***BOOK REVIEW***
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Carrie Soto is Back
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid


I really enjoyed Carrie Soto is Back. It’s a story about hard work and not giving up. And I liked how the love story element wasn’t the main thing taking place. I could have used less tennis but it worked.

I really loved Carrie Soto. Her I don’t give a shit attitude that reminds me of myself. Also, I think the best part of her is that no matter what if you work hard you can achieve anything, no matter your age.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for a copy of Carrie Soto is Back in exchange of an honest review

Thank you Taylor Jenkins Reid, Random House-Ballantine, and Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

I'll be honest, Malibu Rising fell a little flat for me after how much I LOVED Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones. This one made up for it.

Carrie Soto is not likeable by any means but that's exactly how TJR intended her. She is ambitious, strong, driven, and competitive to a fault. She says what she thinks- none of the nice "well it could have been anyone's match" nonsense that she sees in her other female competitors. She's never afraid to state just how good she is. I loved the dynamic between Carrie and her Dad, who also at times serves as her coach and put her on this path.

4 stars!

I found this book to be both exciting and exhilarating. Carrie Soto is a tennis player who has loved the game since she was a child and has been playing ever since being coached by her father Javier. She literally has given her life up for tennis. She hurts her knee and retires being the greatest woman tennis player. Six years past and Nicki Chan breaks Carrie's grand slam record and Carrie makes a decision. She 37 years old and decides she has to get back on the court and claim her fame back. This story is captivating and so well written. Carrie is a character you love and hate at the same time. Just like the media who writes about her. This story has family relationships and love relationships. You keep reading because you are excited to see how this all plays out and the ending will not disappoint. I highly recommend.
Thanks to #netgalley,#ballantinebooks and @tjenkinsreid for an ARC of the great read.

This author’s books have been hit or miss for me. I enjoyed Evelyn but was lukewarm on Malibu and Daisy.

I know absolutely nothing about tennis, but I do know I absolutely loved this book and that it got me out of a reading rut!!

Carrie Soto, the founding woman of modern day tennis, now 37 years old and 8 years into her retirement, decides it’s time to come back to defend her record of most Slam titles.

This book. A freaking masterpiece. First things first, I have always loved a good sports movie (insert Miracle and Remember the Titans here). Now imagine every great, outstanding moment of a sports film - every feeling of loss and triumph and all the adrenaline rushes - and morph it into a novel. And walla - Carrie Soto is born.

I loved Carrie Soto. She was an unapologetic, hardworking, talented badass. I want to be Carrie Soto when I grow up! And her character development was so beautiful throughout the book. I cannot say enough how much I loved I fell in love with all the characters in this book - especially Carrie Soto.

And while this book does circulate around tennis and Carrie’s comeback, the plot gives you so much more than that. You are not only rooting for Carrie Soto on the court, but you also cheering for her to overcome her fears and losses off the court.

As somebody who came into this book knowing absolutely nothing about tennis, I can confidently say TJR did an absolutely fantastic job describing the sport in a way that anybody could read and enjoy.

While I have a few of TJR’s books left to read, I have a very good feeling that Carrie Soto will remain in my #1 spot. Thank you, TJR, for giving me Carrie Soto and a sports novel I never knew I needed.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

With US Open approaching, Serena announcing her retirement, and Rafa aging like a fine wine, this book was timely. Play by play telling of the games gave me the same thrill that I feel watching the matches.

Don’t we love a determined woman? Us women, yes. Men? No. (Also there is a special place in hell for those women who don’t support each other 😡). Everyone was dissing Soto’s return to courts to defend her hard earned record. They called her names that made Elton John’s certain song a very fitting theme song. With her father on her side, she made up her mind. She was going to defend her records and go for another Slam win. After a rocky start and few events that shook her to her core, she remembered why she started playing in the first place: the sheer joy of playing the game…

I’m not sure if I liked this book because of the story itself or because of tennis. There were few cheesy things about it where I thought this must be to please romance lovers 😝😝 Also, you would find few nods to Jenkins Reid’s other works. If you are big fan of her, you’ll like this book too. I just like that she is dedicating her books to different eras.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the new novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid - 5 stars!

Carrie Soto is the best women's tennis player on record, smashing all records by winning twenty Grand Slams. But it came with sacrifice - she has no friends, on or off the court, and is know as the Battle Axe. Her father, Javier, was her coach from the age of 2 and taught her well - her entire world was tennis. But six years later, there's a new kid on the block - Nicki Chan - who has now tied Carrie's record and is set to beat it. At the age of 37, Carrie makes the decision to come out of retirement and reclaim her record.

Carrie is an interesting protagonist. She doesn't care what others think about her, she's brutally honest, won't let anyone close, and only cares about the win. But she's also determined, willing to put her body and mind on the line for what she wants. This book totally immerses you in the tennis world and I was happy to be a part of it. I loved the ending and the message both the author and Carrie's dad tried to instill - you don't have to prove anything to those you love and who love you. My only slight complaint is that there are a lot of Spanish sentences in here - if you are like me and want to know every word of dialogue, you'll be using the translation feature on your Kindle a lot! I love Jenkins Reid's books and highly recommend her latest!

I’ll start by saying, that this is one of my favorite books of the year so far! It has been a while since I have so thoroughly enjoyed a book from start to finish like I did this one. I tried to savor this book, but I didn’t want to put it down.

I began thinking how great it was that it was being released during the US Open, that plays so prominently in the book.

While I was reading it, Serena Williams announced her retirement from tennis. As my favorite player, I could already see some similarities with Carrie.

Carrie was known as “The Battle Axe” (& called worse), there aren’t even many people rooting for her at first. She’s not a friendly player, seeking the audience’s or the press’ approval. She cares about winning!

Six years after her retirement, Carrie is sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, to see her Grand Slam titles record broken by a younger, faster, & equally driven player.

So, at thirty-seven years old, she makes the decision to come out of retirement for one last year of Grand Slams in an attempt to reclaim her record. The sports media says it will never happen, but they never supported her when she was playing, so that isn’t a shock. She never fit into their mold of a female tennis player.

At its very core this novel is a story about a father and daughter. It has heart, grit, determination. Also, a love story with an almost-40 year old tennis player trying to stay in the mix on the circuit and is training with her. Bowe came to train for her comeback with her because no female player would.

Along the way, there were mentions of characters from TJR’s other books. I also loved a brief mention of Princess Diana watching her play at Wimbledon - “I know that so many people across the world feel a kinship with her. But right now, mine feels especially sharp. I want to win, today, with her here. I want to say to her, They can’t make us go away just because they are done with us.” Indeed!

That was just one of the tennis matches brilliantly described in the book, each match is a chapter on her road to reclaim her title as the greatest tennis player in the world.

There are many twists & turns along the way, but by the end she ultimately finds peace.

Like Daisy Jones, Evelyn Hugo & Nina Riva - Carrie Soto is a strong female character and I loved them all.
If you are a fan of TJR this is a must read!

Rating (5/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release date - August 30th, 2022

Thank you NetGalley & Ballantine Books for this ARC in exchange my honest review.

TJR can truly do no wrong. In her now novel Carrie Soto Is Back, we meet another incredible and strong woman who will both steal your heart, and also frustrate you to no end. Carrie was one of the worlds most successful tennis players, until she wasn’t. Several years later with the help of her father, she attempts to rise from the ashes for another legendary win. Every win and loss Carrie feels, you feel it too. Taylor is truly a masterful writer who will break your heart only to mend it up again. Although it is not my favorite from the author, it is definitely a must read!

Taylor Jenkins Reid does it everytime! I’ve never been into the sport of tennis or even following professional athletes so I was a bit worried about getting into this story. Right away this story sucked you in. Throughout the story Carrie is obsessed with the idea of winning and I wanted her to win. you can see her mindset slowly beginning to change and then all a sudden you realize that you’ve also changed what you’re rooting for. TJR is an incredible author who just does it right everytime!!!

I want to start out by saying I love TJR and this makes me so sad to say but I just couldn’t get into this one. It was so heavy on the tennis and I found myself skimming large chunks of it because it wasn’t keeping my interest. And there was so much background. It felt like forever until she finally got to the comeback part.

Even though Carrie wasn’t very likable I still found myself rooting for her. I loved her determination and dedication.

This book was my favorite of Reid’s in a long time. She really sets you up to decide if you either love or hate Carrie. The father and daughter dynamic is exceptional and you can’t end the book without completely loving Javier. So great. Recommend to everyone

Taylor Jenkins Reid has a magical way of getting into the minds her characters. This is my 3rd of her books. Evelyn, Daisy and now Carrie are all strong women. And while we dont like them all the time, we feel like we know them personally. Perhaps it's the first person story telling, perhaps it's that we can sympathize with growing older and life not being exactly what we hoped it would be, or perhaps we just love a book where the main character adapts and grows.

"At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked “the Battle-Axe” anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did." - Jenkins

I am going to start with this book has alot and I mean alot of tennis in it, but it's not a tennis story. This is a relationship story. It's a story about finding yourself. It's about discovering whats important to you and it's about growth - real growth as a human being. Carrie Soto has always equated success to what she accomplished on the tennis court. She strives to be perfect, and on the court she appears to have it together, but as a person, she's flawed. In order to have success, she has shut everything else in her life out. The media doesn't understand her - calling her the "battle ax" and the "B." This is very realistic in today's world. Women focused on careers are seen as less than. Women without husbands and children are viewed as "somethings wrong with them." We forget the pure focus, drive and determination to reach elite athete status. It has to be all encompassing. Jenkins demonstrates this to perfection in Carrie.

Carrie Soto's story is told through time periods. We learn about her as a child and as a young tennis enthusiast. I appreciate the brief sports commentary spread through tennis matches. It's very realistic and entertaining to hear how each commentator feels about the participants chances at the various open tounaments. Carrie Soto is Back is well tied to together and shares all aspect of Carrie's rise, fall and hopeful rise again in the tennis world.

So, for a person who switches the channel when tennis is on the screen, I have to admit there was no putting down Jenkin's Carrie Soto. I loved the book. I loved the writing. I found myself rooting for her. I loved the relationships of newbie tennis players and aging tennis players. And I absolutely loved Carrie and her father. The love for each other and the love of the game translates so very well. I just loved it all. So to those who aren't fans of tennis, I challenge you to pick up this book. I'm pretty confident you will love it too.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Taylor Jenkins Reid for .sharing a book about life and the things that are worth going for in it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Carrie Soto is a highly successful tennis player who is coached by her father, Javier. Her mother died when she was young and it's been her and her father her whole life. She is known to be stoic, serious, and does not make friends with other tennis players. She retires and then comes back to the game poised to be the oldest women's player to ever win a slam (Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open etc).

Taylor Jenkins Reid is my favorite author, but I like her older work better. The story was well written but I feel if you don't have a background of tennis it's slightly hard to follow. There was also some Spanish without translation sprinkled throughout the book that I only half understood (as someone who took several years of Spanish into college!) Most of the story takes place in the 80s and 90s before cell phones which makes it nostalgic. She watches tapes of her matches and gathers around the television with her father and Bowe, her colleague, to watch her opponents' matches, and receives faxes with her match-ups for tournaments.

Please take my review with a grain of salt as I read this book in several tiny chunks while doing night feeds with my newborn.

I think this is TJR’s best book so far. Carrie Soto is Back is a fast paced and powerful novel. I really enjoyed the formatting of this book and I heard the audiobook is also fantastic. I’m not a tennis expert by any means and while there was a lot of tennis talk, I still was fully here for it. The story of a powerful woman trying to make a come back really resonates with a lot of people. My favorite part was the relationship between Carrie and her father Xavier, their relationship is definitely the central part of the story. Personally I think this would make an excellent miniseries as well.

Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Carrie Soto broke records as an amazing tennis player back in her prime. Coached by her dad, she set her sights on being the best and wouldn't take anything less. All her years as a fierce competitor did a number on her body, and she decided to retire once she stopped winning matches like she used to. Fast forward to Carrie at 37 years old. Another tennis player threatens to take Carrie's record. Carrie decides to come out of retirement, with her dad as her coach once again, to try and outdo her old record so she stays at the top. Will she be able to pull it off?

Full disclosure: I've never been a fan of tennis. It comes on TV and I immediately change the channel. But.... I couldn't put this one down and found all of the details to be fascinating. I have a new found appreciation for tennis after reading this. The athleticism and training needed to do this sport is so impressive, and Taylor Jenkins Reid drives this home in Carrie Soto Is Back. And this is why I will read anything that TJR writes - she has this way of pulling you into a story where you can't stop reading. If you've been leery of reading this because you're not a tennis fan, put that aside and read this book. It was fantastic.

Wow where to begin

Every single book TJR comes out with, I’ve loved more than the last, even when I think it isn’t possible to love a book more. Malibu rising was one of my favorite books that I read this year and I didn’t think Carrie Soto would edge that book out to be even better, but BOY WAS I WRONG. I just can’t wait to see what TJR writes next at the date this is going.

Carrie Soto grew up playing tennis and became a professional player, with her father Javier Soto as her coach. How could she not? Javier himself was a famous tennis player as well and always taught Carrie to strive to be the best. This is Carrie Soto’s story about coming back out of retirement when she sees another player threatening her records for most grand slams won. BUT there’s so much more to this story than that. It’s about a relationship between father and daughter, about opening your heart up when you’ve been closed up for so long out of fear, about living and proving yourself as a woman in a world designed to be easier for white men, about accepting yourself where you are in life and enjoying the moment. UGH and even more but lemme recuperate from all the sobbing at the last 1/4 of the book to gather more thoughts.

I absolutely loved this book and wish I could read it for the first time again. Thank you so much to NetGalley and random house publishing group for this eARC in enchanted for an honest review. I can’t wait for my physical copy to come in so I can highlight all the quotes I marked on my kindle!!

It’s been over a month since I’ve read Carrie Soto, and when I sat down to write this review, any nerves I had because I’ve been so far removed from it, immediately evaporated. This book is so ingrained in my mind, I feel like I read it yesterday.

It’s one of my top reads not just this year, but ever.

I don’t know HOW TJR did it, but she took a completely unlikeable character in Carrie Soto and made me not only root for her but feel emotionally connected to her. And the way she was able to span so much time so efficiently, but still pack in so much emotion was masterful.

I loved her choice for the narrative structure, forgoing chapters for sections broken up into date ranges consisting of time frames, news articles, sports commentary, and matches. It made it so much more interesting to read and left me with that same feeling of awe I had while reading Daisy Jones.

I was blown away by how much research TJR must have put into the sport, and I learned SO MUCH. The training necessary to play at that level, the nuances of playing on the different style courts, the sexism, the media scrutiny, and player dynamics were so fascinating. I honestly worried I would get burned out by the amount of tennis depicted in the book (it’s A LOT), but I thought TJR did a great job of balancing the tennis with Carrie’s personal life making the story move along seamlessly. I became SO INVESTED in how everything was going to play out.

I really enjoyed Carrie’s relationships with her agent, Gwen, and tennis “partner” Bowe. I loved the push and pull of their relationship and how naturally their relationship progressed.

My absolute FAVORITE thing about the story was Carrie’s relationship with her father. I swear I was already tearing up in the first few pages as they discussed her possible comeback. I was a blubbering mess by the end of the book, and Javier’s character holds a special place in my heart. I highlighted SO MANY lines (life lessons) and moments in this book.

And the ending…🥹😭💯💯💯.

I just don’t know what else to say other than no one writes (powerful) women like TJR, and I hope she never stops. This book is perfection. Thank you, @randomhouse and @netgalley for this ARC!

Carrie Soto is Back lacked something...a like-able character. It got better as the book progressed. I know that a general characteristic of elite athletes is self-centeredness, you have to have this to be able to dedicate so much of your life to your physicality and upheaval to your family. All said, Carrie was just not like-able, until the end. I don't know anything about tennis so it was interesting to read about it, even if I didn't understand it all. TJR is so great at writing side characters- I loved them all and wanted more about them! Overall, I liked this one a lot but didn't LOVE it. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

A Grand Slam

Carrie Soto is a tennis legend, claiming 20 Grand Slam titles. For years, her father, Javier, has been her coach. Now, it is 1994, and Carrie is retired. During the US Open, Carrie watches as Nicki Chan matches her record. Carrie wants to come out of retirement to reclaim her record. Will Carrie be able to affirm her place in tennis history?

First of all, let’s talk about how TJR, Taylor Jenkins Reid, is such a great author. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising, and Daisy Jones and The Six, all great books. Carrie Soto is Back is also very readable with short sentences and paragraphs. The pages were flying by, and I found the book easy to read.

Second, there is some depth to this book as we sort through Carrie’s relationships and feelings. Carrie unapologetically talks about how she is the greatest tennis player of all time and how much she works for her success. And people don’t like her outspokenness.

It really reminded me of a YouTube video that I watched recently. The commentator said that back in the 90’s, when women were asked about their success, they would often times blush, giggle, and say how they were lucky. Only until recently have more women been able to say, “I got to where I am because of hard work.”

I have also fallen into this trap before, thinking a person was successful because they were lucky. On International Women’s Day, my employer hired a wildly successful TV anchor to give us a pep talk. Like many people, I thought, “She’s just lucky.”

However, the TV anchor passed her resume around, by hand, to hundreds of potential employers. Finally, one station allowed her to cover the traffic report. She spent her week driving around and covering potholes and traffic accidents. On night and weekends, she would wait at the station, ready to fill in for one of the TV anchors if there was a last-minute cancellation. It took her years to finally obtain her position. Luck had nothing to do with her success.

And I hope that Carrie Soto is Back inspires more of these conversations.

Third, Carrie Soto is Back definitely surprised me, and these surprises made the book stronger.

Overall, if you are looking for a captivating, engaging, easy-to-read book, pick up Carrie Soto is Back!

*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.