Just a few chapters in I started to write off Carrie Soto is Back. While I could appreciate it was an extremely well-written book, it was too focused on tennis for me. The dialogue was all about tennis and most scenes took place on the tennis court. It was a 3-star read for me.

Then a whole new layer of the book opened up for me. Carrie Soto is one of the best female protagonists I’ve ever come across. Most other characters in the book hate her. She is labelled The Battle Axe and later on The Bitch. Why? Because she is everything people dislike in a woman (and love in a man). She is confident in her ability as a tennis player. She is not afraid to take up space. She is ambitions and will work hard to achieve. She is not afraid to speak her mind and will not pander to fake tears and pretence that her wins are down to luck; she knows she is the best tennis player and is not afraid to say it. Carrie Soto is Back swiftly became a 4-star read.

By the end of this book I uncovered so many other layers to a story that is as simple as a tennis comeback: ageism, racism, sexism. Carrie is a true inspiration when it comes to not letting people define you and unapologetic about who you are. This is also a book full of emotion and the tears just kept coming by the end.

The hype is truly warranted.

This took me ages to finish for several reasons. Some are the book's fault, some aren't.
I adored TJR's Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. This one felt like a completely different author. Evelyn Hugo was a fascinating character to base a book around. Carrie Soto? Not so much.
As I got into this book, I was enjoying it. As other reviewers have said, this book is full of tennis. I am a huge tennis fan, often having it on the TV while I read. As it is such a huge player (pun intended) in the story, the explanations of the scoring and rules felt a little tedious for a fan like me, but ultimately necessary for other readers.
Aside from the tennis talk, I couldn't tell you much about the rest of the plot. I get it, the tennis is huge in the book, as it should be. But it completely overshadows everything.
I will definitely read TJR's next book. I look forward to seeing which previous character she uses next.

I loved Daisy Jones and Evelyn Hugo so was exicted to receive this but I just couldnt get in to it and had ti stop reading

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.

TJR is one of the reigning queens of 21st century fiction, her books are immaculately written and loaded with powerful meaning. The final book in her interlinked quartet of fictional female stars, we pick back up with Carrie Soto - the other woman to Nina Riva in Malibu Rising. We follow the greatest tennis player of all time as she makes one final bid to solidify her record and be remembered for ever.

Set in the world of competitive tennis, Carrie Soto is a retired top seeded tennis player whom embarks on a comeback to avenge her title as the best player in the world. You don’t have to have a love of tennis to enjoy this novel, it’s fascinating and page turning and I just loved it. As each book by this author is as different as the next, they are all so so good.
So at 37 Carrie has decided to come out of retirement. Her father has been her coach her entire life and once again they begin the preparation to make Carrie the Greatest of all time again and reclaim her crown.
But 6 years in retirement has seen a lot of changes to the game of tennis and Carries road to the top is a hard road. She has no room in her life for anything else, even love.
It’s a well documented insightful look at competitive tennis, never dull or boring and the backstory is just as interesting. I highly recommend this and her other books.

#CarrieSottoIsBack #NetGalley

I'd been waiting for this book pretty much as soon as it was announced. Taylor Jenkins Reid has never let me down and I had high hopes she wouldn't again.

I'm not going to go into the discussion of a white woman writing a Latino character, as it's something that has been discussed time and again and far more eloquently than I could. But, it wasn't something that sat well with me as a whole.

There's also a lot of Spanish in this book, which made it a little jarring to read as I would read it, head to translate what I've just seen, and then get back into the book. It's great to see another language included though, it just did take me out of the reading experience a little.

There's a lot of tennis in this book. It's about tennis more than Daisy Jones is about music and more than Malibu Rising is about surfing. If you're not a huge fan of tennis (like me), fear not, there's an explainer of the points system at the beginning which I found hugely helpful.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is BACK.

I devoured this in one sitting; I couldn't help myself. I'm not even a tennis fan and yet TJR made me feel like an expert, or at the very least an enthusiast. Catch me watching Wimbledon properly next year instead of just tuning into the finals!

Things I loved:
-How unapologeticaly badass Carrie Soto is as a character. I truly admire the way in which TJR breathes life into such bold and beautiful characters but manages to make them so different each time. Carrie is a product of everything around her, upbringing, early trauma, and a little bit of pushy parenting (I still love you, Javier). She is at times unlikeable and you understand why she's earned her 'battle-axe' nickname, but you really can't help but love her overall.
- The relationship between Carrie and her dad, Javier, is both complex and wonderful.
- Bowe Huntley has my heart.
- I love this little interconnected universe, and that I recognise specific TJR characters as if they were real life celebs.

What I didn't connect with:
- I didn't quite connect with Carrie the same way I did with Evelyn Hugo and I can't pinpoint why that is.
- The mixed media didn't grab me as much as it has in previous TJR books; I found some of the commentary a bit long-winded; but then I get bored easily at tennis commentary so maybe it's just that aspect of me. Again, super personal and everyone is different.

Great read, got hooked on TJR with Evelyn Hugo and this one didn’t disappoint.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

If I had given up on this book half way through (as I was tempted to) it would have definitely only got 3 stars. I really struggled with Carrie's character and I felt it was missing Reid's trademark inclusion of utterly compelling characters who are only there for a scene. However, by the end I realised the whole point of the book was the evolution of Carrie's character and it wouldn't worked if I'd liked her to begin with!! Loads to think about from a feminist perspective and the ending was prefect.

There’s just something about the way Taylor Jenkins Reid tells a story, I just love her writing! The writing, as always, is great. TJR is a great writer.

Carrie Soto is an interesting character, she was complex for me as I found she often isn’t a likeable person but I found myself wanting her to achieve her goals, find love and be happy! She needed more in her life than winning and I wanted her to find it.

I have really enjoyed this book. I'm not at all fan of tennis but I was sucked into its world from the very first page. It was really easy to follow and the characters were very loveable.

Thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone & Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Carrie Soto Is Back

Back with another addictive book, full of drama and larger than life characters, Taylor Jenkins Reid has aced it (pun intended).

Carrie Soto has a reputation for being a bitch PLUS being the best tennis player ever seen and those reputations are ones she doesn't want to lose.

Six years after retiring, it looks like a new tennis star is about to win the most grand slams ever but Carrie isn't ready to lose her crown and she is determined that nothing will get her in way. Coming out of retirement, and back to tennis grand slams, she has a reputation to keep and she's not preparing to see someone else steal it from her.

This isn't just a book about tennis. This is a book about determination, not only pushing her body to the limit but also going against expectations of the media and society - she will not be pulled into the gossip that surrounds her, and she keeps her distance from the other players.

Carrie isn't always a likeable character but it's refreshing to see a character who knows her own worth, to have drive, passion and ambition. I don't particularly like watching sport, but I was really rooting for Carrie in this book, and I loved the way Taylor Jenkins Reid created a complex character who started off with nothing and worked her way to the top. She has complicated relationships with her father, her opponents and lovers but it is the push and pull of these other characters that shape Carrie.

Taylor Jenkins Reid writes punchy characters and addictive plots, and I'm hoping we don't have to wait too long for another book.

Thank you to @netgalley for the ebook review copy.

Story wise, this is very much not something I would normally be drawn to. A retired female athlete comes out of retirement to reclaim her title. And yet Taylor Jenkins Reid writes such compelling characters that I couldn’t put it down. I’ll auto buy anything by the author despite the fact that she doesn’t write in my genre because I’m always riveted

Carrie Soto is a retired tennis player who holds the record for most grand slams. However, when; six years later, it’s looking likely that British champion Nicki Chan is going to take her record, Carrie comes out of retirement to try and beat the odds and get her titles back.

I’m a massive #tjr fan, however, after not totally gelling with #maliburising I was nervous about a tennis themed story. However, I was hooked. I literally feel like a tennis pro myself now after this book. As per usual it was super easy to read and although I never forgot it was fiction like #daisyjonesandthesix I loved it.

i love all four of taylor jenkins reid's famous women but i think i warmed quickest to carrie, surprisingly enough, I'm not a sports person by any means but god, riveting stuff

It is no secret that I adore TJR, so despite my reservations of reading a book about tennis, I just had to dive into this. It did not disappoint 👀

TJR has an incredible way of opening up characters’ lives and inviting us in as though we’ve known them forever. Carrie Soto was no exception! As a world famous tennis champion, Carrie’s steely facade has earned her the reputation of being a bitch. Her fierce determination and thirst for success has left little room for relationships, both romantic and platonic, so when she comes out of retirement to earn back her world titles, she has only her father and agent on her side. 🎾

This was an incredible example of how unlikeable characters can be written to make a reader invested in their lives rather than hate them. I absolutely did not hate Carrie and instead felt TJR’s introspective analysis of being a woman/minority ethnicity in sport/life/fame in the core of my being. I was completely drawn in by Carrie’s traumatic early life and related to her thirst to earn her place in the world despite society’s preconceptions, expectations and judgements. 👏

TJR has done it again, in all honesty! I loved seeing hard hitting and gritty topics explored through the lens of being a fierce and seemingly cold hearted woman in sport. It was brilliantly done! 💫

No, you don’t need to be a tennis expert to read this. Yes, you will learn about tennis whilst falling in love with Carrie Soto. Yes, you may cry whilst reading this book. It is so worth it. 👌

Everyone knows (and if you don’t you’re learning it now) I don’t like sport. I don’t like playing them, and much less watching them on TV, so who would have guessed I’d enjoy so much reading a book about tennis? I was a bit scared cause I had read some reviews saying there were lots (and I mean LOTS) of tennis talk here, but TJR and her phenomenal writing skills managed to get me so invested in this story.

When Carrie Soto retired from tennis she hold the record as winner of the most Grand Slam titles by any player ever, but now, six years later, that record is threatened by another player, so she decides to come out of retirement at 37 years of age to prove she’s still the greatest tennis player in the world and win her record back.

This was undeniably a story about tennis, but it was also a character study with Carrie’s relationship with her father and coach, Javier, as the focal point. This was by far my favorite part of the story. At times it was heartwarming, at times it was heartbreaking but, despite all the hurdles and missteps they went through, the love and respect they felt for each other was the dominant note that made their relationship move forward.

Carrie was abrasive, cold-hearted, cocky and arrogant, both on and off the court, so that made her a difficult character to spend time around (it is a first person narration so get ready to spend lots of time with her) but, as the story moved forward, we got to see her vulnerable side, as she rediscovered her love for tennis and not only winning, and she opened herself up to find love for the first time.

Don’t worry if you don’t know anything about tennis (I didn’t), cause you’ll be able to enjoy this all the same, even the tennis matches! The descriptions were so vivid it felt like I was watching a real match!

The commitment and sacrifices involved with playing a sport at a high level were really well portrayed, as were the rivalries that inevitably will unfold between those at the very top.

Carrie Soto Is Back is a story of a comeback, full of tennis but also full of great characters that will take you on a captivating journey.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Carrie Soto is the best tennis player the world has ever seen. She claimed twenty Slam titles before her retirement, but her fierce determination made her unpopular. Now six years later after watching her record be taken from her, she decides to make the monumental decision to return to tennis and be coached by her father - in an attempt to reclaim her record. Carrie soto is back!
I loved the idea of this book. A strong female tennis star returning to sport and bouncing back against the critics. It is hugely tennis focused so if you aren’t a fan then I would avoid this book. At times I found it very repetitive. Whilst I love a fierce woman in books, Carrie was very unlikeable at times and I didn’t like her treatment of other women in the sport.

This book is about a life of a professional sportswoman. Lots of technical details of tennis game and not many details about the personal life. The book is written well trying to show what limited life a person has when the goal from her very early days is to be the best. I would say the book is not oriented to the wide range of readers.

I am a huge TJR fan and have loved all of her books so far so jumped at the chance to read this before publication day. I haven’t really delve into the genre of sports fiction before.

I think TJR really creates wonderful characters; and Carrie is no different - she is very unapologetically herself but wow there is so much tennis talk. The tennis talk overshadows the whole of the plot line and I really did find it a slog to finish.

Maybe sports fiction isn’t for me… but I will eagerly await TJR next book regardless.