Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it again!! Over the last few years she has easily become one of my new favorite authors. I know when I pick up one of her books I am going to be in for a treat. She just has a way with words that pulls me in every time and really makes me feel for the characters she has created. Often, I have found that I have to remind myself that these characters aren't actually real people but are in fact fiction.

One of my favorite parts about the Taylor Jenkins Reid books that I have read (which I have not read them all yet but I am currently working on her back list) is the little Easter Eggs that she throws in for her previous works. I couldn't help smile when Carrie mentioned trying to read about Daisy Jones & the Six or when I learned about her relationship with Nina Riva's husband. It is little things like that, that really make me appreciate how much time and thought Taylor Jenkins Reid must put in the the books/characters she creates.

I really loved Carrie as a character. She was one badass female. She wasn't going to let anyone (not even her father) get in the way of achieving her dream/goal of being the best tennis player out there and when someone threatened her record of course she had to step in and show them who was boss. She may have been the "old lady" on the court but that sure as heck didn't slow her down any. I really enjoyed watching her character development throughout the course of the book. By the end of the book it was almost like she was a whole new Carrie. I have never really been a fan of tennis before but after reading this book if Carrie had been a real person you can bet she would have a new fan

My only complaint is now what do I read? I read this book to fast and now I am forced to wait for whatever (and whenever) Taylor Jenkins Reid decides to publish next.

I think Taylor Jenkins Reid might have magical powers. I know nothing about tennis...don't CARE to know anything about tennis...and yet I read every damn word of this book, which is CHOCK FULL of tennis stuff.

And that, my friends, is the power of a good writing.

I guess the strength of this one book is ultimately the strength of all of Reid's books: she knows how to tell a good story. Her character's are richly rendered and often deeply flawed, and yet you just can't wait to find out what happens to them next.

She's also wickedly talented in describing real-time activities (whether that's a recording session or a tennis match.) I didn't really need to understand tennis to read this book, and for that I was thankful.

So, naturally this is not my favorite Reid book of all time. The ending is a bit predictable and again, there was sooooooo much tennis it in, (Also, I would have appreciated a cover image that didn't portray someone who looks 22, but I quibble). I'm still giving it four stars for the magic.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for an ARC of Carrie Soto Is Back in exchange for an honest review! As a tennis aficionado, I was so excited to see Taylor Jenkins Reid write about a tennis icon. Unfortunately, the more I read it, the more I began to grow a bit uncomfortable. Like a good chunk of the world, I started my TJR journey with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I didn't know what to make about her portrayal of her protagonist, Evelyn, a Cuban American bisexual woman, and her life's journey. Though now reading Carrie Soto, that seems to just be the beginning. The Spanish in this book was honestly horrendous and made it pretty hard to focus on everything else. The writing, while it is TJR at her best, was just meh to me when I began to make connections to how eerily similar Carrie Soto's backstory was to tennis icons, Serena and Venus's. All in all, it was beautifully written in a way only TJR can write but I think the way the author keeps making her main characters Latina (Evelyn, Nina, now Carrie) and her questionable choices portraying their cultures is beginning to rub me the wrong way.

Like I said, the book is gorgeously written as per usual but I couldn't quite shake this glaring fact.

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid is another amazing novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Reid excels as always with a fantastic, evocative novel.

Taylor Jenkins Reid give the sports world the same brilliant treatment here as she did with the music industry in her earlier works. When the novel opens in 1994, Carrie Soto (briefly mentioned in Malibu Rising) is retired from professional tennis, having achieved a record of twenty Grand Slam wins—more than any player, male or female. She retired after a knee injury and now after only five years off the tour, she is watching Nicki Chan attempt to tie her record, and this threatens her to her very core. How can she sit by and allow some upstart take her record? When Chan ties her record, Carrie resolves with her dad to return to tennis and ensure her place in history as the greatest tennis player of all time. Carrie is relentlessly driven and not always likeable, either to the reader or her fans, but you can’t help admiring her dedication. Her character is well-developed, as are her dad, Javier, who coaches her; her agent, Gwen, who is always supportive; and her former lover, Bowe, also making a return to tennis. I love professional tennis, so I enjoyed the descriptions of the matches, though reading about tennis without names like Navratilova and Graf took some getting used to. It would help to have a rudimentary understanding of tennis, but otherwise, jump in and let Carrie inspire you.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the arc!

Carrie Soto, the notorious "Battle Axe" of women's tennis, rose to greatness during the 1980s and became the best tennis player in the world. Now it's 1994, and Carrie has been retired for six years when she sits in the stands with her father and former coach Javier, watching tennis phenom Nicki Chan take her record for most tournament wins. At age 37, Carrie's just as stubborn and competitive as she ever was, and she never was one to handle losing with grace. So Carrie Soto is back to defend her legacy -- one more year of her father coaching her, four more Grand Slams, and, just maybe, a second chance at love.

Carrie Soto, who first made her appearance in Malibu Rising, is hands-down my new favorite TJR character. She is abrasive and confident, emotionally closed-off and brutally honest with everyone, except sometimes herself. She's stubborn and determined and completely unapologetic. She's also vulnerable and fiercely loyal and loves hard. TJR brilliant renders the complexities of her character and makes you fall in love with her -- even though Carrie would absolutely not want you to do that. And the relationship between Carrie and her father is a beautiful, incredible thing.

Carrie Soto is Back just goes from strength to strength. Aside from the brilliant character work, the plot itself is exciting and propulsive. We follow Carrie through the four Grand Slams, and her narrative is interspersed with transcripts from the sports media about Carrie's return to tennis. The transcripts are an effective way to show how Carrie is portrayed in the sports media, and to lightly highlight the inherent misogyny when women do not perform or behave in the way society thinks they are "supposed to."

It so happens that this novel is largely set during the period of time in the 1990s when I couldn't get enough of professional tennis -- the days when Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi, among others, dominated the court. I have a tendency to be a sucker for those "magical moments" that happen during sports, and reading Carrie Soto is Back was like one extended magical moment for me and filled me with nostalgia for my 11-year-old self, sitting in front of the TV watching Wimbledon. TJR's writing is so vivid and descriptive, you almost feel as though you're watching Carrie's matches instead of reading about them.

I was just completely blown away by Carrie Soto is Back, which gave me chills on nearly every page. I loved the way this book fit into TJR's universe and am secretly hoping she chooses her next heroine from this novel -- please let it be Gwen!

I absolutely adore Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing style, and could not wait to read this one. I loved that it was so different from everything I’ve read by her so far. I wasn’t sure how I was going to enjoy a story centered around tennis, but I absolutely loved it and could not put it down.

Carrie was one of the most determined, goal oriented characters I’ve ever encountered. I loved her passion and will to never give up. At times she frustrated me a bit with her lack of awareness about anything other than tennis, but it made her more real to me. I love the author mentions characters from past books, a few made appearances by namesake.

If you love this author read this book, if you want to love this author read this book. It’s a win win either way. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. She is and forever will be an auto buy author for me.

the plot of this was fantastic, however the inclusion of a Latinx main character with untranslated Spanish conversations made for a confusing and problematic book for me. I am not sure how the editors and reviewers missed how ick this was.

I will not summarize this book because we've all heard about it. So, instead I will write how this book made me feel.
I DID NOT WANT THIS BOOK TO END! (And I haven't written that about a book in a long time.) Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it again - writing about a female protagonist so well that I had to remind myself that she was not a real person. I think that's one of the best compliments I can give an author! I was here for all of it - her relationships with her father/coach, her competitors, the press, the public. Carrie Soto is real and flawed and hard on herself and others and I loved it! Preorder this book and read it immediately. You will not be sorry! Sometimes books are worth the hype!
Thanks so much to #RandomHouse #Ballantine and #NetGalley for my advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a hard one for me to review as I have really, really mixed emotions about it.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is an amazing storyteller and she always gives us a story that is character driven with characters that may be hard to like. But once she dives into the psychology of each character and what makes them tick, you begin to understand them more. BUT, and this is a big BUT, Carrie Soto is NOT a character she should've written a whole book about. TJR does not come from the same background as her and this was not her story to tell, in my opinion. Carrie should've been kept as a side character from this white writer. Especially when Taylor Jenkins Reid proceeds to add a lot of Spanish dialogue without giving any sort of translation for her readers (luckily, I knew enough to figure it out, but others will not and it may hinder their reading).

With all that said, Carrie Soto is a hard character to like as she is so focused on winning and tennis and not much else. She has a close relationship with her father, but during her career, it was strained toward the end when she wanted to be THE BEST. It was hard to watch her in the past, but also it was fun. I liked seeing her rise to fame. I'm a person that likes competition, so it was fun to witness this from the story the author created. It was very vivid. If you're a reader that enjoys sports, I think you'll like how heavy this book is with all the tennis and the tennis terminology. Unfortunately for me, it might have been too much. This was a fictionalized tennis story of a woman that wanted no one to beat her record and she came out of retirement to stop a woman from succeeding in her quest to do that. In doing so, we get to see her repair her relationship with her father and with other tennis players on the circuit. From someone that was known as the Battle Axe, we get to see her soften just a tad for the right people.

Overall, if this was a story of just a woman tennis player and her comeback, I would've rated this higher. It was well written, heavy on the sport and made me ever so slightly start to root for the protagonist and her bid to win more Grand Slams. Unfortunately, for the mere fact that TJR wrote a book about a female Argentinian tennis player, I just can't get down with that. It needed to be written by a Latinx author. And she should've translated the numerous Spanish lines she used for the readers that will have a tough time figuring the phrases out.
With all that said, Carrie Soto isn't all that likable, but I did enjoy watching her come back and claw her way to the top.

I know absolutely nothing about tennis so I was a little concerned that I would feel lost while reading but TJR does not make you feel that way at all. By the end of the book I felt like a tennis expert, sort of.

The story follows Carrie Sotos career before she retired and throughout her comeback. You see her grow as a person, improve her game, as well as better her relationship with her father. Carrie is a very cocky person that does not accept losing so I could see people not liking the character. However, you will find yourself rooting for her to succeed.

The little bits of romance between her and Bowe I did enjoy. I love how he remained by her side through it all.

I think if you like Malibu Rising you will really enjoy this book. TJR writing is great, making it so easy to get enthralled into a story. If you have read her other books you will pick up on some references on characters you already know and love throughout the story, it was a fun and welcome surprise.

Thanks to netgalley and Random House/ Ballantine books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Carrie Soto is real, and she is the greatest tennis player to ever exist.

This book was honestly such a great book! I never thought i would enjoy reading about tennis but i truly found myself intrigued by everything. The rise and fall of Carrie was one of the greatest stories Ive ever read. TJR really explored some family dynamics that i feel alot of people can relate to.

“My heart hurts when you hurt because you are
my heart.”

LIKE i cried at that line. Maybe I felt more drawn to that line because we group up as extensions of our parents, they build us up to be the best that we can be. And sometimes there is so much pressure to be the best and that’s something that we can definitely see in Carrie.

Her relationships were complicated at best with everyone but it really highlighted carries character. this book was truly amazing loved the father/daughter relationship and loved carrie in general! Highly recommend it.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, just wow. I love everything that Taylor Jenkins Reid writes. Carrie Soto is Back is no exception.

This is the story of retired tennis star Carrie Soto and her quest to come out of retirement and prevent the current champion, Nicki Chan, from breaking her Grand Slam record. Carrie’s journey is at the heart of this story. Yes this is about tennis! I know many people shy away from these type of sport stories but I am telling you this one is not to be missed. It is beautifully written and will suck you into the world of Carrie Soto within the first few chapters. TJR has the ability to immerse you in an era and/or subject regardless whether it is a topic you would normally be interested in. I love tennis and this story brought back all of those memories in the 80’s and 90’s of some of those great athletes and their epic battles on the court. The beauty of this book though is you don’t have to love tennis, you just have to love a great story with excellent character development and impeccable writing.

5 ⭐️ my favorite book of the year so far

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
#CarrieSotoIsBack #NetGalley #tjenkinsreid

Battling the odds, Carrie Soto at age thirty-seven decides to get back into competitive tennis where once she was the number one player, claiming twenty Grand Slams, referred to as the the Battle-Axe. Carrie was known to be a tough, fierce competitor who was not known for her cuddly personality. As Carrie trains her body and her mind to get into shape to compete with women far younger and stronger, she finds she has other demons to confront. Carrie Soto Is Back is an intimate look at what it takes to be a tennis star — the drive, the training, the mind games, the focus, the support. I loved the descriptions of tennis: the games, the thinking, the outside observations, the analysis. This book was a slow start but really builds in intensity as Carrie strives to reach her goal of being on top once again. But like in life, she cannot do it alone. Taylor Jenkins Reid does not disappoint in this novel, exploring the world of tennis and those who love the game, and exactly what it takes to get to the top and stay on top. Interesting, thought-provoking read!

This was phenomenal. Only TJR could make me care about 400 pages of tennis. I don't even like tennis but I'd read about it for the rest of my life if she was the one writing. Carrie was a beautifully written character and her relationship with her father was precious. As someone who never had a relationship even close to that with their father, I envy Carrie and I am endlessly happy for her. Everyone deserves someone like that in their corner.

Look TJR is one of my favorite authors. The woman writes characters in such a simple yet profound way. I know Evelyn Hugo. I know Daisy Jones. I know Nina Riva. And now I know Carrie Soto. These woman are far from perfect, but you can’t help but root for them. Carrie might have been the best tennis player of all time, but yet the reader is rooting for her happiness first and foremost. We see the cracks in Carrie’s life and how that impacts her and leads her to train even harder. As if that would fix all her problems.

Seeing Carrie come back to tennis is inspiring, but seeing her grow as a person is even more so.

I will say, I don’t like tennis. So the tennis talk/the matches were a bit too much for me. But, I loved seeing Carrie, Javier (her dad), and Bowie (another tennis player) talk about winning, what it means to love a sport, training, what’s important in life, the intersection of all of these, etc.

Carrie’s relationship with her father who coached her as a child and she asks to train her as she makes her comeback was what stands out in this novel. TJR doesn’t write a lot of stories that feature healthy relationships with parents and I just loved Carrie and Javier so much! Seeing them talk about tennis reminded me of my dad and I talking basketball (except were just two fans instead of players).

I loved the other side characters like Bowie and Grace. Seeing Carrie soften to the people in her life was truly excellent. I’m also glad that their was a small romance plot bc I love love and I hate the narrative that strong women can’t have love and be challenging or strong.

I do have a caveat to this entire book. TJR is white (to my knowledge) and she is writing an Argentinian main character. There is a lot of discourse on if white authors should write BIPOC stories and I tend to lean on the side of no, especially since TJR doesn’t mention using sensitivity readers or anything. I also would’ve liked to see more of their culture than just seeing them speak Spanish.

Personally, I also have an issue with this and it’s hard to put into words because my grandma’s maiden name is Soto and I am Latinx. Which even saying that feels like stepping into an arena that isn’t mine to step in. I’m white passing and feel detached from Latinx culture in a way that I’m not going to talk about in a goodreads review. Because of being removed from the culture and whatnot, I worry about writing Latinx characters myself. I’m worried that people will police my own experience and yet here is TJR with a massive marketing budget despite not being Argentinian. So despite enjoying this book and being a TJR fan, this book is marred by this situation.

I have to be honest. I received an advanced copy of Carrie Soto is Back a few months ago, and I was beyond thrilled to get my hands on an ARC from TJR! But then, I didn’t read it right away. I was afraid that it couldn’t live up to the hype, but mainly I just really, really don’t like tennis.
I don’t know why I ever doubted that TJR could make even tennis into a remarkable story. I absolutely loved Carrie’s character! Her dedication and determination are inspiring, her friendships are complex and challenging, and her relationship with her father is so beautiful. (Parenting goals!) I laughed aloud and cried multiple times and found myself so engaged with Carrie’s life. I needn’t have worried - Carrie Soto completely lived up to all the hype, and I was once again blown away by the sheer talent of Taylor Jenkins Reid!
Carrie Soto is Back releases August 30, so grab your copy soon (even if you don’t like tennis)!
Special thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for sharing an ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. As a devout TJR reader and lifelong tennis fan, this truly was the combination of two things I love. Carrie was complex, difficult, admirable, and so much more -- but I was rooting for her all along. While Evelyn Hugo will always be TJR's magnum opus in my mind, I think this was a really close second favorite.

This is literally one of the best books I have ever read. Going into it, I had low expectations from previous reviews I've seen and because I didn't enjoy Malibu Rising that much. I felt like I've put reading this book off for as long as possible, and now that I've read it, I'm upset that I will never be able to read it for the first time again. Taylor Jenkins Reid does an amazing job of creating such an ambitious and well-rounded character such as Carrie Soto. While reading, felt as if I was reliving the matches alongside Carrie and embodied her feelings as well. I loved the relationship/bond between Carrie and her father and just how well the understood each other and their limits. It was so nice to see Carrie grow more comfortable in her own skin and to build better relationships with the people in her life. Five Stars!

TJR is back! Carrie Soto is actually the 4th in a series of TJR's of writing about strong, fictional historical women. Just like the characters that came before Carrie- Daisy, Evelyn, and Nina- Carrie's story is pretty great.
The only thing that was different here is I was actually nervous I wouldn't like this one as much. I don't know or really care much about tennis and this book is SO much tennis, in case you were wondering. It's not a side plot or a character trait, it is THE plot. But I will say about 50% through, I was pretty hooked- which is a bit longer than I would give another author's book. Carrie's character rounded out in the second half of the book, the plot went a different direction and it felt more authentic than the first part of the book. I was moved and very satisfied by the time we reached the end.