I've read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six and most recently Malibu Rising. Each of those books have been 4 star books for me. They were good but didn't BLOW ME AWAY.
I saw Carrie Soto is Back become available on Netgalley as a wish item. I went ahead and clicked it after just finishing Malibu Rising and remembering her interesting character moment in the book. I never thought my wish would be granted but I was given an ARC of the book. When I tell you guys this book was a PAGE TURNER, I'm saying I stopped all real-life activities and immersed myself into Carrie Soto's come back. I was up until 1:30 in the morning finishing this book knowing I have two small kids to take care of in just a few hours.
This book centers around Carrie Soto. She's retired from tennis and has just been outed from her record holding place. The book is largely tennis talk. I'm still not even sure I like tennis. I'm still not even sure I like Carrie Soto. However, this book had me so engaged. I was ROOTING for Carrie in this book. The supporting characters are superb. I highly recommend this book.
Thank you Netgalley & Random House Publishing for the ARC.

TJR IS BACK, BABY!!! I absolutely adored this book. Carrie Soto might be a new fave. I am a huge TJR fan, and while I didn't love Malibu Rising, I will read anything she writes. This book was phenomenal. Although extremely technical, it made me want to grab a racket and some tennis balls & take it to the court. This will easily make my top ten of the year. Loved it so much!

🎾 Carrie Soto Is Back 🎾

More like TJR is back and I'm here for it!!

This book was so nostalgic for me. I wouldn't consider myself a huge tennis buff, but I did spend parts of my childhood watching tennis stars like Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and of course, Serena and Venus Williams.

Although the story lines are very different, I also got King James vibes while reading this one. Put your thoughts on Will Smith aside and go see that movie.

This book is very tennis heavy, so if you hate tennis, this may not be the book for you.

I also spent a good amount of time using Google translate as for some reason I thought it would be best to take French in high school, rather than Spanish. At least when I get to France, I'll know how to ask for the bathroom. I can see the need to look up many translations bothering some, but it didn't effect my thoughts on this book.

I loved it. I was swept away in this story from the beginning and couldn't wait to get back to my Kindle when I had to step away.

The only thing holding me back from 5⭐️ on this book was my feelings for some of the characters, or better said, lack thereof. I always felt I had one foot in the door when it came to knowing several of the characters and I was left wanting more. I also wanted to throat punch the love interest with a racket, but I loved Carrie, faults and all.

This was 💯 a solid read for me and TJR remains on my auto-buy list. Add this to your summer reading list!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

4.5 !

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I will read anything Taylor Jenkins Reid writes. Ever since I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo back in 2018, she has cemented herself as one of my favorite authors. I did not even need to read the synopsis of this book to be excited for it but I was very curious to know more about Carrie after Malibu Rising.

Carrie was a very interesting character to be in the head of. As she says herself, she is cold and very focused on her professional goals more so than any relationship outside of tennis. As always, Taylor Jenkins Reid worked her magic and made me care so much about this woman and her comeback to a sport that I knew very little about before reading this book.

Carrie is unapologetically blunt about being one of the greatest tennis players of all time and I believe that Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of the greatest authors.

I had very high hopes for this one and it fell flat for me. I feel like I've read this premise many times before. There was nothing new or exciting.

The only line I did love was " We live in a world where exceptional women have to sit around waiting for mediocre men" Now ain't that the truth!

PS-Evelyn still has my heart!

My least favorite of TJR's so far but still REALLY good... She's such a great writer! This is basically a character study and unlike her other books it really only focuses on one character. It did remind me a bit of Daisy Jones in the sense that you think it must be based on a real person. There is A LOT about tennis, which I have very little knowledge of, but I didn't mind and I even ending up having tennis dreams!

Taylor Jenkins Reid never fails to deliver a strong female lead character that the reader wants to root for through the story, or as this one goes, through the years of Carrie Soto's tennis career. If you enjoyed the characters in the recent, Liane Morarity's Apples Never Fall, you will enjoy this one.

Carrie is a born and raised tennis champion. who decides to come out of retirement to defend her title. I'll admit, I'm not a sports person but I love a character-driven novel. This book has a LOT of tennis in it. Like, I'm ready to go play after reading it. But you also want to cheer for someone who is not always good but not always bad... Carrie is your person. I can definitely relate. Not my favorite of Reid's books but I'd still recommend it to fans of hers.

I keep believing there is no way Taylor Jenkins Reid can write a better book than her last masterpiece, but she surprises me every time with each book getting better and better! Carrie Soto Is Back sucked me in, broke my heart, and then mended it back together. After six years of retirement, Carrie Soto decides to return to professional tennis to defend her Grand Slam record from newcomer Nicki Chan. With her father back as her coach, Carrie fights with everything she has to prove to the world that she is still the greatest tennis player, even if she isn't the most well-loved. She even begins practicing with Bowe Hunter, the man she almost opened her heart to ten years before, who also has something to prove before he retires. This book broke me in the best way! I grew up playing tennis, and my dad was my coach, so I loved to see the amazing relationship between Carrie and her father and how they connected through tennis. All of TJR's books are character-driven, but this book is different because, instead of focusing on multiple characters or telling the story through multiple perspectives, it focuses entirely on Carrie, how she viewed the world, and, most importantly, how she viewed herself. It was so easy to fully commit to Carrie and root for her success with everything you have. Also, I love how TJR manages to include different media elements in her books. It is so fun to have the story include articles, news stories, and transcripts of sports reports. It adds extra layers to the story and makes the characters feel more real! This book is incredible, and I am so glad I read it! I will be recommending it to everyone I know, including my tennis-obsessed dad!

I want to start by saying I LOVE TJR! I have enjoyed all of her books. So when I was accepted to read and review her newest book through Netgalley, I jumped at the chance!

Carrie Soto is a larger than life character. She is a very complex and she is impossible not to love. I cheered for her through every tennis match and I was DYING to see her win. Seeing the game of tennis through her eyes was fascinating.

Along with the character of Carrie, I also love the father daughter relationship portrayed in this novel. I wanted Javier to be my dad. He was such a good influence on Carrie's life. It was really satisfying to watch.

Overall, I raced through this story because I was desperate to know what would happen to Carrie, Javier, Bowie, Gwen, and even Nikki.

5 STARS!!!!!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this incredible book!

I cannot even begin to describe the emotional toll the end of this book took on me, in the absolute best way. Carrie Soto is a gem and I am so, so glad the bitch is back. 5/5, 10/10, would read again and again. Thank you so much to the publisher for the advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

And this is why when I see Taylor Jenkins Reid's name on a book, I automatically purchase. I LOVED everything about this story. I was rooting for Carrie, her father, & Bowe the entire time. I will admit, I am not a big fan of tennis, but this book may have changed that for me. Carrie was the #1 player in the world for years until she retired, about 5 years later when her all-time record was about to be lost, she decides to make a comeback. You will laugh, cry and smile throughout this novel. Bravo Taylor!

Did I drop everything to read this? Yes!! And it was completely worth it! I wanted to read this one without comparing it to other TJR novels. Sometimes the pressure is too high on authors and book characters to top a previous favorite, even though if you'd read this one first you might very much enjoy it still.

I truly enjoyed this book. I haven't finished a book this fast in a very long time. It's a book about tennis. There is a lot of tennis. Because Carrie's single-minded about tennis and winning. If you're not too familiar with tennis, you get caught up really fast. I haven't played or followed tennis in a long time but I was still incredibly into this story and walked away with a new found appreciation for tennis (also excited to realize the French open is currently happening).

But more importantly, I ended up rooting for Carrie and really loved her. TJR really has a way of tailoring the personalities of her books to her characters and events.
Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books the eARC of this one!

This book has cemented why Taylor Jenkins Reid is an autobuy author for me. As soon as I saw this book available on NetGalley I leaped at the chance to read it and then made it my next read as soon as I finished my last book.

Carrie Soto is the best tennis player the world has ever seen. Thanks to an incredible coach in her father, Javier, she has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles for herself. And with that, she retires from the sport. That is, until six years later, she watches a new phenom, Nicki Chan breaks her record. So at 37, Carrie decides to come out of retirement to show once and for all that she is the greatest tennis player to ever live.

I know absolutely nothing about tennis, and I also don't speak an ounce of Spanish, two things that were plentiful in this book. But it didn't take me out of the story at all. Taylor Jenkins Reid did an incredible job of making this book compulsively readable, no matter if you knew tennis or not. Though if you understand even a little bit about the sport, I bet you'd enjoy this even more.

Carrie herself was a complicated character, not quite loveable but with enough humanity that you found yourself rooting for her anyway. The tennis world didn't quite love her, calling her a Battle Axe and Bitch - she wasn't quite the poster child they'd want to have. I related to Carrie in a lot of ways because I understand that sheer determination to win - though her will was on a whole other level. But what I especially loved about this book was the relationship between Carrie and her father. You don't see a lot of these relationships in stories and this one was such a beautiful example to watch.

Jenkins Reid also threw in a bit of a love story between Carrie and a former tennis star, Bowe Huntley and that just sweetened the book that much more. But I did love that that relationship never took center stage. This book was as much about someone being top of her game as it was about the love between father and daughter, with the romance angle being a distant third.

I couldn't put this book down and as soon as it's available, I'll be buying a copy to put on my forever shelves.

This book will be available on episode 42 of the Reading Through Life podcast, available June 8, 2022.

Carrie Soto Is Back was a most-anticipated release that I did not even know was coming out this year. The joy I felt when given the opportunity to re-immerse myself in Taylor Jenkins Reid’s world was insurmountable.

First and foremost, I absolutely loved Carrie Soto. We need more Carrie Sotos. We need more women—athletes, professionals, artists of every kind, and every woman regardless of their passions—to be like Carrie Soto. Carrie took up space and she demanded to be seen, acknowledged, and recognised for her talent, her prowess, and her ambition. I connected with her and I understood why Taylor Jenkins Reid wrote her the way that she did, and she herself tells us by providing transcripts where Gloria Jones is all but silenced as she tries to exalt Carrie for her comeback.

Carrie’s love for tennis is at the forefront of this novel and 98% of its content was exclusively about tennis. While I myself am unfamiliar with the sport, I was very intrigued. Some matches felt repetitive and dull, however, and I did not feel the intensity I expected TJR hoped the readers would. The lack of exposition outside of the game proved a little flat and redundant, but I still enjoyed the overall experience.

One thing that stood out amongst my least favourite parts of this reading experience was Carrie’s eventual relationship with Bowe, I personally did not find them compatible and was surprised considering: Carrie read as aromantic to me and I did not anticipate that she would have any sort of romantic partner. I noticed that she described almost every woman she played against and/or met as a variation of beautiful or stunning. To be honest, I actually really hoped that Carrie and Nicki would become the eventual “couple” as they shared much more chemistry—and I believe Carrie leaned more towards an attraction to women—to begin with. This was a little disappointing and it just led to a lacklustre conclusion.

Overall I was very immersed in the story and anticipate I will read it again just for Carrie Soto. She is special and seeing myself in her made me want to see much more of her than what I got. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Ballantine Books, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

THIS!!!! This is the book of the summer - or even the year. I’ve always loved the TJR universe, but Carrie really ties it together. You find yourself rooting for her despite her flaws - and definitely rooting for her and Bowe. I cried, I laughed. I smiled. This is my new favorite TJR!

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books never fail to make me cry. This was beautiful. Carrie Soto was a character I loved immediately—ambitious, a bit flawed, and relatable. My favorite things about this book were Carrie’s relationship with tennis, as well as with her father—I love strong familial relationships in books and Carrie’s journey really took me through all the emotions. The book ended pretty much exactly how I wanted it to. I do wish that the love interest’s character arc was maybe more interesting but that’s a minor thing since the romance isn’t the focus, otherwise just pretty sweet overall.

So thankful to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this early.

This was my most anticipated read of the year! Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of my all time favorite authors and I love the way she writes historical fictions. And Carrie Soto Is Back did now disappoint!! I read over 60% in one day, I couldn’t put it down. I loved this type of story it was different then my normal reads but I really enjoyed it. Carrie Soto is a bad ass and I am obsessed with her! I loved how she didn’t care what anyone else thought. TJR’s writing and story telling is always absolutely amazing, this story specifically was incredible, the relationship between Carrie and her father and then later on Carrie and Bowe, I loved that Bowe was there for Carrie through everything. Seriously incredible! I already want to reread this book!

Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it again by creating an in-depth look at another female character in a totally new industy--we have Evelyn in Hollywood and her story, Daisy Jones in her music industry, Nina Riva in surfing, and now we have Carolina (Carrie) in her newest book. I love how when reading her book I really feel like I am feeling the emotions of the character and I am right there in the issues she is dealing with. I love how she intermixes other media in her book and in this case--it is sports interviews. This is a book about intensity, competition, growing older, family, coming to terms with ones limitations and making sure that you spend time to really enjoy the path to success and how you define that success. Highly recommend.

TJR does it yet again! I absolutely devoured this book in only 4 days. Since I did not like Carrie’s character in Malibu Rising, I went in completely blind with this book, trusting TJR to do her magic and boy did she deliver!

While this book is tennis heavy, it’s written in a way that’s easy to follow and was discussed just the right amount for me. As someone who doesn’t know anything about tennis, I actually loved getting to learn about it. So much that I now want to follow tennis, just so I can continue living in the world the book has woven for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between Javier and Carrie as not only father and daughter but also as coach and mentee. Parents have such an everlasting impact on their children and can mold them in any which way, knowingly or unknowingly. I loved carrie’s determination and dedication to go after what she wanted, but I’m also glad her character evolved from being almost completely self-absorbed to becoming self-aware. Also, Bowie holds a special place in my heart.

My only critique is the amount of Spanish that was in the book without translation. It wasn’t the end of the world since I read it on my kindle but for someone who doesn’t speak Spanish, it will be challenging to translate sentences while reading a paper copy of the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.

When I first heard Carrie Soto would be the focus of TJR’s next book, I was disappointed because I wanted to hate Carrie Soto after her part in Malibu Rising (when really all along I should have hated that dodo Brandon). And that brings me to Carrie Soto is Back, which is likely the best book I will read this year. Carrie is a deeply flawed character, but I couldn’t help but cheer for her total domination on the court and desperately wanted her to find her happy despite all the cutting, mean remarks and lack of emotional awareness. I loved the relationship between Carrie and her father; the complexities of his taking on single parenthood AND being Carrie’s coach, because I saw a lot of my own dad in Javier. This book is a beautiful commentary on what it is to be a woman at the top of her game, who just doesn’t give a damn what anyone else thinks, but who also learns that it’s okay to change and to let people care for her, and to move through the seasons of life that we inevitably face. If this review isn’t terribly coherent, I apologize because I was writing it through my ugly cry face immediately after reading the last pages.