Powerhouse , phenomenal, captivating , pick any of those words and you would be describing the amazing book ‘Carrie soto is back’ by the legend that is Taylor Reid Jenkins.

This is the story of Carrie soto , moulded from her first breaths into a tennis superstar by her father and the journey of her gaining fame, lose and then coming back to regain her title as a legend.

Carries world took over my life and I read this book in two days, I never wanted to return to reality and could have lived in carries world eternally.

I actually squealed with delight when Carrie picks up daisy jones and the six to read as I have just read that masterpiece recently too.

Just wow , this book will be one of the l bookstagram must reads of the year and I really didn’t expect to like it that much going in!

I really don’t want to give too much away but please everyone promise me you will read it and thank me later !

It’s tennis’ turn to get the Taylor Jenkins Reid treatment. In Carrie Soto is Back we follow an ageing tennis superstar as she decides to go for one last moment of glory. Another player has matched her record of gland slam titles and so she decides she must come out of retirement and play all the Grand Slams one more time.
A word of warning, there are a lot of tennis matches in the book, particularly in the first half which flashes back through her early years as her father, Javier, coaches her to greatness. Carrie isn’t an easy character to love either, certainly until the later stages as she finally finds love and acceptance.
However, as always with TJR it is a blast to read, she sweeps you into the world of elite tennis and the story barrels along, eventually coming to just the ending you didn’t know you wanted but is just perfect. I still think Daisy and the Six is my favourite of her books but I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Carrie, Javier and Bowe. Thank you to #netgalley and #randomhouse for allowing me to review this ARC

Carrie Soto, aka The Battle-Axe, was the best female tennis player of all time when she retired in the late 80s. But 6 years later, during the 1994 US Open, she watches Nicki Chan equal her 20 Grand Slam titles record. Carrie refuses to give up her legacy without a fight and decides to come out of retirement at 37 to reclaim her record. There's many hurdles to overcome: old injuries, being coached again by her father Javier (who she ditched at the height of career) and training with Bowe Huntley, who previously ghosted her romantically. Can Carrie beat the odds and succeed?

This is book 4 from Taylor Jenkins Reid set in the same universe of fictionally famous people. Book one was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, then Daisy Jones and The Six and finally last year's Malibu Rising. It's in this book we're briefly introduced to Carrie Soto. Carrie is a formidable character, cold and ruthless as an athlete and the reason why she earned her title 'The Battle-Axe'. Her only friends are her father and her agent Gwen. But even though she's not very likeable, I did feel for Carrie and root for her. She shows moments of vulnerability and a portion of this book deals with that it's like to be a female athlete. The boxes you get put into, the sexism and condescension you deal with. Carrie has put a wall around herself to protect these vulnerabilities, which in turn makes her look like an icy bitch. It's the price she pays for her success.

There's a lot of tennis in this book. Don't worry if you know nothing, it is explained at the beginning through Carrie's coaching as a child. As someone who likes tennis, I enjoyed this part of the book as I can sense the atmosphere and excitement of the court. But the book is mainly about Carrie's relationships: with her father, with Bowe Huntley, with her rivals. One thing TJR does so well in these books is making you believe these people are famous and wanting to look them up and Carrie Soto is Back was no exception!

Taylor Jenkins Reid has served another smashing read, perfect to round out the summer. If you've loved other TJR books then you'll enjoy this one too

TJR is back and better than ever. Feeling like we got the hints of Carrie Soto in Malibu Rising, hearing her story was an exquisite trip through time, as we meet Carrie, debating whether to come out of retirement to reclaim her tennis titles and stop her legendary status from being outshone by new up and comers.

There is a lot of tennis lingo woven in, and just like she does with all of her books, TJR makes you as obsessed with her protagonists worlds as they are. Carrie's life is tennis so therefore as you read you become more and more invested in her story.

Honestly though the less said about Mick Riva the better..

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy of Carrie Soto!
I absolutely love Taylor's books and I think my heart still belonged to Daisy Jones..... until possibly now!!
I recently read Malibu Rising, where we first caught a sight of Carrie and Malibu was an ok read but wasn't up there with the Taylor books I love, however I was so intrigued to read Carrie Soto.
And boy did it ace!! It was fast paced, interesting and quirky and I have fallen in love with Carrie and Javier, their relationship, their sheer determination, their attitudes and their love for both the tennis and each other!!!
Think my favourite character is Bowe who is amazing and I just loved every bit of it, I could picture being sat at Wimbledon watching the matches and cheering Carrie on.
Its heavy on the tennis, but as someone who quite likes attempting to play (haha) and enjoys watching the rallies then I found this book fascinating.
Don't let the tennis element put you off, its absolutely brilliant and you will be routing for Carrie the whole way.
A five star read, I'm in love!!!

Wow!
TJR is a word genius. I don't even know where to start about what this did to me. I laughed, got annoyed, held my breath and genuinely cried.
The way she matches the pace, movement and atmosphere of a tennis match is phenomenal. I forgot I was reading and felt like I was right there. This fast pace was further amplified when, in very TJR style, broken up by commentaries and newspaper articles.
Carrie Soto as an individual is questionable but knowing her past, seeing her depth and strength, you can't help but love her. She is inspirational, shows the world what women can achieve regardless of what society say.

All in all- Read this. You will not be disappointed.

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Carrie Soto Is Back
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Taylor Jenkins Reid
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fiction
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 30th August 2022
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4/5

Did I think I could get this excited about tennis? No. Did I love every minute of it? Absolutely.

Carrie Soto is our heroine of this story, she’s unlikable, abrasive, and apathetic. However, she’s also admirable, determined, and has a heated spirit which refuses to be dampened. Her sights are set on taking her record back from Nicki Chan and she doesn’t care who she tramples in the process.

There’s something about this book that makes my heart beat a little harder and my breathing a little faster. With it’s fast pace, it’s incredibly intense. My eyes couldn’t help but volley from one page to another, even at 2AM when I should be saying ’game, set, match’ and grand slamming myself into bed.

But, the real sweet spot is the dynamics between Carrie and her father. They can be so sweet together, even though it’s often a relationship that relies on constructive criticism and running drills. All this ‘tough coach’ act was underlined by a million I love you’s, a thousand I believe in you’s, and hundreds of you are my purpose.

I can’t help but think this would be brilliant as an audiobook to listen to whilst exercising. !There’s so much fire in it to pump up the reader and it made me want nothing more than to go and play tennis (says a reader who has never, not once, played tennis in her life).

I didn’t expect this read to move me as much as it has, even when I was at the halfway point. But if anyone can make me fall in love with a sport story, it’s Taylor Jenkins Reid.

🧚🏻‍♀️

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Carrie Soto is Back is a typically well crafted Taylor Jenkins Reid novel.

The book follows retired tennis player, Carrie Soto, as she attempts to make a comeback and retain her record. The plot is a bit predictable but the real focus is the characterisation of Carrie who is brilliantly written. Carrie is stubborn, ruthless and down right unlikeable in a lot of ways, and yet she’s also strong, resilient and determined, despite her flaws you can’t help but root for her. It’s truly a testament to the strength of the writing that Carrie is such a complex character and a brilliant heroine.

I also enjoyed reading about Carrie’s relationships, with rivals, lovers, her agent and in particular her dad. Carrie’s dad, Javi, is a great tennis player turned coach for his daughter. Their relationship is tempestuous and their dynamic felt familiar to some coach-player relationships on the tour. Javi is also a great character in his own right and his impact on Carrie and the story is felt throughout, in a way that felt true to real life father-daughter relationships.

This book features a lot of tennis matches and they’re somehow recapped in a way that keeps them entertaining and full of tension. As a big tennis fan, I really enjoyed this. I think it would be easy to follow if you only had basic knowledge of the sport but I do wonder if it would be as enjoyable - I’ll be interested to see what the consensus is once it’s realised!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was approved for my ARC of Carrie Soto is Back the night before catching a flight to my summer holiday in Greece, it couldn’t have been better timing! My absolute favourite book of the holiday (I read 7, so there was quite a bit of competition) that I finished within a day by the pool, cocktail in hand.
A quick google search informed me that Carrie Soto is a side character from a previous TJR book Malibu Rising, as I hadn’t read any of her novels before I decided it was best to read Malibu Rising first just in case of any spoilers. Whilst this definitely wasn’t necessary, it did leave me wary and resentful of the character Carrie may turn out to be however I was quickly won over by her determination and strength. You could argue that Carrie isn’t a “nice” person but she is clearly powerful, respected and throughout the story we learn how she is gravely misunderstood. Her relationships with her rivals, lovers and coaches including her father are complicated however her mistrusting nature and complex relationships are enamouring. I knew very little of the tennis world before reading this but the jargon and tennis elements were not heavy and it didn’t for a second put me off or make me skip a page. In summary I absolutely adored Carrie Soto is Back and have recommended it to everyone I could. I have since read Daisy Jones and One True Loves, I’m officially a TJR fangirl however Carrie Soto is an ace for me.

I already started this book as a huge TJR fan and I think I finished an even bigger one! I was slightly concerned as I am not a tennis fan but I can’t believe how whipped in this book got me! TJR creates the most amazing, realistic and not always likeable characters and her magic was sprinkled all over this one. I teared up more than once and I absolutely loved getting to know the real
Carrie Soto and what drove her! Wonderful and I can’t wait for my physical copy to arrive.

Once again, Reid has excelled when it comes to characterisation. She has a way of creating the most unlikeable characters, who if I only knew a little bit about them (like how we go into this book knowing Carrie slept with Nina's husband from Malibu Rising) I would just hate them. But Reid is somehow able to flip that and make them seem more human and, by giving us background and history, makes them so much more understandable.

Your rooting for Carrie, but not just to win that grandslam, but to change as well. You can see her flaws, you can see how, even winning this extra slam, she still isn't going to be happy. You want her to win the game of life as much as the game of tennis.

One other thing I thought was brilliantly done was the way it heroed what Nicki Chan had done for Asian women in tennis. Celebrating other women's achievements, rather than feeling threatened by it, is a great message.

I personally found the tennis jargon quite tiring. I am a tennis fan and I watch it avidly throughout the year, mainly to cheer on the Brits and the greats, so I did understand it easily. But there was just too much of it and it got to the point where I felt like I was reading a tennis text book more than a novel.

There is some plot, but it's quite a stereotypical, tropey kind of plot that felt quite predictable. The Mum died, the Dad's been ill, the MC has trust issues when it comes to men. I've just read it all before, and it was quite boring to be honest with you.

TJR did not disappoint as always. A perfect ending but i still hope for a sequel.
the writing was impeccable and as someone who has never cared about tennis i was hooked.
read this in one sitting and honestly all i want is more

Taylor Jenkins Reid is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.
Carrie Soto is back is based on a retired tennis superstar - Carrie - who is fighting to hold onto her world record when younger tennis champions are biting at her heels to supersede her.
Carrie - also known as 'The Bitch' doesn't have friends on the circuit - she is renowned for her acerbic manner, and her lack of filter but importantly - she is renowned for being the best female player in the world - except Chan is one title away from snatching it from her.
Reid's novel although based in the tennis world - is easy to understand (even if you don't know anything about tennis!)
Her characters are so richly described and the tennis matches are so vivid - you can actually picture them in your mind as if they are playing out on the screen in front of you.
Another novel that was devoured in a day - highly recommended!

Absolutely adored this book. It’s written perfectly, in the typical TJR style that we all know and love.

You can connect well with the characters. I especially loved our main protagonist Carrie- despite her flaws, it was beautiful to read about her character growth.

Not only is Carrie Soto back, so is Taylor Jenkins Reid, on top form with this dazzling tale of pushing your personal limits, and shooting for the stars, whatever the cost.
Carrie Soto, who we have met briefly in a previous TJR novel (think everyone loves the TJR universe and mentions!), is our stoic but generally misunderstood main character; she dominated world tennis in her heydey, wunderkind supreme, but with her overall record of wins about to be broken by a newer, younger tennis powerhouse, Carrie feels it might be time to come out of retirement.

What follows is a roller-coaster story of the highs and lows of professional sports, highlighting the major personal sacrifices that come with it, the misogyny women in sport face, and how hard it is to maintain real relationships when your whole life is geared to winning.

Carrie is fantastically written, a very flawed character but one we never lose empathy for; the development of her few relationships in life draw the reader in to her world, and her training and matches are often edge of the seat stuff, especially in later chapters. The tennis elements are so interesting, even to someone with a very rudimentary interest in the sport, like me, and Reid manages this aspect really well, keeping it accessible for those who need to be taught about it while (I assume!) keeping it interesting for those who already have a keen interest.

Overall, this novel is a brilliant follow on to her pretty stellar list of previous titles, and "Carrie Soto..." is absolutely up there with "Daisy Jones..." as my favourite story of hers.

Thanks to Netgally and the publishers for the ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

When I got approved for an ARC of Carrie Soto is back I literally screamed out loud. I absolutely love TJR's writing (auto-buy author for me) and despite not being enamored by Malibu Rising I really wanted to read her new book based on a side character from Malibu Rising.

When we first meet Carrie Soto in this book, it's as a retired world champion tennis player and enticed back onto the circuit when her record of the most women's titles ever is broken.

Her father Javier is her rock, coach and mentor - he taught her tennis and everything she knows and is there on her journey to relaunch her career

The book gives her back story from learning tennis with her father, her meteoric rise in tennis and their unique father-daughter relationship

Honestly, game, set and match to TJR - this book bowled me over, I absolutely loved it and may go so far as to say I preferred it to Evelyn Hugo and Diasy Jones - yes I've that much love. I honestly can't wait for my preorder now so I've a copy for my shelf and can reread it🎾

Thanks so much to @netgalley and @penguinbooksireland for my ARC in return for an honest review.

I was so excited for the new Taylor Jenkins Reid novel and this did not disappoint in the slightest. Carrie Soto was such an interesting character to follow and seeing her at all different ages helped explain why she behaved the way that she did. I liked how the relationships she had with various people were presented and how they changed as she changed. The writing was excellent and i could not put this down and just flew through this. It got me right in the heart on a couple of occasions with how well written the moments were.

This book was perfection. A mix of sport and drama. But also great growing of the main character. Maybe not so popular but a great sportive and I loved her stromg personality, devotion to the sport and her family, determination to comeback and be on the top again. I fly with her, I would love to have a little of what this character had inside. I adored everything. I have got also a kind of love story inside and I could not be more satisfied with the ending of this book.

Thank you Random House UK, Cornerstone, Hutchinson Heinemann and thank you Libro.fm for audio copy. I can not wait to have a paper copy in my arms.

Special thanks to my buddy reader par eccelance Jennifer that waited for me to read it together.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is such a consistent and talented writer. She wrote about the 60s in Evelyn Hugo, the 70s with Daisy Jones, the crazy 80s in Malibu Rising, and now she completes the tetralogy with Carrie Soto Is Back, by giving us a fast-paced take on the 90s.

She perhaps chooses a very focused take on such a vibrant era, with Tennis being the book's protagonist. Just like Carrie Soto, TJR doesn't apologise for it, leaning entirely on the sport, and only giving us the tiniest glimpses of passing commentary on the era itself. It's not her best book, and of the others that came before it, Carrie Soto is probably the weakest link. Still, it's also a true testament to TJR's impressive power as a writer, because even so, it is still splendid, and absolutely a must-read.

One thing that she has sculpted to perfection is the way she writes female characters, so complete and real that you almost believe they truly exist. The same feeling I had with Carrie happened with Evelyn and Daisy - almost a need to Google them, and see more about their lives as if I could read real tabloids and newspaper articles about their life. Half expecting to see a photo of who they really are. The style that she writes fiction as nonfiction is such a trademark by now, and one that she keeps excelling at.

And what can I say about Carrie? Is that in her ruthlessness she is a bit of all of us. The unafraid part of us, the one that takes what she is owed with her head held high. May we all aspire to be more like her. Of course, she has her weaknesses, she is multifaceted and raw, but her journey is impressive, beautiful even.

So, do yourself a favour, and don't miss out on this one.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.