As my first TJR book, this certainly did not disappoint. The fact that I was immersed into a sports book as though I was watching a movie really shows how incredible TJR's storytelling skills are. I enjoyed Carrie's efforts and her viewpoint of being a women (of color) in the sporting world, *however* TJR said that she would not write any more women of color after 7 Husbands (as she is not poc and wrote several stereotypes in 7 Husbands); once again, however, she wrote a women of color protagonist. I cannot speak for how good it was done or if it perpetuated any stereotypes but after promising not to write a woc main character but then doing it again is a little ... off.

Also, while the storytelling skills really captured the essence of this book, I found it less emotional than it was supposed to be. The father-daughter relationship wasn't as "flawed" as I had originally assumed nor was the ending scene when [REDACTED] happened.

Overall, this is worthy of 3.5 stars.

While I did enjoy this book, it's probably my least favorite TJR. There was a lot — A LOT — of recounting tennis scores, games told shot by shot. I could have used more of Carrie Soto's childhood, background, personal life, etc. I've also heard some justified criticism from Latine reviewers that Carrie Soto's Argentinian identity isn't thoughtfully and complexly portrayed.

absolutely loved this book. Carrie was a difficult character to like- however I admired her drive to be the best. The amount of hard work she did depicted in this book was realistic. I loved her changing perspective throughout the years in the book. I loved Javier, the belief he had in her was moving. How a father should believe in his daughter. The one thing I wished would have been different is that some of the Spanish would have had translations. Loved this fun book and enjoyed seeinf characters from other books. Taylor Jenkins Reid did it again!

Carrie Soto is trying to win back her title after leaving the world of tennis. Taylor Jenkins Reid gives us a character that is strong , competitive and closed off to love and friendships. Her journey to Wimbledon and the US Open is filled with finding her true self & happiness . I enjoyed the book but I did feel like it lagged when describing the tennis matches. Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this copy.

This was a good book by TJR, but not her best. It didn't have the same oomf as most of others and I didn't really feel invested until around three-fourths of the way in. I am also confused as to why she made Carrie Soto Cuban, when she got so much negative feedback about writing from the perspective of a POC for Seven Husbands. Especially when it didn't seem to have much impact on the character. It's mentioned only a couple of times at the beginning, in relation to her father's upbringing, and then maybe once or twice near then end. It really only seemed like she did it so she could have lots of Spanish phrases thrown in the book-- many of which you need to translate if you're not a speaker, as there were multiple sentences or uncommon phrases. It felt performative and unnecessary.

What is not to love about a TJR novel, especially one with such a fierce competitor that turns out to have a whole lotta heart?! The genius of this storyteller is that she can make you care about an athlete in a sport outside the mainstream, to give just enough technical context to make the reader feel like they are IN the match, but make it all oh so human. I grew up playing tennis so I was thrilled about this but I never dreamed I'd love a fictional G.O.A.T. so much

Taylor Jenkins Reid is the only person on the planet who can make me read about tennis and not only love every minute of it, be at the edge of my seat with anticipation, but also feel EMOTIONS about it. This woman could write anything and I'd devour it.

Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ballantine
This book is about tennis but you do not have to care about tennis or even understand tennis to find a compelling read in Carrie Soto's story. Carrie Soto is a retired tennis superstar who cannot stand for a competitor to overtake her grand slam record so she and her father, Javier develop a plan for a comeback after five years of retirement.
The story is told in alternating chapters including Carrie's childhood, her first rise to career heights and the comeback tour including the four open competitions. Supporting characters include the expected tour leader Nicki Chan, practice partner Bowe Hunter, colorful agent Gwen as well as her father Javier. This book has important lessons about how are our actions are viewed by others and how we treat others can have a lasting effect.

Readers who enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six and Malibu Rising will also find Carrie Soto to have the same compulsive readability. Five stars.

Thank you Net Galley and Ballantine for an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fierce and blazing tale about female ambition, about resiliency and perseverance, and about refusing to settle for anything less than what you deserve. Anyone who has ever felt competitive or wished they were the best at something is going to feel their heart break after reading this book, in my opinion.

Happy Pub Day to this gem of a book! There has been so much love for this book over the past couple of months and for good reason. I honestly did not think I was going to like this one as much as I did. I’m not a fan of tennis but that is a brilliance of Taylor Jenkins Reid- you don’t have to love tennis to appreciate Carrie Soto.

In the prime of her career, Carrie was on top of the tennis world, but 6 years after retiring she is back to defend her title - no matter what the cost.

What I Loved:
🎾 The relationship between Carrie and her father. He wanted her to be her best self but not at the expense of finding joy.

🎾 The way Reid pulled me into the matches - I could feel the heartache and jubilation right along with Carrie

🎾 I loved the underdog element of the story as I was always rooting for Carrie despite her being an unlikeable character at times.

In the end I appreciated Carrie as an athlete. I loved to see her personal character growth and the relationships that she formed on the court and off!

Loved TJR's latest: Carrie Soto is Back! This author is the master of subtly including characters throughout her books. Soto's fictional journey as a tennis champ couldn't have come at a better time as the US Open took place just as I was reading this novel. Excellent read, highly recommended as I would any of TJR's books.

There is something about TJR writing that just works for me! And Carrie Soto is back was no exception.

TJR is a queen when it comes to building a strong female character. She took it up a notch with Carrie Soto. Carrie is not just a "strong female". She is what our society (and the fictional society in the book) would call a B word.

I have heard some major MAJOR criticism of this book. Some even went as far as calling it "another American Dirt". The two points that I have heard the most are the following: TJR failed at creating a believable LatinX character, and "too much tennis".

In a typical TJR fashion the book is hyper focused on one subject/industry/idea, in this case - tennis. So will you like it if you have zero appreciation for the beauty of the game? My guess would be, nooooot as much.... (??) If you are truly TRULY anti-tennis, you no doubt will get too bogged down by the details to truly enjoy the book. But...in its essence the book is not about tennis. It's about how we perceive hyper-ambitious professional women. And at that TJR excelled.
For the most part Carrie Soto comes off as an arrogant, cold-hearted b*tch. Yet, if you are not thinking: "well...what would I think of a professional MALE athlete with the exact same characteristics?" -- you are missing the point!

As a society, we are conditioned to think of overly ambitious women as off-putting. While men in the exact same positions are viewed as "determined", "focused", and "success oriented". 
So if you are reading/listening to Carrie Soto (or like...voting for a president  ), and thinking "oh boy, I really cannot stand the b*tch!", I urge you to look inward and ask yourself why. What is it that makes you feel threatened, and how would you react to the exact same character if she was a male?

With regards to LatinX aspect - it is not focused on "latinX experience" as much as on "being a female in professional sports experience". I do not feel that the comparison to American Dirt is fair or appropriate. But...I also do not understand why TJR decided to make Carrie Soto's character Latina at all, or why she chose to use so much untranslated Spanish in the book   That honestly is a mystery to me...

Rating: 3.75  s

Taylor Jenkins Reid does it again. She is constantly writing strong female characters and this book does not disappoint. If you loved Malibu Rising, you'll love this book. Some characters make a cross over, but if you're familiar with TJR you know she loves to weave in her characters and connect them across her books.

Carrie Soto is may have been one of the best tennis players of her generation but she certainly wasn't the 'fan-favorite' and her fierce determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. She has shattered every record and taken multiple titles home with her, sacrificing nearly everything to become the best. Carrie thinks that even after retirement there's never going to be anyone that can beat what is so rightfully hers.

But six years after she's left the court, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her. At thirty-seven, Carrie decides to come out of retirement and be coached by her father who has been her coach since she was 2, for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record.

Even the sports media says that they never liked Carrie, and no one is rooting for her, and her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. She has something to prove and that's motivation enough. Even when she has to swallow 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.

This is a character you'll love to hate. She's raised in the world of tennis and dreams of becoming the best. Like other TJR books, the pacing is spot on pushing you to complete the reading in one sitting. Not as many Easter Eggs as her other books, if you are the type to connect her writing. With the retirement of the great Serena Williams, this book is right on time. Enjoy this new story, taking us back a few decades to the world unknown to many, it just might make you find a new hobby in watching the next great tennis champions.
Thanks NetGalley for the free ARC. Also available on audio which I also recommend.

I really enjoyed this book but I don’t feel like it needs my additional thoughts on that when when the Latinx community has spoken out about how disappointed they are that TJR is writing Latina characters that don’t feel authentic nor represent them

I loved this book - you don't even need any knowledge of tennis to get engrossed in this story. I couldn't stand Carrie in Malibu Rising but this book really redeems her - you may not love her, but you understand and can respect her more. Javier and Bowe were the best characters. I flew through this cover to cover and really enjoyed it. I have read the entire series but that isn't necessary - this can be read a stand alone novel.

Carrie Soto is Back is the story of the titular Carrie - a character you might recognize from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s previous novels - who, after years of retirement from her tennis career, decides to return to the court to reclaim her title of the best player in the world. But as anyone who ever played any sport knows, the older you get, the more difficult it becomes to keep up with the physical strain on your body, and Carrie’s no-bullshit personality doesn’t exactly have the tennis world rooting for her. Can she achieve the impossible or will she destroy her own legend and lose everything that matters to her?

TJR’s books are very hit or miss for me, but this one belongs firmly to the first category. Is it a bit predictable and formulaic? Yes, but it’s so extremely readable and fun that I didn’t mind very much. TJR is truly incredible at writing about rich and famous celebrities, and I think Carrie might be her most memorable character yet. She’s rough around the edges and ambitious to the point of being frustrating, but she’s also fascinating and strong. She’s flawed but not too unlikeable and as I got to know her better and understand what she went through, I was rooting for her to the very end. It’s a perfect beach read - light, but engaging, and with a realistic family dynamic.

✨𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨✨

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Carrie Soto Is Back
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Taylor Jenkins Reid
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶:
-enjoy strong, unapologetic female MCs
-like tennis, or really any sport and what goes into excelling in it
-love a good comeback story
-enjoy complex father/daughter relationships

Carrie Soto was once the best woman tennis player of all time. When her record was tied by new star Nicki Chan, she decided that after 5 years in retirement, she was going to make a comeback to reclaim her record and prove that she was still the best in the world.

With her father by her side as her coach, #carriesoto begins her rigorous training to get back to the top. Does she have what it takes to compete with these younger upcoming stats to prove that she will always be the best? Does everyone believe in her as much as she believes in herself?

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
I really loved this book, despite not being a tennis fan. The way that TJR took us on a journey through her training and her comeback run — I couldn’t wait to find out how her matches ended! At times, I found the MC pretty unbearable, but I feel that it was necessary to the reader to realize how determined and cutthroat she was. Then there was Bowe ❤️❤️ I adored his character. My one dislike was that there was a lot of untranslated Spanish in this book— I was very happy to be reading on my kindle so that I could easily translate but it was an extra step that I always didn’t feel like doing.

If you’re looking for a quick read that will keep the pages turning and love a strong female MC — #carriesotoisback is the book for you!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Book Review 4.5

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the advanced ready copy of this much anticipated book in return for my honest review.

I love TJR books and this one was another great one but I didn’t like it as much as the last few which I gave 5 stars. I’m sure you all know the story but if not, here’s the publisher synopsis:

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.

Just like in other TJR stories, we have a super famous and fiercely flawed main character. She deals with the same types of issues, loneliness and the search for love. Love for herself and love for others. Also woven in is a difficult family dynamic. I’m not sure if it was that the story felt so similar to other TJr books, or all of the tennis talk, or just that I did not feel any attachment to Carrie but I did not LOVE this book. It was well written and researched, as expected and I will definitely recommend but not sure I would re-read.