I loved learning more about the tennis world through this book. The relationship between Carrie and her father had me throughly engaged and broke my heart in the end. I’m glad to watch her and Beau’s relationship develop throughout the book and loved the easter egg from Malibu Rising.

OH MAN. Daisy Jones & The Six step aside because Carrie Soto is Back has taken over for my favorite TJR book.

I love Taylor Jenkins Reed, but this one isn’t a favorite of mine. I actually struggled with the motivation to read it for the longest time, which is disappointing when I was beyond exciting to have the opportunity to read it early. To put it plainly, I was just bored. I was bored of the tennis training and of the character relationships. Towards the end, I started to gain a little more interest, but I had to power through 80% of the book to get there. I did like the glimpses into pop culture, though. That was enjoyable and reminiscent of Reid’s other books.

SO GOOD! Possible one of my favorite TJR books to date. I think I’ll be suggesting this book to people for months to come.

thank you to Netgalley, Ballantine and TJR for the e-arc!!

I have liked all of the TJR books I’ve read so far. I thought Daisy Jones was fun. Evelyn Hugo was good but I wasn’t blown away. Malibu Rising was interesting but I honestly forget most of what happened.

But this book? This is the one.

I used to play tennis as a kid. I was rude and had no filter in high school. I demanded to be seen and to be heard. Hey, I was even called the b-word behind my back.

But Carrie Soto is unapologetically THAT Bitch and it was absolutely glorious to read her story. She is the type of woman that we should all want to be. The type of woman that is entirely unafraid of being good at what we do and who dares everyone else to try to count us out. To show up, but also to SHOW UP and show everyone else what it means when we’re here.

I loved Carrie’s journey throughout this whole novel as well. I loved the commentary on women in the public eye and especially in sports. I loved that she was learning how to love the unknown. To be faced with an unimaginable situation and to continue on. I just loved all of it.

5 stars. I’m gonna go call my dad and tell him how much I love him.

4.5*
Wow, I’m honestly speechless. This book was exceptional. It’s definitely very tennis focused, you get a lot of the actual matches which I loved. Carrie is one of the strongest, most dedicated, fiercest female characters that I’ve ever read about. She is unapologetic in her actions and I love that about her.

I’m taking .5 off because I wanted a little more from the ending. It felt a little too abrupt for me. I definitely still recommend, if you haven’t read it yet please do so.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House for the ARC it is truly surreal! 🫶🏼

Review will be posted on 9-4-22

My god, that was good. This universe TJR was created amazes with each story. While they’re all different, they all have a strong protagonist with a purpose and I love that. Carrie Soto is a undefeated tennis player until she was and decided to come back from her retirement and take her record back, following through the plot was easy and very enjoyable. The relationship between father and daughter was admirable, however rocky it might have been at times.

Growing up with tennis tournaments on my family’s TV, I had a lot of fun reading this book. It was a one sitting read for me! Easy book to fly through. TJR has a way of writing characters that feel so real. 4.5 stars ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a bit conflicted on this book. On on hand, it has all the trademarks of TJR, complex characters, mesmerizing writing and a storyline that made me unable to put the book down. It is sure to be a hit!

But, I think this one relies a little too heavily on the tennis. There is a lot of strictly tennis scenes which while engaging, were a bit redundant. Also, there was so much untranslated spanish and the portrayal of Carrie's race made me a bit uncomfortable.

As per usual, Taylor Jenkins Reid delivers another phenomenal read! I was in a reading slump for most of August, but this fast-paced, exciting story about a tennis star coming out of retirement to defend her record, was so engrossing I couldn’t put it down!

Here are just some of the things I loved:
🎾 the sheer amount of research TJR must have done about tennis. The play-by-play of each of the matches was so well-written, I felt like I WAS Carrie playing the tennis myself. It was just such an immersive reading experience.
🎾 Carrie’s “take no shit” attitude. I loved how ruthless she was, and how she did not care about anyone’s opinion of her. The many references that were made of double standards towards women in the sports world was also refreshing to see.
🎾 Carrie’s relationship with her father. It was so sweet watching the moments of them not only as father and daughter but also as coach and player. I loved the Spanish interspersed in their conversations, and you could just tell the love and care that Carrie’s father had for her. 🥺

Honestly? You don’t even have to know a ton about tennis to read this book. It’s just such a great tale of overcoming the odds and showing up to be the best version of yourself. Bravo, TJR, on another fantastic book! 👏🏻

O.M.G! This was such a beautiful beautiful story!! Loved it from the first page! Faced paced and literally keeps you in the edge of your seat! Highly highly addictive!!!!!

An older tennis champion decides to go for one last season coached by her father. Carrie grew up playing tennis and being coached by her father, a former Tennis champion. The early death of her mother meant that it was just the two of them and their love of the game. Carrie is a hard character to get to know and the amount of information about the game of tennis can be off-putting. However, as the novel progresses and certainly by the end, Carrie becomes a relatable and deep character. It takes a bit to get into but worth sticking with.

Once again, Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it. She’s made an excellent book, about something for which I have no interest, and made it interesting. I don’t know or care a thing about tennis other than Serena Williams is the GOAT. But I came to care a lot about Carrie Soto the fictional all-time leading slam champion whose record is on the line and makes a comeback to keep that from happening. Carrie is the ultimate sports warrior, something I have seen in a variety of sports, including pro football.

Carrie is a flawed champion, one who doesn’t fit the cookie cutter expectation of a tennis pro, blonde, tall, blue eyed, says all the right things to the media. She’s exact opposite of that. She’s taught by her dad for most of her life. She doesn’t make friends on the circuit. And five years after injury forced her to retire, she sees her record of slams about to be beat. At the age of 37, she comes out of retirement, confident that she can win more slams and keep her record. (This really reminds me of the Packers’ Brett Favre and his unwillingness to retire gracefully.)

You don’t have to know a lot about tennis to like this book, you just like to have a good story being told. It’s the personal relationships that makes Carrie Soto is back work. I also really liked the “media coverage” of her comeback, showing just how shallow sports “reporting” can be, and how now it all seems to be about opinions and not hard facts.

In case you are keeping track of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s works, this book is also in the Mick Riva orbit, and there’s even a mention of Carrie reading an unauthorized biography of Daisy Jones & the Six. I’m wondering how many more books Jenkins Reid can weave into her little creative world. I think it’s ingenious and fun at the same time.

My only complaint, and I have this about all books that do this, is that there are many times when Carrie or her dad are speaking Spanish and there’s no translation. I almost failed Spanish more than 30 years ago, and subsequent attempts have proven that I have no ear for languages, so sometimes I had no idea what was said and had to guess at a translation. But like I said, that’s not unique to this book.

In short, if you enjoyed Jenkins Reid’s other works, you might want to check out Carrie Soto is Back. If you haven’t had the pleasure, there’s no time like the present.

5 Stars ⭐️

Carrie Soto my new favorite TJR book 🥹 this story was all about Carrie’s comeback to Tennis being led by her father. There were so many good tidbits from the book, I wish I regularly tabbed books. Much of this was from Carrie’s work to prove she was the greatest and struggling with public opinion and her own opinion of yourself. 💛🎾

WOW. This book is every bit as good as everyone is saying. I will honestly be shocked if there is another book that overtakes this as my favorite of the year. This book made me feel so many things and emotions. I love Carrie. I love Javier. I love Bowe. I even love Nicki Chan. I knew little to nothing about tennis before this, and you really don't need to at all to enjoy this book. Carrie is not the most "likeable" main character, but I absolutely adored her, and seeing her character develop throughout the book. I especially loved the father daughter relationship between Carrie and her dad that was highlighted throughout the story as well, it made me want to hug and call my dad immediately. Trust the hype and read this ASAP!! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC of this book!!

Taylor Jenkins Reid always has a way of making me think every single one of her characters is a real person. I genuinely have to remind myself that her books are fictional. Also now I need to go watch every tennis match I can find because now apparently I like the sport of tennis.

Carrie is a different kind of character than we normally see. She is strong from the beginning, she does not get weak, she stays strong throughout the book. Carrie knows who she is, she knows her worth, she is not afraid to tell you either. She will never sugar coat it. She beat you at tennis? Then get better. End of story.

I love that Carrie's journey was about how she can be more than one thing. She can be this strong, passionate person, but she can also allow herself to breathe and be soft and vulnerable. She also doesn't have to change, this is growth. She also doesn't have to let just anyone get close and see that soft/vulnerable side of her. I like that her growth wasn't about becoming strong, because she already was, but letting other people see her and truly see her and know she doesn't have to back down for them. She is worthy of love the way she is.

I loved the relationship with her dad and how it developed throughout the book with the use of alternating time lines and seeing how Carrie and then Carrie/her dad were in the past and present. Carrie is a woman that will stick with me for a long time!

I’m having a hard time trying to figure out how to rate this book. Like TJR can do no wrong she’s been one of my favorite authors for years but this book felt different to me and not in a good way. The story was VERY good but I think just the emphasis on how much of a bitch Carrie Soto was really off putting to me and I ended up hating the character. Like a lot. I rolled my eyes continuously throughout the book. I don’t know what it’s like being a top person in sports so I couldn’t relate. Also, I think Nikki had EVERY right to act the way that she did because Carrie is a bitch and not THAT bitch. I get it she came for your title. But why the hell do we need to bring others down just because they took that title? Idk obviously the writing was amazing as always, I just didn’t enjoy the book as much I as have with her previous work. So I think it’s a 3.5 but I will round up for now. Still gonna sit on it.

Normally, I would not pick up a book in the sporty category but after devouring The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and loving it, I was intrigued to see how Taylor Jenkins Reid would write Carrie Soto, a relentless tennis champion. While I did enjoy this book, I think my expectations were a bit inflated. The fast paced action based scenes describing the tennis matches were surprisingly interesting and intense but I did not feel nearly as connected to the characters and their interactions as much as anticipated. For the main character, I did really like Carrie Soto’s fiery attitude and the determination through her journey but all the surrounding characters had me feeling a little bored, almost lowering the bar for Carrie’s greatness. I highly recommend this for any fan of previous TJR novels and of course, the sporty girlies. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for the e-book!

Another fantastic read from Taylor Jenkins Reid, who is skilled at both evoking a specific time and place as well as delving into the inner psyche of her characters. A fast paced read I couldn't put down.

This is an incredible portrait of an athlete and of the demands made of their bodies, their time, and their personalities.. Carrie Soto is the best tennis player of all time, a caveat that always seems to be accompanied by the asterisk “for a woman.” Indeed, during her award winning career, she found that playing the tennis game was far easier than the games involved with being an ambitious woman. Although she is praised for her skills, she’s seen as calculated and cold – a “bitch.” She retired due to an injury with an amazing 20 grand slam wins and felt secure in her legacy. But a younger player is coming up on her record and Carrie just refuses to let her record be destroyed. With the help of her beloved father and ex-coach, she determines to come out of retirement and win more slams to put that rival in place. But Carrie is really struggling, at 37 she's an amazing player, but can she be number one? Because just who is Carrie Soto if she's not "the best?" Taylor Jenkins Reid does an amazing job of explaining how an athlete like Soto can be developed, and the tolls it can take upon them, particularly when the athlete is a woman. The timing seems particularly apt as the legendary Serena Williams retires, and although this character doesn't have Williams' warm persona, it adds another layer of fun to the read. This was a fun read, and you don't need to be a tennis expert to enjoy it.