I wanted to love this, but I didn’t connect with it. I may try again in future as I did enjoy other books by this author.

If you’re fan of TJR you’ll have already met Carrie Soto in Malibu Rising, she is the woman who has an affair with Nina Riva’s husband. Which is not a spoiler it happens within the first chapter of the book! TJR realized as she was editing Malibu Rising that she wanted Carrie Soto to have a voice but not the Carrie of 1983 who’s at the top but Carrie post injury that led to her retirement trying to forge a comeback in 1995. Carrie Soto retires in 1989 with the most Grand Slam titles ever but now in 1995 Nikki Chan matches her record so at 37 Carrie decides to come out of retirement to defend her titles because she doesn’t know who she is if she isn’t the best at tennis Carrie Soto is Back Is full of High Stakes fierce competition and epic show downs, read this book to understand if Carrie Soto is back.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

TJR is amazing! I love how effortless her writing always is. I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though I did not expect 95% of it to be tennis. I didn’t like how pretty much none of the Spanish is translated so sometimes I had to look up what it meant and eventually I got tired of looking it up and just skipped over all the Spanish 😂 Some words/sentences I was able to guess but I just felt like it was a little overkill. I really loved the discussions on sexism in sports. And um hello this line:
“We live in a world where exceptional women have to sit around waiting for mediocre men” 🎉

A special thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada, Doubleday Canada and Taylor Jenkins Reid for the ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review. Since the kindle edition wasn’t supplied, I just waited and bought the paperback for myself since I love Taylor Jenkins Reid anyway, so as you probably know, this book is already published!

Carrie

“𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛*𝙘𝙠-𝙪𝙥, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣”.

That quote should tell you the tone of this book 😂
So to be honest when TJR announced the title & cover last year … I was disappointed. I don’t like tennis, don’t care to like tennis, and wasn’t a huge fan of the cover.

Having now read Carrie Soto Is Back.. I take back everything I said while I was just a judgy bookworm 😝
This book made me FEEL SO MUCH.
𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻— 𝘆𝗲𝘀, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲- 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆𝗻 𝗛𝘂𝗴𝗼.

The spectrum of emotions I had while reading this was insane. I admired Carrie , thought she was a b*tch, then told myself to check my feminist self and reevaluate . Carrie is single minded to the point of madness. Part of me wanted her to fail so it would humble her, and the other part of me was cheering CLUTCH THEIR BEATING HEARTS IN YOUR HANDS, CARIE (iykyk)

I haven’t been on the edge of my metaphorical- and literal seat while reading in a long time .
This story is real and so raw it feels tangible. Especially the relationship between Carrie and her father. It cracked my heart wide open and had me bawling .

If you love high stakes stories and character driven, redemption arcs - this novel is fantastic.

𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿.

What's your favourite or memorable fictional character?

Mine is Sherlock Holmes, and the close second is Evelyn Hugo. The third is now Carrie Soto and let me tell you the reasons why:
1. She is a badass character
2 An obsessed tennis player
3. Openly called out sexism in sports
4. Shares a close relationship with her father
5. Not likeable all the time, that only made her only close to reality

TJR is a daring author who can test different themes and writing styles and can still ace it.

A fast-paced book that deals with tennis, sexism, ageism, father-daughter relationship, family loss, triumphs and defeats, Carrie Soto Is Back, is an emotional and unforgettable book. The character growth throughout the book and engaging writing are commendable.

For those who don't really love tennis or know about tennis, this book might hit different as there is a lot of tennis in this book. Being a tennis fanatic, I absolutely love this book. Hold that thought because this book is more than just tennis. This book is precisely a piece of good writing that can make you read it.

If you are a TJR fan, a tennis fan or just a good writing fan - give this book a try!

Absolutely amazing book. I’m obsessed. I laughed, I cried multiple times, I want to read it all over again already. I loved learning about tennis, I got right into the competitiveness of it! Carrie is magnificent, such a strong female MC. I loved her papa so much & their relationship & love for the sport. The slow building romance with her & Bowe was so sweet & tender. A million stars!

Have I ever told you how much I love Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing? Everytime she's coming out with a new book, I know I'll be grabbing it ASAP!

As much as I love TKR's writing, unfortunately, the storyline for this one fell a little flat for me. I honestly just think it was the sports fiction that did it for me. I have never followed tennis, so reading the descriptive play-by-play and score keeping of the matches didn't keep my attention.

However, I appreciate reading characters who are unapologetically ruthless women, and Carrie Soto was no exception! Just like Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones, this character doesn't take shit from anyone. My favourite kind of ladies!

For fans for TKR, tennis, and badass women!

It came as no surprise to me that I absolutely loved this story. It felt like Jenkins Reid was writing about an actual tennis player considering all the detail she put into the supporting players and their various rankings. I’m not a tennis pro, but I am glad I had some prior knowledge of the sport because it does get a little technical when she’s describing actual games (though the details don’t often go on for long), which to me made the whole thing feel even more real.

Carrie Soto is not your typical loveable “celebrity.” She broke many records and paved the way for women in sports (fictionally, of course), but she wasn’t likeable. She was guarded and didn’t show emotion; we understood why from the beginning. I loved watching her father and her sparring partner Bowe slowly break down her walls and have her transform throughout the arc of the book. I could picture the secondary characters like Javier, Bowe, and Gwen in my head like they were real people.

I loved the relationship between Carrie and her father, Javier. As much as this is her story, it’s his story and legacy, too, and to watch them grow together—even when they were apart—was heartwarming. I also loved that this talked about women kicking ass when they are “past their prime” and dominating after they’ve been told they can’t do something. It was very powerful. Plus, some Easter eggs from some of her previous novels are an added bonus for Jenkins Reid fans.

The only criticism I have is that, as far as I know, the author isn’t Latinx, so for her to write a Latinx character felt a little odd to me. I love that she’s using her platform to try and spotlight minorities, but part of me feels like she should be boosting minority voices and writers instead and letting those voices speak for themselves. But as a white woman, it might not be my place to comment.

If you are a fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid, a tennis lover or even historical fiction (more contemporary, of course), you will love Carrie Soto is Back. It’s a great story to make yourself, and the women in your life feel empowered to kick butt and rise to the top.

5 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

😍Loved: Carrie and Javier's relationship and the father daughter plotline, the romantic side plot with Bowie.

😀Liked: The ending was slightly redemptive enough to make up for the slow start. The audio of this book helped me finish it as I found the plot somewhat repetitive. The audio also has a full cast and I liked the sport's news snippets and articles read by other narrators.

😐Lukewarm: Even though I'm a tennis fan (play the sport, enjoy watching it on tv), this book was HEAVY on the tennis match details. I appreciate that they were important to understand Carrie's ferocity and stubbornness, but whoa, it was a lot. I feel this read more like a tennis non-fiction memoir. If you want a good tennis memoir, I highly recommend Open by Andrei Agassi - there was definitely some inspiration pulled from that book here.

Overall, this book was fine, but not overly memorable for me. There were times I was skimming just to get to the end. A very anticipated release, but a case where my expectations were higher than the payoff.

3.5/5 rounded down

I really enjoyed this story.  I felt like it was well written.  I also appreciated the way that it was sectioned up; it helped with the pacing of the novel.  It was quite well done.  I really enjoyed getting to see how she came to be a big tennis star, and how she decided to make her comeback.  I liked the subtle references to the other books that TJR has recently published.  I recieved this through NetGalley as an eARC.

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada, Double Day Books and NetGalley for an opportunity to read this book
2.5 ⭐️
My favourite line in the whole book : “We live in a world where exceptional women have to sit around waiting for mediocre men “
🔘easy but choppy reading - a lot of this happened and that happened
🔘lots and lots and lots of tennis - I played this match.. I won this match … blah blah . In 82 pages she became the greatest tennis player in the world but like really - Nothing much actually happened in those pages ; the second half was no different - just tennis match after tennis match for the most part with a little bit of other stuff … 🥱
🔘generally throughout the book I felt no real emotion or connection to any of the characters
✔️ I actually thought the ending was good

I am disappointed that TJR insists on creating a whole story on what it means to be a certain race in a white world when she herself cannot comment on this at all. These halfhearted attempts racial politics and sexism take over the other central theme of the father/daughter dynamics (but if you don’t speak Spanish then prepare to not understand most of their conversations) and Carrie herself is an extremely unlikeable character. Overall the book is predictable with very little plot, and while the ending is charming, as a whole isn’t a slam.

Carrie Soto is back - on the tennis court and on the page. As a fan or Taylor Jenkins Reid’s other novels I was excited to delve deeper into Carrie Soto’s backstory after her introduction in Malibu Rising! Like her other books, Reid is able to blend snippets of the past with the present to really flesh-out her characters and their backstories. Carrie is brutally honest and determined to the point of excluding anything from her life that may interfere with her trajectory to be the world’s greatest tennis player. While this might make an ordinary character unlikable, Carrie’s backstory and evolution throughout her comeback really made me warm up to her. Overall, the plot was fairly predictable and not my favourite Taylor Jenkins Reid novel, but I still devoured it in a couple of days. Definitely worth picking up for fans of her other books or anyone looking for an inspirational story about a Battle Axe!

(Bonus points for explaining tennis in a way that finally made the points /set system make sense in my head.)

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Carrie Soto is back is the story of famous tennis player Carrie Soto who claimed 20 Grand Slam Titles.
From a very young age Carrie is dedicated to winning, winning at any cost.
She is now retired and sees her title could be in jeopardy.
Carrie has sacrificed a lot for the sake of winning.
I enjoyed the story, the characters, I wanted to know more and could not put this book down
4 stars

A fun and exciting romp! I like TKJ her books are always so enjoyable!
I don't know much about tennis, but that did not matter.
I like an unlikeable woman and a late coming of age.

I haven’t met a TJR book yet that I haven’t loved….and that still holds true! Carrie is a force to be reckoned with as she attempts her comeback after a younger athlete breaks her hard earned record. Carrie retired after earning many accolades and at the pinnacle of her career and gave up everything to do so. What does she have to give up in order to return to her sport and rise again? Carrie Soto is strong and fierce, yet vulnerable and raw as we explore the world at the top as a world champion tennis player.

I loved this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Synopsis: Tennis legend Carrie Soto returns to the court after an injury-related early retirement in order to defend her title against rising superstar Nicki Chan.

Review: I’ll start with a friendly FYI that this book is 95% Carrie playing tennis. I read a similar review and just didn’t believe it, but it’s true lol! It’s also amazingly well-done. There is no doubt that the second half of this book is a 5+ star read. I did struggle to get into it at first though, but I’m so glad I stuck with it! The characters grow on you, the game-related tension is fierce, and the feminist commentary is on point.

Another TJR must read!


Thank you @netgalley @doubledayca @penguincanada for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved every one of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books. All of her characters are so well crafted and so relatable, even when I have so little in common with them (I’m looking at you Daisy and Evelyn.) So I was a little worried about Carrie Soto.

While I enjoyed her cameo in MALIBU RISING, I didn’t immediately like Carrie and I was worried about the prospect of reading an entire book about a character I didn’t love that was also about a sport I had little interest in. As it turns out, I never should've doubted TJR’s writing talent, because I was hooked from the beginning and finished this book in just a few days.

Yes, there is a lot of tennis. Like a lot. I know more about the game now than I ever thought I needed to know. And yes, Carrie Soto herself is a difficult character to love. She is arrogant and impulsive and treats people badly, but (and this is an important but) the author makes it so clear as to why she behaves the way she does, it made me feel for her and, yes, even root for her.

On the surface, CARRIE SOTO IS BACK appears to be about a tennis superstar trying to make a comeback, but at its heart, this story is about a woman who must reflect on her own past mistakes in order to build a future where she finally understands who she wants to be. Which is something I think we all can relate to.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for the advance reading copy.

Carrie Soto is Back was my first Taylor Jenkins Reid book (shocking I know) and I have to say I finally understand what all the fuss is about. I like tennis but I can't say I'm a huge fan yet I loved everything about this book and could not and did not want to put it down. Characters and images from this story are still on my mind even days after I finished reading.

Carrie Soto is a retired tennis legend who decides to do the unthinkable and attempt a professional come back at the age of 37, in order to reclaim her world record for the highest number of grand slams won. She is fierce and driven to work harder than humanly possible in order to succeed. While she always found tennis easy, human relationships and connections are not really her forte, and her overall attitude of not caring whether she's liked earned her a nickname of "battle axe". The only constant in her life has been her father and coach, Javier who is once again by her side as she attempts to give the world a come back they never expected. As most people doubt her and a few unexpected ones come to support her, if she is to succeed Carrie will have to push herself past every limit not just physically but most importantly mentally and emotionally.

Yes Carrie is not necessarily likeable yet TJR built her story in such a way that I felt it was impossible not to root for her, especially as it becomes obvious how circumstances shaped her character. I got fully immersed and invested in the world of tennis in a way I never thought would be possible. Which speaks volumes about TJR's storytelling skills. I feel if life didn't get in the way I would've easily read this in less than 24 hours. If you're a fan of beautifully written character driven dramas, you absolutely have to read this one.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Another great TJR book. I love how this universe ties together. Great character development and awesome grasp of the culture of the time period.