set in the tennis scene wouldn’t be for me. But this book … I loved it and felt myself rooting for Carrie even if she was not the most likable of characters starting out.

She was an unapologetic, hardworking, talented badass but not necessarily a person to be friends with … actually she doesn’t really have many friends. But her character development was absolutely beautiful to see throughout the book.
She has a great supporting cast of characters as well - I loved Bowe and Nicki !

And while this book does circulate around tennis and Carrie’s comeback, there’s so much more - you do not have to be a tennis aficionado to read this one. It is not about rooting for Carrie Soto on the court, but about cheering for her to overcome her fears, insecurities and losses off the court.

This was a solid 3.5/5 stars read for me. This is a story about an up and coming tennis player trained by her father who decides to come out of retirement in her late 30s due to her obsessive need to be known and remembered as the absolute best.

I found myself needing more depth on anything and everything other than tennis. There is a lot of tennis. Like... A. LOT! And whereas this didn't deter me from enjoying the book, I wanted more. A more human side to Carrie. More from Carrie and Bowe. More from some of her opponents.

Also, if you don't know Spanish (which luckily, I do) I think you'll miss a lot from the exchanges between Carrie and her father.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Carrie Soto was the best tennis player in the world and known for her fierce, some say bitchy, attitude towards everyone she comes in contact with. Six years after Carrie's retirement, Nicki Chan is the newest world tennis queen and she is coming for Carrie's record. Carrie decides to come out of retirement to take one more shot at keeping her record. A lot of people are rooting against her comeback, but Carrie is determined to be better than she was before.

I struggled with the start of this book. It has SO much tennis in it (as expected) and while I have nothing against tennis, it's never been something I'm interested in so that part didn't keep my interest at the start. What I learned about 1/3 of the way through is that this book is about so much more than tennis. This story is about two strong women fighting to be their very best in a world that constantly wants to criticize and tear you down. It's also a love story between a father and a daughter. Carrie is a very unlikable character from the beginning, but you still root for her and I loved how her story unfolded. Don't let the intensity of the tennis and Carrie's bitchy attitude deter you at the start. You will want to see how it ends. You might even want to pick up a tennis racket when it's over.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine, and Taylor Jenkins Reid for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Carrie Soto is back is a beautiful story about the life of a woman who is learning that there is more to life than playing tennis.

Carrie was basically raised to love tennis. From a young age, playing tennis became her number one priority. She is teamed up with her father as her coach, until she starts to worry that he isn't enough and she switches to a new coach. What follows is a HUGE success. Carrie becomes the most decorated player in women's tennis history, but she eventually retires early due to an injury.

Fast forward a few years, Carrie is on better terms with her father and they are together when a younger player ties with Carrie for most wins in women's tennis. Carrie finds herself in a position where she comes out of retirement to defend her title. What happens next is that Carrie faces tons of backlash from the media for being an unlikable player, for being too old, for being single. So not only is Carrie facing her own expectations of trying to win back her title, she also is facing back lash from the media for pretty much every single possible reason they can think of.

Watching Carrie overcome all of the criticism, and find her love for the sport, as well as learn to remember that there is more to life than tennis is a really moving story. Taylor Jenkins Reid has always done an incredible job writing about human emotion and the human experience. I have never considered myself to be a fan of tennis, but while reading this I was so consumed by the story and the sport equally. I couldn't read this book fast enough, and I already want to know what has happened to Carrie since the end of the story. She feels like a real life celebrity, and I want to know whats next.

This is my third TJR book and I have more coming! She doesn't seem to strive to make her main characters likable and instead focuses on giving them realistic and unique qualities that make them respectable. I love the honesty that Carrie had in this book. She was very straight forward and open about how she thought and felt.

Another character that I absolutely loved was Carrie's father, Javier. He was a flawed man but he loved his daughter and devoted his life to helping her achieve her goals. Their relationship had ups and downs, but it was one of the most beautiful things about this book.

There was a little romance in Carrie Soto is Back, but I wouldn't say that it is the biggest part of the story. Carrie's journey to grow and find herself (somewhat unintentionally) is the main focus. I have never watched a tennis match in my life, but I was able to follow the book easily. Carrie's self-realization is inspiring and I would definitely recommend this book!

Carrie Soto, The Battleaxe, tennis legend. She's been retired for six years when Nicki Chan takes her record for most Grand Slam titles. At 37 years old, Carrie calls in her father to be her coach again and try to reclaim her rightfully claimed legend status.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is a goddamn artist. Her writing is flawless, her characters are so dimensional. I want to fight every single one of them and I LOVE it.
Add this to my never ending list of 5 star TJR books.

⭐⭐⭐/5

• verrrrry tennis heavy
• annoying main character
• enjoyable father/daughter relationship storyline

Must. Love. Tennis. I don't know what else to say. I gave this 3 stars because I wasn't sure how else to rate it. I just didn't feel as connected to this story and these characters as I was for, say, Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones. We all know TJR can write a hell of a story. This one was just different. 🤷‍♀️

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse / Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

Absolutely loved this book! Just as I did with Daisy Jones, I found myself wondering and wanting to google if Carrie Soto was a real player - the story was that well written. And of course Serena is in the news for a real life version of this story unfolding at the US Open.
Carrie’s dad Javier - she was his world and he wanted the world for Carrie, but like all of us as parents, most of all he wanted her to be happy. I played high school tennis, but haven’t really played much since - honestly it doesn’t matter if you are a tennis fan or not, you will become one after reading this book. I also loved the tie-ins with a couple of her previous books (Daisy Jones and Malibu Rising) and the 80s/90s time period references.

Thanks the the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC - this book is phenomenal and available now!

What a beautiful book! I loved Carrie Soto is back. I couldn’t put it down. I was on the edge of my seat biting my nails throughout her comeback. I felt like I was in it with Carrie.

Taylor wrote another beautiful story with wonderful characters. I loved Carrie but her father, Javier Soto, was my favorite. He LOVED his daughter and you could see and feel it throughout the book. Their relationship was beautiful to see. I will remember some of his wisdom for my life. And Bowe! I loved his relationship with Carrie. He saw her and loved her for exactly who she was.

Carrie’s story was beautiful and inspiring not just because of her tennis journey and accomplishments, but her personal journey. Her comeback taught her a lot about herself, life, and love, and I love who she became. It is inspiring.

If you loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo then you will love this book too. This book is Evelyn Hugo level amazing.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

Carrie ARC
4.5 rounded up to 5.
CARRIE SOTO IS BACK, BABY!!!! TJR has officially written one of the fiercest female main characters that I have EVER read. I was worried for how I would feel towards Carrie after certain events that occurred in Malibu Rising - but she is her own kind of boss and I am HERE FOR IT! This book has everything from coming of age to drama to father/daughter relationship to training sessions/matches. As someone who never understood anything about tennis I now want to go out and buy a frickin racket! But not just that, I want to grow up to be so unapologetically me just like Carrie was in this book. Carrie really embodies what it is means to stand your ground but also grow into the self awareness necessary to evolve and accept the new phase of life that one is in. I absolutely loved the relationships she has with her dad, Bowe, Gwen, and eventually Nicki. My only critique is that I wished there had been more to the backstory that set up some of those subplots/plot twists. I think that would’ve been the difference between my actually crying instead of choking up during specific scenes. But overall this book was so fantastic that I bought the physical on pub day because I couldn’t let another day go without this book being on my shelf!

Read if you love: tennis, fierce female main characters, The Karate Kid or Rocky movies

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub Date 8/30/22

I have read and loved Taylor Jenkins Reid's last three books, so I was looking forward to reading this one and finding out more about Carrie Soto, who had a small but pivotal role in Malibu Rising. This was a fast-paced and entertaining read, but I did not connect with the characters the way I did when reading Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones, and Malibu Rising. I'm not much of a tennis person, but beyond that I found Carrie to be a little too unlikable. Ambitious, competitive, and tough are all great qualities, but I found. her to be a little mean. As a result I didn't really root for her, and whether or not she won her matches was pretty much the whole story. Overall, worth reading, but not quite up to the very high standard set by Reid's previous novels.

Quick & Dirty
-FAAAASSSSTT paced read
-TJR's fiercest female lead yet
-father/daughter bond
-BEST AUDIOBOOK EVER

Synopsis
Carrie Soto is staring forty in the face and feeling every bit her age. But that isn't going to stop her from regaining her crown. Nikki Chan, a superstar British powerhouse, has just overtaken her record for the most Grand Slams ever. Determined to regain her crown, Carrie picks up a racket for the first time in years. With her father by her side, Carrie stands on the edge of greatness once again. Does she have what it takes to bring down the long list of young players standing in her way? Can she beat Nikki Chan? Will she have what it takes to win again?

Musings
What a book, y'all! There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said. TJR does it again. She is the queen of character-driven novels that keep you hanging on every word until the bitter end. And Carrie Soto is an exercise in greatness. Not only does she craft a near-perfect character you love to hate and hate to love, but she adds complexity to Carrie that sneaks up on you. The father/daughter relationship in this book is EVERYTHING! There were moments I was choking back sobs, laughing out loud, raging mad, and jumping for joy. I had access to both an ebook copy and an audiobook copy and for a while switched between the two, but ultimately the audiobook version won out. Listening to this one added SO much to the experience, which is why I HIGHLY recommend listening to this one if you can. The narration is perfect, and the sportscasting spots scattered throughout the book are so much more fun via audio. It really felt like I was watching a tournament at times!

Is this my favorite TJR? I'm not sure yet, but I know it's REALLY high up there!