Daisy Jones, Evelyn Hugo, Nina Riva, and now Carrie Soto.
Taylor Jenkis Reid has once again proved that she can write the most perfectly imperfect woman lead. I love Carrie Soto and I hate her at the same time—something only a masterful author can achieve. But anyways, let’s get into it.
(➡️swipe for full synopsis)

Ana’s Favorites:
🎾 I know little to nothing about tennis, yet my heart was pounding and I was getting anxious reading about Carrie’s tennis matches
⭐️ The way TJR wrote about the sexism in the sport and the inequalities that men players vs women players face—it made me wonder if that still happens today
🤍 The little love story woven into the very fabric of this book
🎾 Carrie’s character development was spectacular
⭐️ Javier Soto stole my friggin HEART! We love a supportive dad!
🤍 The rivalries between Carrie and the other players, such as Stepanova and Nicki Chan were so tense and I felt it in my bones

Ana’s Least Favorites
🎾 I don’t know anything about tennis, so I felt a little lost sometimes at the terminology
⭐️ The first 25% of the book is super tennis heavy. I didn’t mind it, but if you don’t like tennis or sports books, you might not make it through this bit.
🤍 The sexist media (but that isn’t anything new is it?)

This book is GLORIOUS. I cannot wait for all of you to meet Carrie Soto, the newest star of the Taylor Jenkins Reid Multi-verse 🤍

Thank you to @netgalley & @penguinrandomhouse for the gifted e-ARC!

I'm not a tennis fan. I don't dislike tennis or anything, but I just don't follow it professionally or watch Wimbledon, etc. That's why although Taylor Jenkins Reid is usually an auto-buy author for me, I was a little hesitant about this novel, wondering how it would capture my attention and compare to her other novels.

I couldn't haven been more wrong about my assumptions.

In Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid delivers another tour de force with a novel about a tennis star but also about so much more.

For most of her life, Carrie has been training for tennis greatness, largely coached by her beloved father, Javier, a former tennis star himself. Her rigorous, all-consuming regiment pays off when she cements her status as the greatest tennis player of all time. Carrie feels a deep satisfaction with reaching this ultimate goal-until years later, a rising tennis star Nicki Chan threatens to beat her tennis record.

Spurred on by her competitive spirit and her desire to continue to dominate, Carrie decides to do the unthinkable: return to the sport of tennis at the age of thirty-seven to defend her title, with her father once again by her side as her coach.

Carrie must confront her shortcomings and humble herself as she begins her long ascent back to the top of her game. She also must deal with the press, who are skeptical of her return and are not necessarily rooting for "the Battle-Axe" whose past stoicism and arrogance has not endeared her to them. Carrie also must contend with a former love who returns to help her with her comeback and she must face mortality in a way she cannot begin to fathom.

Carrie Soto is about drive, determination, vulnerability, family, and starting over yet again. It's a love letter to the sport of tennis and to anyone making a personal comeback.

*Taylor Jenkins Reid fans will love the mention of Daisy Jones and the Rivas from Malibu Rising-and Carrie's infamous connection to them.

Carrie Soto is Back is a triumph and definitely deserves a top spot on your fall TBR.

TJR does it again! I have never cared one bit about tennis but this book had me on the edge of my seat for the whole second half of the book. Loved Carrie Soto's character. I went into the book apprehensive because she was so unlikeable in Malibu Rising but she won me over so quickly. I adored her father and even though it was clearly coming, I still was just destroyed by his death. Read in 24 hours, already bought for the library and might just get myself a personal copy as well.

✨Book Review✨
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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This book truly surprised me. Reading the synopsis, I had no desire to read this one. Tennis and sports do not interest me at all, so I really did not have high hopes. But, it was a TJR book and I had seen great reviews from people who also said sports did not interest them. Well, they were right and I am so glad I read this one.
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This is the story of Carrie Soto, a tennis player who comes out of retirement to reclaim her world record. It is also another chance to be coached by her father, with whom she is very close. Their relationship throughout this book is so sweet.
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I've seen a lot of reviews talking about how Carrie is a horrible person, but I honestly liked her character. She is a strong woman who just never learned how to have friends and how to value relationships. I understood Carrie, and actually really liked her. I also love how this book is not wholly centered around a romantic relationship as so many are. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a TJR fan or who just wants a read reminding them about the importance of relationships above success.

I'm a TJR superfan and have been since the early days. I would always swear that I would read anything she writes including her grocery lists.

Well. The unbelievable has happened and I didn't *love* something she wrote.

Carrie Soto is Back is basically a complilation of a ton of tennis matches and their play by plays.

It is So. Much. Tennis.

I wanted a bit more. More from the characters away from the game. Not to mention Carrie Soto came off a bit harsh, which to be fair, her mindset sort of demanded, but it still annoyed me at times.

The one very redeeming quality it had is I adored her relationship with her father.

This review is really hard to write. I need to start by saying that Evelyn Hugo is probably my favorite book of all time. Definitely my top 3. Taylor Jenkins Reid is among my favorite authors. So when I didn't connect with Carrie Soto right away, I took it hard. I help moderate a book group on Facebook (hi to the Lounge!), and I messaged the members of the group chat at the 31% mark saying help, I'm not connecting with this book and I don't know what to dooooo. Another member pointed out that I hadn't really liked Malibu Rising either and I said no, I LIKED Malibu; I just didn't wholeheartedly, unabashedly LOVE Malibu the way I did Daisy and Evelyn. Which to me makes complete sense. Anyway, I digress - it wasn't until almost the 40% mark that I finally settled into the flow of Carrie and discovered that okay, I also wasn't going to LOVE this one the way I did Daisy and Evelyn either. But I did like this one more than Malibu in the end, so that's good, yes?!

Carrie Soto is a world ranked tennis player who was on top of the world, started losing, and abruptly quit before she could make a fool of herself (or so she claimed). But a few years later, when her title as the world record holder was threatened, she comes out of retirement to play against her challenger. Does it work? Does she win? If so.....for how long?

I ended up respecting the hell out of Carrie. We see a lot of dedication, which any great athlete has, sure. But we also see a lot of genuine personal growth, which is something that I honestly didn't think we would see in the beginning. It ended up being a really good story in the end, one that I ended up really enjoying. I originally rated this 3.5 rounded down to 3, but I'm revising this to 4 stars around the board. Final verdict - 4 stars.

Taylor is by far one of my favorite authors! While I thought I might be bored with this book as I’m not into tennis boy was I wrong! It catches you from page 1 and I couldn’t put it down! It’s just that good!

Thank you so much for allowing me to read this. I love this authors work and this was no exception. I loved watching Carries evolution in time. I felt so frustrated by her at times, her ego and her devotion to winning was inspiring but also her downfall. I loved watching her become who she was meant to be, develop real relationships and the ending was beautiful. I really was all in for Carrie by the end which was great because I hated her in the beginning. Such a wonderful and inspiring story. Loved every bit of it!

I'll start by saying that sports fiction is usually not my thing but you literally can't go wrong with a TJR book! From Malibu Rising, I was not a fan of Carrie Soto but I loved this book and learning more about who she was. My favorite part of a TJR book is that the characters seem like real people. There were times I almost found myself googling Carrie Soto to see pictures from the events in the book to only remember that it was fiction!

So I guess it took me until I got to the acknowledgments at the end of the book to realize this was not a memoir. 🤣 If anything, that is a testament to the author's ability to create a character that feels so true to life that at least one person out here fails to recognize fiction when they're reading it. I will say there are some parts that were a bit tedious around the tennis matches and yet I found myself staying fully focused in the story and that I believe is due to the mastery of building strong characters that you grow to care about. Plus I already have an affinity for characters that are on the unlikable side so the author had me at battle axe.

Carrie Soto is right up there with Daisy Jones, Nina Riva and Reid's other loud, unique characters. She lives and breathes, she makes poor decisions, and she is a firebrand. I know absolutely nothing about tennis (love, right?) but the author does a phenomenal job making sure any reader can understand what's going on in the fictitious games on the page, as well as in the imagined commentary around the imagined matches. Never once did it actually feel fictitious. I enjoyed Malibu Rising but for all its sprawling family-ness, I found this simpler story of a father and a daughter and a game they loved to be compelling and fascinating. Everything about the writing and the style and Carrie's speech is pitch perfect- down to the casual use of Spanish to emphasize feeling and connection. I really loved this, and I think any Taylor Jenkins Reid fans will as well. I'd still hand a new reader of hers Daisy Jones and the Six, but this is second in my estimation- and maybe a first choice for readers like me who are hitting that middle aged questioning of what it means to be a person, to have a legacy, and to maybe finally shed the past to embrace the present.

I absolutely loved the ending- and although there is some romance in this book, the real romance is between the father and daughter, the coach and the player, and the player with herself and her own legacy. Five stars!

I wound up listening to an ALC I received through Libro.fm, and I’m glad I did. It reminded me of Daisy Jones when I was listening because of the full cast. I also appreciated hearing the authentic accents and being able to truly hear the characters since it’s told in 1st person POV. Another stellar story from TJR. She’s an auto buy author for me.

Not my favorite TJR, but I still felt invested in the storyline. Carrie is a pretty unlikable character for the vast majority of the book and despite this being a book about a tennis star, I thought there was FAR too much commentary / narration on tennis matches, recaps and strategy (this took up about 80% of the book). I would have liked to see more focus on the father-daughter storyline and on Carrie’s romantic relationships or even friendships (really just anything to break up all the tennis talk).

If you’re a sports fan (and particularly a tennis fan), I’m sure you’ll love this one. If you don’t care much for sports, this may be a tough one for you.

One other thing that feels worth mentioning, there was A LOT of untranslated Spanish in the conversations between Carrie and her father. I found this a bit bothersome - partly because I felt like I was missing out on much of the dialogue and partly because this is a book written by a white woman who (to my knowledge) doesn’t even speak Spanish…

Thank you to NetGalley, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Carrie Soto is Back was my most anticipated read of the year, and it did not disappoint! TJR has me over here looking to sign up for tennis lessons now! But in all seriousness, Carrie Soto is that empowering with such a ‘don’t give up’ and ‘chase your dreams’ attitude that I came out of reading the book wanting to chase mine as well.

The character development was incredible. It is hard to find a book with such strong supporting characters. I really enjoyed the bond between Carrie and her dad. It was so sweet and competitive. I loved watching them get to spend so many important moments together.

There was a little bit of romance splashed in, an enemies to lovers type. It was fun to watch them hate each other, become friends, and then become lovers when they needed each other the most.

You know that there was a TJR cross over with Mick Riva, and those always make me laugh and roll my eyes simply because Mick Riva.

I am very much looking forward to rereading Carrie Soto is Back. One of my most anticipated reads of the year, and one of my favorite reads of the year. I will also be recommending that everyone reads it because it was that good!

This review will be posted to my Goodreads and Amazon accounts immediately and to my instagram account (@ginganinja333), and to my newly created bookstagram (@paulas.book.nook) upon publication on 8/30/2022.

There is a reason I love Taylor Jenkins Reid books...her characters! Carrie Soto is a professional tennis player who retired when she started to slip in her early 30's but another player is tying her record and she can't have it. So, back onto the courts she goes.

Told in first person along with TV commentators and newspaper articles, Carrie is not a very sympathetic character to begin with. She's very harsh and doesn't "play nice" just so people will like her. She is a very determined woman and athlete who has committed her life to a game that her Dad taught her from the time she could walk and who coached most of her professional life. Their relationship is a up close look at how love can be.

Even at 37, Carrie is still learning about life, Tennis and love. I fell in love with her and all the people around her. It's not a long book but I read it in two days, couldn't put it down.

My only negative comment is that I don't read Spanish and it was used a lot on short conversations between Carrie and her Dad. I can pick put some words but I felt like I was missing something. I'm curious if translations will be in the final copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for this honest review.

As a tennis player myself, I was wildly invested in this story. Carrie Soto is a strong, determined woman but I loved seeing a softer side to her toward the end of the book as well. Can't wait to get this one into the hands of my customers!

She's done it again! Taylor Jenkins Reid has delivered another powerhouse story that is interesting as it is compelling. What did I even read before I discovered her amazing novels?!
Some may remember Carrie Soto as the "other woman" in Malibu Rising. You remember? The one Nina Riva's husband cheated with? Anyway, her story goes WAY beyond minor characterization in this novel. And, like me, you may even coming out of this loving her.
Carrie Soto was raised on the tennis courts. Her father, Javier, has lovingly coached her along the way. She is the greatest star of her generation. After tearing her ACL, she is forced to retire, even though she wasn't ready to give up tennis. She makes the decision at 37 to make a comeback. This is her story and it is awesome. It's not just about tennis but learning grace and being comfortable with who you are. I can't wait for another Taylor Jenkins Reid novel!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this e-arc.*

The genius of this book is the development of a flawed character through the granular detail of a game. I genuinely didn't know what would happen and was totally along for the ride. I just wanted to know what Carrie was thinking and how she was processing and what her plan was bounce by bounce and hit by hit. I am not a tennis fan. I'm not athletic, really. Even after reading I can't tell you what the point system is. But gosh I loved this story.

Loved it! 4.5 stars. Another great read from Taylor Jenkins Reid! I really liked the character of Carrie Soto - flawed, yet strong. And the love between Carrie and her father, Javier, is lovely. Wonderful story about competition and learning to accept yourself as your are. Is winning everything? The story flies by because of the various competitions.

"Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.

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. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season."

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine/Random House for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Taylor Jenkins Reid had become one of my favorite authors over the last few years. I can't wait for her new books to come out. I loved Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones and liked, Nina Riva (who I didn't love as much). Carrie was a hard tough powerful woman who makes it really hard to like. She's got a hard veneer that she built in order to become "the best" in the 1980s tennis circuit. I did like the relationship between her and her father Javier, who loved her unconditionally. This one had a lot of technical tennis lingo which I'm not into so parts were a bit of a drag for me. Some may really enjoy the story of this strong woman and her comeback to defend her title, but for me it didn't measure up to other books by Ms. Reid.