CW: misogyny, sexism, ageism, loss of a loved one, mention of racism, alcoholism and injuries

Carrie Soto Is Back is my new favorite Taylor Jenkins Reid book. Honestly, this came as a complete surprise to me, but I was riveted from start to finish. I just couldn't put it down. I never realized how much Spanish I actually understood or how much information I retained from watching tennis a lot when I was a kid, but this book was an utter delight - although I think it will work for people without any knowledge about the sport just as well. 

Carrie Soto doesn't start out as the most likable person, especially if you might harbor some resentment from Malibu Rising still, but she is a force to be reckoned with. She made tennis her entire life and when she decides to return from retirement, she is faced with relentless ageism, misogyny, sexism and just straight hostility. She never played the sport to make friends, she played it to be great and it swiftly became clear to me that there was no way I wouldn't root for her to succeed once more.
Told from a first person POV for the most part, sprinkled with transcripts of news articles or sports commentators, you don't just get to see the Carrie Soto the world thought they knew, but also the lonely and vulnerable person behind the tough facade. TJR just has a gift of creating very flawed characters, which you end up falling in love with regardless. They learn from their mistakes, they grow and you want nothing more for them than to get what they truly need.

While the story spans over decades, it never felt rushed or difficult to follow. We get training montages and certain scenes that make us understand what an incredible tennis player Carrie is, but I think most people will show up for the relationships she manages to cultivate over the course of the novel. Carrie has enemies and frenemies, but ultimately a very limited amount of people who really matter in her life. She was blessed with a wonderful love interest, but more importantly, there is a beautiful exploration of a father-daughter-relationship in Carrie Soto Is Back. Javier Soto is a legend in his own right and they weren't always on the best terms, he sometimes messed up as a father, but he was there when it counted. Those two really were the heart of the story.

I don't think this review does justice to just how invested I was in Carrie Soto's life and success, which doesn't necessarily look like what you would expect it to. My heart was thundering in my chest at every game she played. I was worried for her mental and physical health, while I also believed that she could do anything she set her mind to. I wanted her to open her heart to love, yet never relent to the people who told her she needed to be softer, kinder or more gracious. I wanted her to prove the entire world wrong and she. did. not. disappoint. I'm so grateful to have been on this journey with her.

Fazit: 5/5 stars! Fantastic and riveting!

P.S.: Yes, there are references to the likes of Daisy Jones and the Rivas. I just love the interconnectedness of these books.

I came for the magic that’s TJR. I stayed for the Easter eggs she’s notorious for delivering. This was no exception. We have snippets of Daisy Jones, Seven Husbands and of course a brief recap of how she met and had an affair with Brandon, Nina Riva’s husband from Malibu Rising.

The storyline, however, was unlike anything I’ve ever read from Taylor. It’s 100% about tennis. Even if you have zero appreciation for the sport, like me, you come away cheering for the love of the game and the growth of our main character — Carrie Soto.

In a nutshell, Carrie is a Bit@h. She will chew you up and spit you out… But just like anything else, there are reasons for that. Taylor does an excellent job, showing us all of the complex and flawed layers of Carrie. From the death of her mother, to the love/hate/love relationship of her father who also is her coach, to her disastrous love life and rogue image she portrays to the sports world.

The bottom line is this— I knew nothing about tennis, I didn’t care about it. But I couldn’t stop turning the pages! I wanted to know why Carrie was the way she was… I wanted to see her redeemed. I loved her dad and wondered what came next. I especially appreciated the closed-door romance almost as the third character. Growth. That’s what I found in this book—down to the very last page.

I’m giving it 4 stars simply because tennis as a storyline is really not my jam. But as noted above, I still cheered my heart out for Carrie. She quickly became one of my favorite characters of this year for her tenacity, ruthlessness, give no shits attitude and what I always knew lied beneath.

Thanks to #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome Back Carrie Soto!! A secondary character in Malibu Rising, Carrie takes center court (literally!) in Carrie Soto is Back. The plot is a bird's eye view into the world of women's professional tennis-if you don't know the difference between a backhand and a backstroke, now is the time to learn. Carrie Soto is Back is feisty and fun, but also poignantly serious. Carrie was the number one female tennis player in the world during the 1980's, earning the record for most grand slam wins. But now it's the 90's-Carrie's been retired for five years, and rival Nicki Chan has Carrie's world record in her cross hairs. So at age 37 Carrie comes out of retirement in an attempt to keep her crown. Carrie Soto is Back is very entertaining, and has the suspense of a thriller. In a nod to the Venus sisters, Carrie's father Javier is her tennis coach (but he's no King Richard!). Taylor Jenkins Reid is beloved as a romance writer, so Carrie Soto is Back has "love" on and off the court. Carrie Soto is Back is fast paced and engaging-you'll root for both Carrie and Nicki. But it's Carrie who wins your heart despite her "tough as nails" exterior. You don't need to be a tennis fan to appreciate Carrie Soto is Back-its themes of overcoming great odds and learning to be gracious in both victory and defeat are universal. Glad to have you back, Carrie. Hope you can stay awhile.

Thank you, NetGalley for a complimentary ARC of this title. Publish Date: August 30, 2022
TJR did it AGAIN!
5/5. Perfection.
If I had read the blurb for this title without knowing the author, I might not have picked it up. I am not a huge fan of sports stories. When I tell you I was volleying through the pages faster than a tennis set--(look at me knowing jargon)

✨ 𝕒𝕣𝕔 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ✨

𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐝

𝑀𝓎 𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔: ★★★★★
𝒢𝑜𝑜𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓈: 𝟦.𝟦𝟫/𝟧

It is not often that a book "wows" me to the point where my endephorphins skyrocket upon finishing a book; 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 did just that. She deserves every bit of the 5★'s that I gave her.

I am someone that loves fiction and fantasy is my 1000% my genre. I stepped away from these fantasy worlds only to fall head over heels for a girl and her comeback on the tennis court. That's how I know Carrie Soto is clearly a winner.

TJR has a way of making her characters feel 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋. I was more than convinced that I was reading a nonfiction memoir from the very real Carolina Soto. I feel that only someone with an inconceivable talent such as TJR would be able to make her readers feel this way. This is my second TJR novel, 𝑫𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒚 𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 & 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒙 being my first (another absolute banger by the way), and I am thoroughly convinced that TJR is incapable of writing nothing but pristine gold.

𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 releases on August 30 and this is one that is going to deserve every bit of praise it receives moving forward.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the chance to read this phenomenal novel!

TJR you are a 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! 4.5 out of 5 for sure. Who knew tennis could be so riveting to a non athletic person?! I don’t know how TJR does it but her characters are just so compelling. There were moments when Carrie drove me nuts, a 37 year old acting like she was 18 and being a brat. But that was all a part of her arc. Her personal growth throughout this book was just so well done. Carrie deserved everything she worked for and deserved even more to remember why she did it all in the first place.

Moral of the story, go get this book. Read it, learn from it, and enjoy the thrill of it!

Have you ever watched a cooking reality shows where the judges talk about how a meal is very garlic forward? Well this book is VERY tennis forward. That’s not all it is of course, but it is a huge component.

Unlike the last few TJR books, this is all told from Carrie’s perspective. The first 30% of the book is backstory, and it felt like I was reading a biography about a fictional tennis player until we caught back up to the present day. This was all important info, but it goes into minute detail around training schedules, events played, and stats which became tedious to read. I loved the inclusion of news articles and TV commentary, especially on the audiobook. I almost wish there had been more of this included, perhaps with interviews Carrie did over the years. But it did help to break up the monotony of the play by play from tennis matches and practices.

Carrie is a very complex character and while she grew on me by the end of the book, I had a hard time being in her thoughts. I loved her confidence, commitment and belief in herself, but I didn’t love how ungrateful and rude she was to everyone. I loved her father Javier, Bowe and Nikki and would have loved to see more of them.

There are some Spanish sections that aren’t translated which felt accurate for the characters and was fine when I was reading my kindle and could look them up, but difficult to follow on audio. While this is a full cast audio, it’s a little misleading because it’s 90% one narrator talking with only the news articles and shows being separate narrators. I did the majority of the tennis matches and news breaks on audio before switching to the book version for the rest.

I still really enjoyed this one, it just wasn’t the home run I expected. Pick this up when you’re looking for a slow burn character driven sports story. Thanks to Ballantine Books for the DRC. Carrie Soto is Back will be out on August 30!

Who doesn't love TJR??? Another fantastic book. I love how all of her characters live in the same universe so you get some of that crossover. Strong, flawed women are always at the center and I am here for it always.

I will say it again; I absolutely LOVE Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing. I have yet to read one of her books that didn't suck me all the way in and leave me questioning what to do with the rest of my life, and Carrie Soto is Back is no different. I think it's the way that she takes women who aren't necessarily super likeable (like if you knew Daisy Jones IRL she'd probably get on your nerves, and you definitely wouldn't be friends with Carrie Soto) but manages to humanize them in a way that means you can't help but wish for them to get their happy endings, even though it would be at the expense of someone else. I was both put off by and drawn into Carrie's story, and of course the end just cut me, because that's what TJR does best. I will say that this one wasn't my favorite of hers (Daisy Jones holds a special place in my heart) but it was definitely fantastic, and I absolutely would recommend that people read it.

Carrie Soto is PERFECTION. I loved everything about this book: the father/daughter relationship, the immersive sports story, the love, the failures, the incredible character growth. I could truly go on and on.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is known for her three-dimensional characters but I think she's outdone herself with not only Carrie, who is straight fire, but also Javier and Bowe. I think as a parent she taps into something with Javier that just moved me deeply from the very beginning.

As a plot, it is highly predictable. Did being able to guess how this would all play out make it any less of an absolute joy to read? Not at all. I've also seen some early readers comment that they were turned off by the level of "sports" content throughout. But I think if you are someone who gets hung up on the terminology or the technique, you're missing the point and beauty of this story. You don't have to know tennis (I still don't totally get the scoring myself!) to be able to feel like you're watching this and not reading it. It has that immersive magic that Daisy Jones (my now second favorite TJR book) had for me, but even better!

I had the pleasure of getting to preview the eBook and audiobook versions. The audiobook has incredible production value, supported by a full cast--from the intro music for a Sports show snippet to announcers that introduce key matches. Stacy Gonzalez brings Javier to life with a distinct voice and accent for him that absolutely blew me away. However, I did find it helpful to also have the kindle version to quickly translate phrases here and there that were above my HS Spanish level proficiency.

All in all, this is my favorite book of 2022 and my top Taylor Jenkins Reid story to date. I cannot recommend this enough!

Thank you to PRHAudio for the complimentary audiobook and to NetGalley, Penguin Random House and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this absolute gem. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow. I wasn't sure how I felt about an entire book about Carrie Soto, after her not-so-positive cameo in Malibu Rising. I'm so impressed at how quickly I came to appreciate and root for Carrie. Even as this book has a lot of tennis in it, my lack of knowledge/interest in tennis didn't detract from the reading experience. This one is so much more about Carrie's drive, her relationships, the cost of success. I couldn't put this one down and loved it so much.

I am a huge fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid and was so excited to read Carrie Soto is Back. I really liked the character in Malibu Rising and was interested to see where she'd be in the '80s and '90s. Jenkins Reid does such a great job with all of her characters that I'd follow them anywhere.

One of my favorite things about this book is that Reid was not afraid to make Carrie somewhat unlikeable and didn't take pain to really "redeem" her-- she changes as she gets older in the same way we all do, but she doesn't lose her swagger, the ambition that makes her "the battle axe.". She faces the consequences of her behavior both on and off the court. She's a woman who wants to be the best and knows that she is and isn't ashamed of it. It was a relief. I also really enjoyed reading about her relationship with her father and how the Spanish parts of their conversation was treated as normal dialog. I don't speak Spanish but I was fine without simultaneous translation.

I am also not a huge sports person, but actual depiction of tennis matches was more interesting than I thought it would be (though I did smile a little whenever a 'Slam' was mentioned. I am still not sure what 'Slams' are vs. regular tennis but that's on me.)

In all, I would highly recommend this book to any hesitant non-sportspeople. If you enjoyed Daisy Jones or Malibu Rising, you'll enjoy this.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This has been my favorite TJR so far! Who knew I could fall in love with a book about tennis?!?

Carrie Soto is the worlds best female tennis player and when her record is threatened she comes out of retirement to prove she is still number one! With her dad/coach by her side, Carrie embarks on the comeback of a lifetime.

I was so entranced with this book; I found myself hanging on to every page. Every strike of ball, every return shot, every position, every jump. I was in it. I felt Carrie’s emotions. The elation of victory, the anger of loss. This book was so well written it felt like I could actually smell the clay, feel the dewy grass, sense the speed of the ball and hear the roar of the crowd! Tennis has never been more exciting! Does this “Battle Axe” have what it takes to reclaim her spot at the top and prove her doubters wrong?
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Do not know anything or care anything about tennis and I loved this. Carrie Soto forever. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review,

It's like this book was written for me. As a current tennis player I was excited for this read when I heard it was about a tennis queens comeback. Being 43, my prime tennis days are unfortunately behind me, so I could relate strongly to how much harder it is to be at the top when your body doesn't want to do the things it used to and you're playing against people half your age. As I read it, yes there was a lot of tennis, but the story had so much more to give the reader and that's consistently what makes TJR books shine for me.

This book is about the high cost of being the best. The loneliness at the top. The comments, the critique, the judgement, and yeah, the little bit of jealousy of onlookers, commentators, and other players. The toll it takes on personal relationships when you give your absolute all to training and all your focus is on this one singular thing. It's also about the love between a father and his daughter, the pride, the constant teaching of a student from their mentor. It's about finding your joy, enjoying the moment, LIVING in the moment, because when it's over life was full of moments and if you don't stop to soak it in then what were you living for in the first place?

Was there a lot of tennis? Yes, actually there is and while I was reading it I wondered how much people who don't play tennis or don't have any interest in tennis would enjoy it. The tennis shots and descriptions aren't always accurate either, example: I would never hit a volley from the baseline, as a ball high enough to volley at that court position would be going out. Volley's are at the net or midcourt. However, that didn't phase me in the slightest because this book truly is about so much more than tennis. It's about women, relationships, and ultimately love. I loved it.

I don’t know anything about tennis, other than that my doggos love tennis balls, and I still absolutely LOVED this book.⁣
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TJR’s writing style is so unique it immediately draws you in and keeps you enraptured until the very last page. She creates these raw, real, flawed characters that you can’t help but dislike and love at the same time.⁣
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Carrie Soto is a superhuman when it comes to tennis. She lives and breathes it and it’s her sole purpose in life, that she does everything in her power to be the best and knows she’s the best and refuses to let people tear her down or doubt her. If they do, she comes back guns blazing. She is a blunt, spitfire and bada$$ and I absolutely LOVED her energy. ⁣
⁣
I loved the father/daughter dynamic. Their closeness because of tennis, but also how much they adored each other. She father was her biggest supporter and was always looking out for her. ⁣
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It was also a sweet slow burn romance, with another male tennis player Bowe, who was man enough to respect her and appreciate her tenacity without being put off but her bluntness and her drive and ambition. He was also one of her greatest supporters. I loved that she always put herself and tennis first, but also wanted her to find someone and Bowe is her guy. ⁣
⁣
This was SO GOOD! I adored Daisy Jones and Seven Husbands; and this is up there with both of those. ⁣
⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎾 Carrie Soto is Back 🎾⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Oh man. Oh man. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣This book has me conflicted. On one hand, I LOVE TJR. On the other, I don’t love (or even know) anything about tennis. And this book was alllllllll about tennis. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣I really enjoyed Carrie, but not until about 85% into the book. That’s when I really got committed because I was so bored by all the tennis matches and the detailed play by plays. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Carrie did have a rich, complicated character and I liked reading about her interactions with others. The Easter eggs in the book talking about Daisy Jones and Mick Riva were so well done and completely fun. I was swept into the story and found the writing was well done. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Sigh. I’m going to go with my original rating upon finishing and give it four stars… but it should probably be three. ⁣
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⁣Tennis lovers? You’re going to adore this book! Everyone else? Meh. It will probably end up your least favorite TJR. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣Also- this book is considered a historical fiction y’all… but it all takes place in the 1980-1990s! GASP. I refuse to believe that is now considered historical fiction! 🤣🫣

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of Carrie Soto is back. It will be released everywhere on August 30, 2022. #Netgalley #CarrieSotoIsBack.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive an arc in exchange for my honest review- all thoughts and opinions are my own!


Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it again! Reading Malibu rising beforehand, I did a side eye wondering why we would want to read about Carrie- I get it now, a thousand percent.

This book is about carrie, and her years wanting to prove to her father and herself - and the world- that she is THE best tennis player- because of this, there is …. More? Than I thought? There would be of tennis talk. I low key had to google some terms - ooops. But the heart of carrie and those around her, while not outwardly affectionate and obvious, was the backbone of the story. Loved it.

While it took me a bit longer to get invested in than Taylor Jenkins Reid’s other works, I thoroughly enjoyed Carrie Soto is Back. The beginning felt like it drug slightly, but that’s worldbuilding. Of course, by the end I was hanging on every word. I so admire how TJR can fully engross you in the story, making you feel as if you’re there, AND how she makes both pop-culture references and references to her other works that give you “aha!” moments. I truly loved this book!

Huge thank you to netgalley and librofm for an advanced readers and listeners copy of this highly anticipated release!

“Carrie Soto is Back,’ by TJR

I do not care at all about sports: including tennis. But apparently TJR can get me invested into various fictional tennis tournaments!

Carrie Soto is talented, but hard to love. Javier Soto, on the other hand, is such a lovable character! Bo too. If you know you know.

This novel does a fantastic job depicting competitiveness, perfectionism, as well as grief. It was addicting and highly enjoyable!

Also note: the audiobook was full cast and beautifully done.