I don't really care for professional tennis but despite how much of the book is taken up by descriptions of matches, tennis isn't really the point. Carrie Soto demonstrates the price of greatness, what it's like to work for something, and how being vulnerable is both the hardest thing to do and the best. I couldn't stop reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Any fellow TJR fans are going to eat this book up like I did. I have never once watched tennis, but this book had me invested in the culture of professional tennis from the first chapter. Carrie Soto is a retired tennis player coming out of retirement to defend her record from Nicki Chan. What follows is an emotional story of growth, strength, integrity, love, family, & acceptance.

The only way I can think to describe Carrie Soto is that she is a badass. She is definitely a polarizing character that I can see rubbing people the wrong way, but she always redeems her self & her take no shit attitude had me adoring her.

Carrie’s relationship with her dad was written beautifully. Even when they didn’t see eye to eye, Javier never once lost his faith in Carrie. He was her biggest fan & the most encouraging coach anyone could dream of. His relationship with Bowe was another favorite of mine. I loved watching them accept one another & grow closer.

While this is a book about tennis, it is so much more. Sure, there were tons of tennis phrases & words I didn’t really understand never having watched the sport, but TJR did a great job of making it accessible for all readers. While Carrie’s journey is about tennis, what she discovers & realizes about herself is so much deeper than that. Carrie Soto & many other characters in this book show badass women succeeding in a period of time that wasn’t made for women like them. Carrie Soto is an icon.

This book releases on August 30, just in time for the US Open. I highly, highly recommend.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy of this book for my honest review.

I'm starting off this review by saying I love everything Taylor Jenkins Reid has written and I highly advise that you go check out her previous novels. I was very excited to receive "Carrie Soto is Back" months before publication.

That being said this ended up being only a 3 star read for me and if I'm being honest I think 1 of the stars is just for Reid being the author.

This book has a lot of tennis. A lot. I feel like a much of the character development and interpersonal relationship development was lacking in lieu of more tennis. Which is fine if you are really into tennis. This is the book for you. The tennis matches during the slams were written in a way that had me on the edge of my seat, especially at the end of the book. The practice sessions were a slog.

Carrie and her father speak at length in Spanish with no attempt at translation. Do I wish I were bi-lingual? Sure. But I'm not. And before you come at me that I could google translate a) I shouldn't have to do that and b) I read a chunk of this book on a flight in airplane mode so... All that to say, if I can't understand the conversation then I am missing out on part of the relationship. The relationship that is the driving force of this book.

I will continue to devour anything TJR publishes. This one was a miss for me though.

The beginning started out a bit tennis-heavy for me as I’m not a fan, but the story that emerged was so much more and I’m glad I stuck with it. Loved the themes of perseverance, age-defying, and creating your own rules. Would definitely recommend this book!

Has there ever been a better writer than Taylor Jenkins Reid? I mean honestly she’s such an amazing storyteller that you actually feel like you’re apart of a band, or the worlds best tennis player. I actually felt like I was a spectator at these matches with my head volleying back and forth between players, and I was dying to know how it would turn out. Would Carrie make her tennis comeback?! And it just comes so perfectly full circle at the end- it was perfect.

Did I love this book!! I have read everything Taylor Jenkins Reid has written and loved them all. I was unsure about starting this one, because I don't follow much tennis. Wow, what a surprise!! I loved it! It gave me an appreciation of the sport that I now want to pay more attention to!! Thank you!!

Daisy Jones and the Six has by far been my favorite of her books. I thought this one was also good but not great. I am not sure if it was too much tennis talk for me or what but I skimmed some of the match recap. I loved the relationships and romance and thought the last 50 pages were very good. I love how characters in her books overlap. I would still recommend.

Taylor Jenkins Reid came back and she came back better and even stronger than before. Carrie Soto was everything I wanted and so much more. Carrie Soto as a character? Amazing! I loved following her journey, watching her growth, going back to tennis, her resilience was admirable and her relationship with her parents was nothing short of emotional. Carrie Soto is back is probably now in my top 3 favourite TJR books. The wait was so worth it!

Can I say anything about a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel that hasn’t already been said? No. She is beloved and with good reason. But I’m going to try.

For those who have read Malibu Rising, you already know who Carrie is. Now having read Carrie Soto Is Back, I look at the scene in which she arrives at Nina’s party in a different light. Carrie Soto is a fierce and determined tennis player that has become a legend during her career. She is retired, but when her record for most titles is threatened by a new tennis star, she decides to come out of retirement to defend it. And while she is 37, and no longer the player she once was, she is as determined as ever. Carrie is not well liked in the tennis world. She’s brutal, honest, and relentless. She plays with no heart, and is dubbed “The Battle Axe” by her peers. But she is a complex character that is unapologetically herself. And I have no doubt you will soften towards her and root for her as she claws her way back.

I read this as fast as one of Carrie’s serves; at blistering speed. It is broken down not by chapters but by dates and matches spanning her whole career. I absolutely loved her relationship with her father/coach, Javier “The Jaguar” Soto. It was a departure from TJR’s previous characters and their destructive relationships, both romantic and familial. There is a lot of tennis language in this book, which is to be expected. It is after all a comeback story about a tennis player. I know nothing more than the fact that tennis involves a court, a racket, and a ball. Yet I still enjoyed it. And so will everyone because like Carrie Soto, TJR is back. This will be the most anticipated book of the summer, and it will live up to the hype.

A huge thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the approval. I was thrilled to have this on my NetGalley shelf. My honest review will be posted on my blog as well as retailers on its publish date.

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books, Netgalley and TJR for the gift! I am a self-confessed TJR fan since Seven husbands so it will be a hard task to give an impartial review. Let's give it a shot.

Carrie Soto is TJR creating her universe- The universe she created with Nina Riva in Malibu Rising. If you were wondering regarding all the characters which kept coming in and out in her previous outing, well here's the satisfying reveal. Carrie Soto isn't a typical TJR female lead though- it did take some time for her to grow on me. She is brash, in your face and the slow transformation with the introduction of Bowe and subsequent loss of her mentor, father, coach is a treat.

The story- it's a fairly straightforward underdog sports fiction with the underdog being Carrie, a 20 times Grand Slam winning 37 years old retired tennis star making a comeback to defend her record against the enigmatic, Nicki Chan (definitely deserves a story of her own). If I have to crib about something, this was one TJR book where I was rooting for Nicki. Does Carrie Soto defend her crown in a grueling calendar year against the younger, faster and tougher opponents is what forms the crux of the tale.

The research that went into the book is mind boggling- each game comes to life across the 4 grand slams- the ending is absolutely worth the wait- the rivalry between Nicki and Soto, the love hate relationship between Soto and Bowe and of course, the heartbreaking moments between the father daughter duo is what makes this one stand out. An absolute treat for TJR fans!

#CarrieSotoIsBack #NetGalley

I was really excited to read a book with Carrie Soto from Malibu Rising as the main character. If you like tennis (a lot), you’ll love this book. If you’re like me and know nothing about tennis and don’t care to ever know anything about tennis, you’ll DNF this one at 30% as I did. I wanted to like it, I really did. I just don’t care about tennis. To be fair, the small bits unrelated to tennis such as her family life and relationships were interesting. I also found the writing very good. I just need more than tennis as the main story.

Without a doubt my favorite Taylor Jenkins Reid book. Every page had me hooked and I read it slowly because I didn’t want it to end. Might even be my favorite read of 2022 so far. The whole book is like watching the most exciting sports event. Learned a lot about tennis too. Felt like a historical fiction, even though Carrie Soto was not real. And not only will you learn about tennis, but you’ll learn great life lessons. This is a book that will definitely stick with me.

Thank you Net Galley for the advanced copy.

This book was such a pleasant surprise. Taylor Jenkins Reid has the ability to make anything "un-put-down-able," including this novel. Carrie Soto's rise and fall and rise again was something to remember. The relationship between Carrie and her father was special and flawed and I was rooting for them as much as I was for any romantic relationship in the book. I am not well versed in the tennis world, but that didn't make this book any less beautiful.

Carrie Soto, tennis great is making a comeback after retiring for 5 years. Known as the Bitch now everyone thinks she can do it except her father and coach. Carrie initially starts out as an unlikeble
Person but as the story moves along you start to get where she’s coming from. Another really good book from this author who certainly can tell a good story.

I'll start this off by saying I literally will read anything TJR writes. But I will follow it up with this one wasn't one of my favorites by far. The vast majority of the book was spent with Carrie being a very clearly unlikable character, one-dimensional in her desire to win at all costs. Despite being in her 30's, she was immature, arrogant, petulant, and did not learn from her mistakes. The story started to get interesting when we learned she had some depth to her with her interactions with Bowe, or when she finally stopped treating her father poorly (now HE is someone I'd happily read a story about, but only if it was less tennis-centric than this one), or her friendship with her agent Gwen (another character I would've loved to have read more about than Carrie.) Heck, I even liked her when she actually showed a modicum of respect for her rival, Nicki. However the plot of this story was largely just Carrie gets back into playing a year of tennis due to being petty and wanting to get her record back. I was pleased she finally grew as a character, even if it came MUCH later than it ought to have. And I appreciated the end. But there was a chunk of time in the middle when I just didn't want to be reading this book anymore, and that's not how I like to read something by TJR. Again, will read anything she writes, and hopefully the next one will be less like this one and Malibu Rising, and more like Evelyn and Daisy which are all time favs.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️ 3.5 STARS ⭐️

Taylor Jenkins Reid once again delivers a story that in the end makes you ask ‘What do you mean they’re not real??’ Carrie Soto is another character to the TJR Hall of Fame taking the title of Most Unlikeable Character. For me, Carrie just missed the depth and character development Evelyn, Daisy and Nina had. Carrie’s story was mostly boring and was only entertaining when she played tennis. Basically if Carrie wasn’t nearly as petty, this book wouldn’t exist. She eventually does have a mindset switch but that isn’t until the last 30 pages. The whole book was just ‘Oh yeah we get it, she likes to win’ and ‘Yup, she’s a sore loser’. This book was by far my least favorite out of the main 4 TJR Novels and unfortunately, did not make the cut for the Taylor Jenkins Reid holy trinity.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is back with another 5⭐️ read for me! This story is about a tennis pro, Carrie Soto, who decides to come out of retirement to challenge the new rising star who is threatening to beat Carrie’s Slam record. The author tells an exciting and emotional story which really brings the characters to life and makes you feel like you’re right there in the stadium watching the matches. My favorite character was Jave, Carrie’s Dad and tennis coach. Thank you to #NetGalley for the advanced copy to read and review

Wow. When I started this, I thought, "I don't know if even TJR can get me to care about tennis." SHE DID. Carrie Soto is so much more than an embarrassing anecdote in another character's life. We get to deep dive into the tennis champ. The drive, the attitude, talent, and heart. Loved this one.

I was super excited for this one because I love
TJR, but I struggled a little with it and almost
didn't finish. I've read every one of her books and
I love her so much, but kinda wanted this one to
show me a little more than just tennis. I went into
it blind so I had no idea what it was all about.
Carrie Soto is a badass, no doubt. Her training is
rigorous and she is a fierce competitor! The
storytelling is effortless and I definitely enjoyed
the supporting characters a lot. I also loved
Carrie's relationship with her father. TJR has a
way of making you feel immersed in the lives of
her characters and I felt that very much. It was
just too heavy on the tennis for me. I've seen tons
of five star reviews on it, so I would definitely still
check it out! Taylor Jenkins Reid is an amazing
writer and I will still read anything by her! I just
didn't "love-love.”

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

It was a beautiful weekend to hang out on the porch and read Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new book that will be released August 30. She’s the author of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising and Daisy Jones & the Six. This new one is good! Really good! I’m not a tennis player or spectator of the sport but I could not put this book down. The main character is tough to like in the beginning but I grew to appreciate her drive and desire to be the best tennis player in the world. I felt the tension in each match as if I were there watching it go down. This will be one of the top books I read for 2022. The character development was fantastic!