Book Review:
I finished reading Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid last week. It was my first buddy read and while I think they both liked it more than I did, I still give it four stars.

If you're looking for a book with a bad-ass woman who goes after her dream, despite being "too old" in her late 30s, this is for you. The first part of the book has way too much tennis (and I like tennis!) but the second half provides more insight into why Carrie is obsessed with winning, why she has a hard time loving anyone except her father, and the ending surprised me in a good way.

Carrie Soto is by far the best character Taylor Jenkins Reid has ever written and that is saying a LOT. I held off on reading this book because I never want to be out of TJR books to read but I'm so glad I finally gave in and absolutely flew through it.

So wonderful- touching, interesting, beautiful character study. Love meeting the real Carrie after seeing her in Malibu Rising.

Let’s get something out of the way first: this is an incredibly biased review. Now, it is my blog, and all of my reviews are biased, but this one to a greater extent than some of the others. Here is the cold, hard truth: I probably would not have liked this book as Taylor Jenkins Reid had chosen a different sport. I am not a sports person. However, I am actually a tennis player, so she managed to write about the one sport I genuinely have interest in.

But even without that, I still completely loved Carrie Soto is Back. It was one of my top books of 2022. Carrie is definitely an unlikable character, but in a way that I really understood. It was easy to see how her pride and her attempt to defend herself against the harshness of the world had settled into a prickly exterior. She put up so many defenses to avoid getting hurt that she was unable to form friendships with anyone other than her father.

Although the marketing plot point is that Carrie is trying to win back her titles, the real story is the character development Carrie goes through. Even Carrie thinks that all that is going to happen is she is going to get back in shape and become the top of the game again. She doesn’t know that to get close, she is going to have to go on a personal journey. And let me tell you, it is a big one. She literally has so much to learn and to make up for.

I also really loved reading a book about an “older” character. Granted, Carrie isn’t actually that old, she is a mere 37 years old. And although she has a lot to learn over the course of the book, she also has a lot of wisdom about tennis and how the game is played. She is able to slow down and be thoughtful about the moves she makes. I liked getting to see how it played into her approach to tennis.

Carrie Soto is Back is genuinely a page-turner, and I truly had such a good time reading it. Carrie is my favorite TJR character so far, and it was such a delight to read her journey.

This was an amazing and completely engaging. I was invested from the very first chapter. The characters were complex. The plot was original. I don’t even like tennis but loved this story. The characters stole my heart.

I didn't think I would like a book about tennis but Reid has proved me wrong! I enjoyed this title a lot. My readers take issue with texts that aren't own voices, so I will buy this but not heavily recommend it.

I have greatly enjoyed many of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books so I assumed that Carrie Soto is Back would be the same. I've heard such great reviews. However, I hate to say it, but this book was not for me. I'm not going to doubt the greatness of TJR, but I just could not get into this one. I found Carrie absolutely impossible to stand. I'm not sure how more people in her life didn't tell her to slow her role. She bothered me so much!

After the halfway point I did start to like it just a little better because they were showing Carrie as more of an actual human with flaws.

I really don't know what more to say. I liked the style of the book with the different timelines and the TV, newspaper, etc. stories being shared. I just absolutely couldn't handle Carrie and the way she treated people.

TJR does it again! Carrie Soto is Back is a great book. It made me want to go out and learn how to play tennis.

Another great story from TJR! As a TJR fan, I loved getting to know more about Carrie Soto. As always, the author does an amazing job with character development. Through the storytelling, Carrie Soto moves from a distant "it" girl we don't know much about, to a layered, dynamic, and flawed main character who we end up rooting for. Can't wait for the next TJR read!

Another great read by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I was a little worried because I am not a huge tennis fan, but I was sucked right into Carrie's world and became fully invested in her life. I loved the slow building love story and the father daughter relationship.

After winning all the tennis title Carrie retires with an injury. But, when her title is in jeopardy she decides that she is going to hit the court again and defend what she believes is hers. There is so much more than tennis here, and following Carrie on and off the court was my favorite part.

I haven't read all of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books (yet) but I've thoroughly enjoyed every one I've read to date, including this one. So often I see people dismiss the thought of reading books that on the surface seem to be about a subject that they aren't interested in - in this instance that would be sports, specifically tennis. Luckily I learned long ago that often books that seem to be focused on a subject I'm not interested in are about so much more than just that subject matter. Lonesome Dove isn't just a Western. Friday Night Lights (the book, the movie, and the TV show) is about so much more than football. In the same way, Carrie Soto's tennis career is just a vehicle for telling a much bigger story and tackling broader subjects. Inspiring, heart-breaking, infuriating, frustrating, compelling, satisfying - so much happening in this book and I enjoyed it all - despite being only marginally interested in tennis. Pick it up and you might learn a little about tennis, but you'll also learn about love, ambition, the choices we make and the consequences that follow.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

I am speechless. This is the most amazing book I’ve read. Carrie is stubborn, selfish, grumpy. I loved all the characters in this book. She learns that that losing isn’t the end of the world. I have so many feelings about this book.

I really wanted to like it, but I really struggled to get into this one (just like I did with Malibu Rising). I might have to give the audio a try to see if that helps me like this book anymore. I really loved Daisy Jones, so I am hopeful that maybe another format will help me also like this one.

Carrie Soto is now added to the long list of Taylor Jenkin Reid’s heroines. Her “comeback” story had me invested in a way real-life sports comebacks never could, ultimately due to the relationship with her father. Normally we see mother/daughter stories, so this change in dynamics was fresh and heartbreaking in a way all of its own. I truly felt the gut wrenching obsession Carrie had with coming back to be the best, and the heartbreaking losses she had to experience to find peace.

TJR does it again. I was so invested in Carrie's story and thought the whole book was just brilliant. It kept me up later than I should be, but it was worth it. I thought the ending was done really well too.

I wanted to love this book as much as I love TJR's other books but the Spanish felt forced and, to me, the story was lacking a bit. I wanted to like Carrie (or at least appreciate her character) more than I did in the end. Other than that, I want to call attention to the need to highlight diverse voices and for white authors to know when to let people of color tell their own stories. This isn't to say that white authors can't write diverse stories, just that if it's going to be done it should be done well. As a Latina, I felt this wasn't done very well and I wanted more from TJR.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

One simply cannot put down a Taylor Jenkins Reid book. You do not have to be a tennis fan to enjoy the strong characters, twists of fate, and human experience. So glad Carrie planned her return.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Carrie Soto is arguably the greatest female tennis player the world has ever seen - until she isn’t. Six years after her retirement, she’s now watching as a new group of women take aim at her records, specifically a new breed of tennis player - Nicki Chan. When Carrie comes out of retirement to try and defend her record, will she wind up falling short of her own accomplishments or remind the world why she’s the the best of the best.

Chronicling Carrie’s career and comeback, Carrie Soto Is Back is an emotional train of accomplishment, family drama and interpersonal relationships - which is Reid’s favorite cup of tea. Fans of the Reid universe will love the brief mention of the Rivas from Malibu Rising and the way all of Reid’s characters continue to meld together.

Thanks to Net Galley, RHPG - Ballantine Books, and Taylor Jenkins Reid for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Read if you like:

+ Taylor Jenkins Reid - specifically Malibu Rising
+ Huge Tennis Super Fan
+ Celebrity / Athlete Memoirs

Who knew a book about a tennis player (a sport I know nothing about) would make me openly sob? Carrie Soto can take her place as one of my favorite fictional characters of all time now.

This is one of the most true to form explorations of experiencing grief and loss in real time that I have read, along with learning to move on. It was beautifully done, and Taylor Jenkins Reid is easily one of my top favorite authors. She was previous to this title, but wow, did this solidify that.

Thanks Random House - Ballantine for an early copy!

I always enjoy how Taylor Jenkins Reid is able to make each book different than the last -- the books in essence feel like her as an author, but the premises and characters are so unique. Another home run from TJR.