Cover Image: Carrie Soto Is Back

Carrie Soto Is Back

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Member Reviews

Carrie Soto is Back and so is TJR with another 5-star book from her celebrity universe. As someone who loves tennis, I was very captivated by the sports aspect of the book, but the tennis was just the surface.

Starting with Carrie, she is set-up to be an unlikeable character, yet I found myself rooting for her throughout the entire story. Compared to your average protagonist, Carrie is a breath of fresh air through her flaws and her unwavering ambition. I think that everyone will be able to find a part of themselves in Carrie, so even though you may not also like her, you can’t help but love her. Another standout character is her father, Javier. This is the first book I’ve read in which TJR has featured a parental dynamic at the heart of the story, and it added a whole other layer of depth and emotion.

There is no denying that TJR can write complex characters, but her prose was also a standout in this novel, and you can see how it has progressed from her earlier works. Her use of language is so clever to the point where she’s using it to bridge the rules of tennis with human emotion. My only complaint (which isn’t even a complaint) is that I truly believe that this could have been split into 2 books; one for Carrie’s original career, and one for her comeback. Regardless, this book won my heart in straight sets.

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I was soooo nervous to dive into this one because I have such a rocky book relationship with TJR. I absolutely loved Evelyn Hugo, found Malibu Rising mediocre and then despised Daisy Jones 😂. Also I have no interest whatsoever in tennis… but, WOW! This is why we should never judge a book by its cover or description before reading it because this book truly blew me away, I absolutely LOVED it! Carry Soto herself is the definition of a savage, badass, unstoppable yet such a remarkable and inspiring, courageous and strong woman! Carrie Soto is definitely one of my favourite fictional characters to date! I can’t believe how intrigued and excited I was while reading this! The ending was soooo perfect, couldn’t have been done better. 😭

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I picked up this book because I’ve heard so many good things about this author and I was not disappointed. I don’t know much about tennis but Carrie Soto and Javier taught me all about it. This story of a tennis phenom and her family was exciting and I found myself wishing for Carrie to win while feeling the odds were not in favour.I enjoyed the news excerpts and the way the book was set up with dates.
My favourite part of this book though was the ending and how Carrie transformed her life into something happy and satisfying. What a great book!

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This book was absolutely a phenomenal read. It has all of the elements that create a perfect read in my opinion. The slow-burn story creates anticipation about the relationship between Carrie and her father as well as Carrie's personal growth journey and her career. The story features a strong female lead which I always enjoy, and as a sports fan, it has all the elements that kept me turning the page to see what happens next.

In particular, the father/daughter portion of the book tugged on all of my heartstrings. I absolutely loved Taylor's crossover mentions (the Rivas and Daisy) and finally, her descriptive language and ability to create such a setting that literally makes me feel like I am living in the novel. So. Good.

This was a quick read simply because it was unputdownable. I can't say enough good things about it!

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This book proves yet again that Taylor Jenkins Reid can write characters to fall in love with.

I don't really like Tennis. I have never played it and don't really know any of the rules, but that didn't stop me from loving this book. Carrie Soto is not always a likable character, but she was someone I was rooting for the entire book. Her drive and passion were unmatched and I loved seeing her through the years.

One of the best things about this book was the pace. I found myself enthralled by the entire book and racing through it because I didn't want to wait a single second before finding out information and with the fast paced nature of Tennis this worked really well as I felt like the book was one long Tennis match.

I really liked this book and was enraptured the entire time.

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Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
📖 / 🎧
Another win for me from TJR! A fantastic book on audio! I thought TJR writing in this book was great! As someone who is not very interested in sports I could NOT put this down! I loved how this was about fierce women, with a side story of love romantically and within family. Carries dad 🥹🥹 favorite book dad.

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Reading Malibu Rising I quite disliked Carrie Soto character and then this book was announced I was like - why a whole book about literally the most annoying character in her books?

But Taylor Jenkins Reid is such a great writer and her books are an absolute auto-buy. She made a great story about an unlikable person and tennis. So much tennis but even having zero interest in tennis you keep reading that.

It is not my favourite but still really-really good 👍🏻

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so carrie soto was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. thus far, aside from forever interrupted, taylor jenkins reid has stayed a tried and true favourite of mine, especially her audiobooks. i just love the way she completely immerses readers in not only the aesthetic of the time period she is writing about, but how just so quickly, the characters become treasured in your hearts, their strife is your strife, their happiness is your happiness. and while i cried when i was meant to cry and laughed where i was meant to laugh and truly loved carrie as a character, so tough and headstrong and stubborn to the core, i did feel this one lacked a bit of heart. the tennis bits at the beginning, while helpful to keep track of the rest of the book, felt a bit drawn out. as much as i loved carrie, she sometimes seemed a bit unreachable, even beyond her characterization. and i wish we got more of a backstory or just more in general of javier, he was just lovely. and even more so, while the slow burn between bowe and carrie was muy bien, i felt like i didn't get their relationship. while our characters don't have to realize or show their feelings, we as readers should feel it coming off the page and usually, tjr is SO good at doing that. idk, i really did like this one and i cant say it was bad at all, or i wouldn't reread it or anything like that. it was super inspirational and had a lot of good things to say about ageism in sports, the treatment of women in sports in general, etc but the emotional tie i usually have with these books was just not fully formed in this one. sad but tru

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Although I have enjoyed Taylor Jenkins Reids' books in the past, unfortunately this book did not entertain me. I had a lot of trouble connecting with the main character. I liked and understood that she was meant to be a strong, driven character, but beyond those characteristics I found her flat and underdeveloped. Admittedly I am not a tennis fan, so I also had trouble following a large portion of the book (I did not understand what was happening in the tennis scenes). This book was not a favourite of mine, but for those who do enjoy tennis the reading experience may have been different.

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First off I want to thank @netgalley, @penguinrandomhousecanada, @taylorjenkinsreid for my free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 15%, I just couldn't do this one. I love TJR and her writing I will read anything she writes but this one left me feeling bored. The storyline I did not enjoy and was repetitive and the main character I felt no attachment too. I knew it was about tennis, but didn't think it was ONLY that. This just wasn't the book for me.

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Bit disappointed. Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones are some of my favourite books, but Malibu Rising was a weaker entry in this Taylor Jenkins Reid multiverse, and I even felt more disappointed with Carrie Soto. Maybe a large part of it is because I don't care about sports, but I don't know. Something about the book just felt like it was missing that charm of EH and DJ. Maybe its because it takes place in a closer time period, but I'm just not sure.

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Carrie Soto was a minor character in Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel MALIBU RISING.
In the book Carrie was a professional tennis player at the beginning of her successful career who was known for her ruthlessness and confidence.
Carrie has long held the record for the most Grand Slams wins. Now another young player by the name of Nikki Chan is getting dangerously close to overtaking that record.
At thirty-seven years old Carrie makes a momentous decision to come out of retirement to try and save her record. Her father Javier coached Carrie when she was a young player starting out but they parted ways when Carrie felt she needed more from a coach. Now unable to hire her former coach Javier agrees to take on the job as her coach and trainer. Javier loves his daughter and would doing anything for her.
CARRIE SOTO IS BACK is a good book. I have liked all of the books I have read by Taylor Jenkins Reid and this is not an exception. She tells an interesting story with strong characters. While this is not one of my favourites of hers I still enjoyed the story.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced ebook edition of this book.

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Taylor Jenkins Reid did it again! I can't help but fall in love with all of her characters. Carrie Soto might be my favourite in the TJR universe.. I loved how unapologetic she is. She knows she is the best and she won't let anyone get in her way. I don't want to spoil her character but AHHHH. I saw myself so much in her.

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Taylor Jenkins Reid never disappoints! When I heard her newest novel was about Carrie Soto, well, I was a little disappointed. From Malibu Rising, Carrie Soto was not a character I wanted to know more about. But, in true TJR fashion, she knocked this one out of the park. Carrie Soto is a badass female and the world needs more of her.
I loved learning about her past, ups, downs, and how she thinks and views the world.
Another fantastic book from TJR. One of the things I love most about the author are the little easter eggs she leaves in each book - they all have ties together which I think is so fun!

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I’m marking it as DNF... for now at least.
I can’t get into it at all, and to be fair it’s taking me a long time to just get to maybe 13% in?
I’m not into tennis, and while it does explain the basics of tennis in the beginning, I do also wonder if I’ll care about this story if it’s taking me this long to get into it already.. There wasn't any captivating hook off the top to make me care about this story.

Maybe will revisit it in the future.

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Taylor Jenkins Reid really has a way of immersing you in the story. Making you believe everything you are reading is real and not just an excellent piece of fiction.

And she does it again with 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙩𝙤 𝙄𝙨 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠.

Carrie Soto is the best tennis player in the world and has retired from the game. Six years later, she is sitting at the ‘94 US Open final, contemplating on returning to the game to take back her records that new star Nicki Chan is breaking at every turn.

We start this book with Carrie’s backstory and her rise to becoming tennis’ best. And quickly follow along as she makes her comeback.

I felt so immersed in every chapter, and felt right there at every match.
While this book is heavy on the tennis side, I didn’t find it as overwhelming as I had anticipated, and really enjoyed all the tennis talk and matches.
I am sure it does help that I am a big tennis fan too, 🤗.

The heart of this story is the relationships between the characters, especially that of Carrie and her dad (and coach) Javier and Carrie and Bowe. Their relationship was just so real and natural.
TJR can write her characters so well, and you care for them so much. You cheer for them in their highs and lows (even when you can’t stand them at one point).

There are some fun Easter eggs throughout with references to some of TJR’s other books!

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Part story, part oral history, Carrie Soto is Back is a powerful novel about what it costs to be great. Professional sports (and sports in general) are a male-dominated space and a woman's perspective is hugely important to Taylor. This is evident in all of her books—she wants to make women feel seen and heard—and Carrie Soto is Back is no exception.

Reid once again writes about strong women and the downside of fame—Carrie is in good company with Evelyn, Daisy, and Nina. (Fun fact: at the beginning of Malibu Rising, we learn that Nina has separated from her husband, Brandon, and he is now living with his mistress, tennis pro Carrie Soto.) Driven and sharp, yet brash and bold, Carrie holds nothing back and only cares about winning. She is a layered, complex, and an unlikable character that is so well written that readers will not only root for her, but they will also be enamoured with the game of tennis.

Taylor Jenkins Reid serves up an ace with Carrie Soto is Back. Highly recommend!

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I delayed on reading this book because someone mentioned there was too much tennis. I don't really watch Tennis so I thought I wouldn't connect. Oh man was I ever wrong.

Carrie Sota may be one of my most favorite characters ever written. She is a bad ass, hardcore athlete, who doesn't apologize to anyone for being as amazing as she is. I love the book and watching this character grow and transform.
There were many topics that were brought up in this book that are important. Ageism, sexism, degrading women., racism. This book hit all the marks, and was so damn relatable.

10/10 would absolutely recommend.

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I was extremely excited about reading Carrie Soto as I am a major Taylor Jenkins Reid fan and have adored everything I've read by her so far. Unfortunately, Carrie Soto was a huge letdown for me. I did not connect to either Carrie or her dad and found the side characters underdeveloped and uninteresting. The plot dragged out immensely for me, this actually took me about 2 months to read. I'm not usually a sports book fan but I thought TJRs compelling characters would even that out but that wasn't the case, and this is definitely my least favourite read by her. this won't stop me from picking up her next book though!!!

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Sorry this review is so late.

I had the hardest time getting into Carrie Soto is back. I picked it up numerous times and just couldn't get into. Finally I decided to just push through and I am so thankful that I did.

I really disliked Carrie. I did not want her to make any sort of comeback at all and rooted against her like something fierce. I was surprised I had finally found a TJR book I really didn't enjoy as she is one of my favorite authors. Except, now the book is over and I'm so happy with how everything went and I'm once again applauding a truly great author. Carrie's character arc was absolutely splendid! There was also a great character arc for Carrie's father. The story leaves you satisfied and fulfilled, as long as you can get past Carrie and her crappy attitude long enough to reach the finish line.

I adore this book and hate that I kept putting it down instead of just reading it. If you're a fan of TJR I recommend at least trying this one. I know it won't be for everybody but it's certainly worth a shot.

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