Title: Carrie Soto Is Back
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Romance
Publishes On: August 30, 2022
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Source: digital (Netgalley)
Pages: 352
Synopsis:
In this powerful novel about the cost of greatness, a legendary athlete attempts a comeback when the world considers her past her prime—from the New York Timesbestselling author of Malibu Rising.
Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.
But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.
At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked “the Battle-Axe” anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.
In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.
My thoughts
(Spoiler free)
TJR and I have a rocky relationship. I desperately want to love everything she writes, but I’ve found myself disappointed over and over. You’re probably wondering why I haven’t just given up trying. It’s a valid question. But I do appreciate her storytelling and ever since I read my first TJR novel, One True Loves, I’ve been hoping to capture that excitement for one of her books. It finally happened last year with Malibu Rising, but Carrie Soto Is Back is the TJR book to finally overtake both of them!
While everyone else gushed about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I thought it was just okay. But I find it hard to connect with novels about celebrities sometimes. I was determined to keep trying.
I was late to reading Daisy Jones and The Six because, once again, I was nervous about it not living up to the hype. But I love music. I love Fleetwood Mac, the band that inspired the book, so I thought this would finally be the TJR book to overtake all others. It wasn’t.
I went into Malibu Rising hoping for the best but with low expectations. Maybe it worked, because I finally enjoyed my first TJR book since One True Loves. When I heard her next book was about Carrie Soto, a character that made a brief but memorable appearance in Malibu Rising, I was hopeful again.
With Carrie Soto Is Back, TJR has finally written a book that captured my full attention. I know absolutely nothing about tennis, but I was enamored with the sport by the end of the book. I felt like I could understand what fans find so alluring about it. And she explained the basics so well, I felt like I finally understood more about the logistics of the game. Personally, I think TJR is best when writing from one first person POV, like Carrie Soto. The story is more powerful when it’s singularly focused.
“I stand on the baseline and hold the ball in my hand. I brush the felt with my thumb, feel the roughness of it in my palm. And then I bounce it, over and over. Until my mind is clear. I throw the ball up in the air, pull my arm back, and even before I hit the ball I know—I can feel—it is a stunner.”
Taylor Jenkins Reid, Carrie Soto Is Back
By far my favorite part of the book is the relationship between Carrie and her father, Javier. Javier dedicates his life to his daughter and tennis. It’s heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. They are both imperfect people who love each other completely, even to their own detriment. They both make poor decisions. But human ones. TJR has done a phenomenal job in Carrie Soto creating characters with pasts that define the people they turn out to be. Their pasts mistakes and successes support their actions.
As a little side note, Carrie and Javier would often speak in Spanish to one another and TJR didn’t always translate for the reader. It was so impactful. I didn’t need to understand every word. I just needed to know these two had a close and powerful relationship, even if it wasn’t always a positive one. BUT I was reading on my Kindle, so if I wanted the translation, it was easy to get.
One thing everyone else seemed to like about Daisy Jones that didn’t work for me was the interview style of the book; I think I would have preferred a more narrative style. Carrie Soto did have a few news articles and transcripts of sports television segments, but I didn’t mind them at all. They actually enhanced the story for me this time.
While on the surface this seems like a predictable story, it held some surprises. But even if it would have played out just as expected, I wouldn’t have minded. For me it was about the characters and not necessarily where the plot ended up. It left me misty-eyed a few times and completely satisfied with the ending. Bravo, TJR!
Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.
(All quotes are taken from the advance copy and are subject to change in final print.)
My Rating:
Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Indiebound | Bookshop | Amazon
Levels inspired by The Well-Read Librarian from Sourcebooks
About the Author
A Song For A Book
Taylor Jenkins Reid shared her playlist for Carrie Soto on Instagram. I’ve included the Spotify playlist bellow. It only seemed appropriate to highlight “The Bitch is Back” by Elton John. If you read the book, you’ll understand. 😉
I’m a bitch, I’m a bitch, oh, the bitch is back
Stone-cold sober, as a matter of fact
I can bitch, I can bitch ’cause I’m better than you
It’s the way that I move, the things that I do, oh-oh-oh…
Have you read Carrie Soto Is Back? Will you be adding it to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
I love TJR books, and absolutely loved Carrie Soto too! I enjoyed your review very much. She’s such a great writer.
I was so happy I enjoyed this one. 🙂
We may not agree on our favorite TJR book, (admittedly, I haven’t read One True Love), but I think we agree on this one – almost completely. My review will go up on my blog on August 30th.
Yay! I’m happy we both enjoyed this one. I look forward to your review!
We both gave this one 5 stars. We both loved the tennis without loving tennis. But where we differ is that I love when TJR uses interviews and multiple POVs just as much as when she writes in single POV. I haven’t read One True Loves. I started with Evelyn Hugo and haven’t looked back. I own that book. I should read it. I’m curious to see if I love it as much as you did.
On another note, I used to be able to comment on your blog in WP Reader. Now, it doesn’t give me the option. I had to pull up your website separately to write this. Which is weird because the post still showed up. I do think I read they were going to stop supporting Reader, so maybe that is part of it?
I definitely know I’m in the minority when it comes to TJR’s books. I’m so happy I finally found some to connect with. I think you’ll like One True Loves!
I turned off ‘allow commenters to sign-in through WordPress to comment’ on Jetpack to stop the ‘anonymous’ error issue. Apparently that also stopped allowing comments on WP Reader. 🤦♀️ I’ve turned it back on and looks like it’s working again. I can’t tell for sure yet, but it seems like maybe the ‘anonymous’ issue is fixed too… I guess only time will tell. Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention!
Hi Book Wanderer, nice connecting with you here instead of the WP tech issue forum! I hope my comment shows up. I’m sending via logged in to my WP account. Have a great weekend and feel free to delete this. Just testing a few blogs to make sure the fix is in!
Yay! No, I’m publishing this comment. We worked too hard to make this fix happen. Haha! Looks like everything is working. Thank you for keeping me in the loop and being so persistent. <3
This will be my first TJR book, and I believe I have chosen wisely. I love the mixed format you described, so I am even more excited. Glad this was hit for you
I think you have chosen well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!