Carrie Soto Is Back

Received from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Look, the thing about Taylor Jenkins Reid is that she's very readable - I read this in a couple days. I've read all her books, each in a couple days. There's not always a lot there, but they're fun and good at the time, but I don't think about them much. Other than Evelyn Hugo, I've enjoyed her earlier books the best, and could do with more of those and less of these focused on famous people. That said, you'll definitely enjoy this if you've enjoyed her other books.

If you've read Malibu Rising, you know a little of Carrie Soto. But here, here you get her whole story.

I loved Carrie, even when she's hard to love, and her father, Javier. I loved watching her relationships with other players (Bowe and Nicki Chan foremost) grow and change. Some of these changes I saw coming, others I did not at all.

I know earlier I said there's not always a lot there, and I do stand by that - I don't know how much I'll think about Carrie now that I'm done - but there's still so much to take away from this book.

I loved watching Carrie grow and change. She's a tough person to be in the head of. I wanted to yell at her to be nicer a lot. But that makes for a nice change when she begins to soften and relax into who she is now.

I don't read many new books, but Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author that I always look forward to new books from. If you like her books, read this. If you don't, you still might enjoy this. Who'd've thought I'd enjoy a book about a tennis player?!

“People don't want new, they want the familiar done differently”

A 7/10 4* from me because:

- It is unequivocally as advertised - an easy read, Sunday afternoon on ITV4 story

- It largely achieves my interpretation of its aims in how it presents the (fairly standard) characters and key messages

- It is definitely compelling enough to want to continue reading, despite the on-the-rails plot

The tennis fan in me inwardly cringed a bit at some of the Basil Exposition explanations of the rules and basics of the sport but it's limited enough to be distracting only in a Drive To Survive / Break Point way.

For a different perspective on the cost of elite success in pro tennis, Andre Agassi's autobiography ‘Open' is excellent and very honest.

Overall I'd be happy enough to pick up another TJR at the airport.

Who knew a book about tennis could be so good? Taylor Jenkins Reid never misses (no pun intended). I wish so badly that Carrie Soto, Nicki Chan, Cortez, Antonovich, and Bowe Huntley were real. There were so many moments where I wished I could look up one of their games on YouTube to watch them play.

”We live in a world where exceptional women have to sit around waiting for mediocre men.”

I am fully convinced that Taylor Jenkins Reid is a mastermind. I believed that before I read this but this book just helped cement that for me.

I enjoy the way that TJR has the ability to write stories in non-traditional ways. Daisy Jones & the Six is the perfect example of this by how it is told in an interview format. Every work that TJR does is original and timeless.

Carrie was such a strong, empowering character and I loved reading about her. She quickly became a character that I believe I will think about for a long time. What I love the most about the main characters that feature in TJR's books is that they are unapologetically imperfect. They're human.

Also, Bowen was such a highlight for me. I love him so much.

I loved coming along on Carrie's journey to realise that it's okay to not be perfect. This felt like a love letter. I will most definitely be rereading this in the future.

A compulsively readable beautiful story about a father/daughter relationship and the hunger of being the best. I am not interested in tennis at all, but this book kept me really intrigued because it was so well paced. Loved the different matches also broken up with mixed media through articles and interviews. I didn't love Carrie's character, but looking back on it, she reminds me of herself. Her father's death had me sobbing, and he reminded me so much of my dad. I normally love a romance but this one could not hold a candle to the father/daughter relationship. Loved the full circle ending of her becoming a coach TJR really knows how to create such realistic and rich characters. 

Taylor Jenkins Reid absolutely blows me away every single time. This is a story about a woman who is so stubborn and unwilling to give up while simultaneously dealing everyone (but a select few) being against her. Carrie is strong, hotheaded, and has an inner voice that I can't help but comparing to my own. I read the entirety of this book in one sitting and actually stayed up until 3:30am reading this because I just couldn't get enough of the action packed story. It's been so long since a book has made me do this and feel this way, and it was such a nice change of pace for me.






Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.

If you like reading or listening to narrated tennis matches this is the book for you.
The best part of this book was Carrie's relationship with her dad. I couldn't care less about all the tennis matches, I just wanted to keep learning about their relationship. They were the best part of the book. I knew it would end the way it did, but it's okay cause it was so beautiful.

Beau was acting like an absolute KING. That is all I'll say about that.

Would have given it 4 ⭐️ if there were less tennis matches I had to listen to

My rating of 4 indicates I liked the book more than I actually did. The craftwork was excellent. TJR created a world-class tennis player, and her coach father, out of whole-cloth and covered her entire career. Amazing! There was too much tennis for me to actually enjoy it, though. But well done TJR! (I had to listen at 3x; I was determined to read this one! ;) The last 10 to 15% was better (for me) because there was more than just tennis.