‘Carrie Soto is Back’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid provides an account of the titular character’s tennis career and her return to tournaments aged 37. This is with the aim of maintaining her unbeaten records, which are now in jeopardy thanks to the rise of new player Nicki Chan. Supporting her is her father/coach ‘the Jaguar’.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is fantastic at crafting novels that feel like truth. In ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ (mentioned in this novel) she managed to provide an account that felt real, and here she does the same. At times reading this, I was heavily reminded of reading Andre Agassi’s ‘Open’, due to the depiction in this novel of the same demand for focus, perfection and winning despite this never being enough. However, despite this novel seemingly being about tennis, there are many parallels and life lessons contained within this book. It is also surprisingly emotional, with me finding myself tearful at points. I would definitely recommend this book.

It’s is 1994. Carrie Soto watches on as 17-year-old Nikki Chan meets Ingrid Cortez in the final of the US Open. As the game is won, Carrie Soto, winner of twenty Grand Slam titles, makes the life-changing decision to step out of retirement to defend her record. And just like that… Carrie Soto is back.

With just as much excitement as a tennis fan gaining tickets for a Centre Court final, I was granted an ARC of this novel. Yup, Taylor Jenkins Reid is also back! If, like me, you gobbled up ‘ Daisy Jones and the Six’, ‘Malinu Rising’ and ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’, then you’ll be delighted to read this latest novel. And yes, it’s in the same ‘world’ as the author’s previous novels, and so it does have a link to Mick Riva, along with a few other ‘easter eggs’ for fans of the author’s other books

Two big groups of readers are going to love this novel: (1) fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid – and there is a huge following out there; (2) fans of tennis. Despite there being little mention of the sport in the publicity material I’ve seen so far, this novel is certainly all about the tennis. Before reading this, I’d never sat through a televised match in my life, let alone played, but I now think that I might just take more of an interest in the future. I’m not sure about the author’s associations with tennis, but she writes about it with a passion and a reverence that are deeply contagious.

This is a powerful novel about the cost if ambition and success. It’s about what it takes to win and the sacrifices that those winners face in order to get to the top of their game. Once again featuring a strong female protagonist and an insight into a world that is closed-off to the majority of us, ‘Cartie Soto is Back” is yet another triumph. Game, set and match to Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has once again not disappointed. This book draws you in until you are so absorbed in the tennis world you don’t quite know what to do with yourself when it’s over.

I loved the relationship between Carrie and her father and how that developed. There’s plenty of emotional passages - this is TJR after all!

I would say though that there is, unsurprisingly, a lot of tennis in this book. Practising, strategy and the actual matches themselves. I loved this and felt it really worked for me, but do be warned if you are particularly uninterested in tennis!

Wow What a brilliant read. My fav Taylor Jenkins Reid yet. I loved the style of writing with the game commentary - I felt like I was there at the match loving each point and feeling all the emotions. I loved Carrie and Bowe - such warriors in the game and both so tough. The support and inspiration her father gave Carrie was wonderful and so emotional. Such a timely read when women’s sport is at the forefront of the news - to show that regardless of sex, colour and race to be the best takes guts and hard work ( and a little talent 😉)

I have mixed reviews for Taylor Jenkins Reid, I absolutely loved The Seven Husbands of evelyn Hugo but didn’t really care much for Daisy Jones and The Six. When I saw this one, I requested it immediately knowing it would be popular but then was worried I wouldn’t enjoy it so it sat on my list for ages.

When I eventually decided to read this, I thought I would check out some reviews first, panicking that I had done the wrong thing and would hate it. The reviews were awesome but many mentioned taking a while to get into. I decided to go ahead but would give myself to 20%, if I wasn’t enjoying it, I could give up.

Well, I didn’t need to go through all that stress at all! By the end of the second page I was hooked and read the whole book in less than a day.

Carrie ‘The Battle Axe’ Soto worked hard to become the greatest Tennis player of all time, mostly coached by her father from a very young age she strived to be the best and she made it with hard work and total dedication. Six years after her retirement someone is threatening ot be better than her and she is determined to go back and defend her title, to win one more championship and prove she is still the best. Six years is a long time to be away from the game though and at 37-years-old she is the oldest female professional player ever. Will she be able to make a comeback and beat the odds?

I loved Carrie, she isn’t the most pleasant or friendly of people, but she is motivated, determined and laser focused on what she wants. Nothing will stop her but with so many things to get in her way there are a lot of challenges along the way. I loved her almost unwavering self-belief, how hard she worked for what she wanted, something you don’t see often these days.

Carrie’s father, Javier, was lovely. He coached her for a long time, was just as dedicated and encouraging but he also tried to teach her some humility which doesn’t really sink in until the very end. I loved the other characters as well, particularly Bowe and Nicki Chan.

Speaking of endings, I loved the ending of this as well. It was almost perfect, my only criticism is that the relationship didn’t end as I had expected but that’s not what the book was about at all so didn’t detract from the story at all, just could have been nice.

I have never been particularly interested in tennis; I watched a little with my Gran when I was young but never got into it. I’m not really into any sport but this didn’t affect my enjoyment with this at all, in fact, I have much more appreciation for what it takes to be a tennis or sports professional. It did speak to me as an entrepreneur though, the dedication, hard work and complete focus that makes you successful is very similar.

This is about relationships, determination, hard work and bloody mindedness. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in sports, what it takes to be successful or who is an entrepreneur and is familiar with the struggles it takes. Likewise though, I think many others will enjoy the relationships and journey within this as well.

In my opinion, Taylor Jenkins Reid is back!!

I know for a lot of people she never left, but after really loving a couple of her earlier books, I have been disappointed by Daisy Jones & The Six and Malibu Rising. The format in the former didn't work for me (I very much like to be immersed in a story) and I don't know what was going on in the latter but it didn't hold my attention.

This was Evelyn Hugo-level riveting for me. I couldn't put it down.

Reid pulled me right inside the mind of Carrie Soto and right into each heart-pounding game of tennis. I am not a sports person, don't watch sports, but I was for the duration of this novel. The gruelling training, the ferocious competition, Carrie's need to be the best and her fear that she might not be. The story of a young girl who sees other children building sandcastles and thinks:

I wondered why anyone would want to build anything out of sand, when tomorrow it will be gone, and you'd have nothing to show for your day.


Carrie is not a likable sports personality, which, of course, made me like her even more. She doesn't play to fans, her mouth often runs away from her, and she's a sore loser. She can't help it. Raised by single father Javier, she has lived and breathed tennis her whole life. It is who she is and the thought that she might not be the best... well, it's unthinkable. When a younger player matches her all-time slam record, thirty-seven year old Carrie plans a comeback. At her age, it's not easy. Can it even be done?

The bulk of the commentators... They wanted a woman whose eyes would tear up with gratitude, as if she owed them her victory, as if she owed them everything she had.


As well as being a fabulously gripping story of ambition verging on obsession, it is also about being a woman in sports-- the sexism, the double standards, the focus on her likability (or in Carrie's case, lack of), the trivializing of her achievements by male tennis players. It's also a lovely story of the relationship between a woman and a father who is also her coach, cheerleader and number one fan.

At its heart, the book's message is a simple old one. One that could have been cheesy in the wrong hands, but Reid pummels our heart enough along the way that the message comes as a relief. It's this: everything is temporary and all good things come to an end. You can try to cling to it as long as possible, sucking every bit of life and enjoyment out of it, or you can love and appreciate every second while it is happening and, in the end, let it go.

As engrossing as you'd expect from Taylor Jenkins Reid, and interesting to see the full Carrie Soto as opposed to the bit part she played in Malibu Rising.

I'm a tennis person anyway, so I loved all the tournament details and minutiae of Carrie's world, as well as the relationship between her and her father/coach.

Intriguing parts where the coverage of women in sport was touched on, particularly strong women who don't play along with the mainstream media expectations.

Very enjoyable but not her best.

Very

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author that you can always rely on for powerful characters, strong character development, excellent insight, and a consuming atmosphere, and she doesn't disappoint with her latest hit, Carrie Soto Is Back.

I'm not a sports person at all and I would never usually pick up a book about a tennis superstar. But I'll read anything by TJR as she is a fantastic author! And yet again, I can't fault TJR's wonderfully descriptive writing, skilful development, and fully-fleshed characters. However, the story did lack a little something for me.

With the other books that I have read by TJR so far, there has always been some mystery to reveal (Evelyn Hugo - Why is she telling this story? Malibu - What caused the fire?). But with Carrie Soto, the story was very much "Will she win or lose?", so I didn't feel that there wasn't anything more for me to look forward to.

However, my disengagement is mainly due to the fact that I don't enjoy most sports, although this didn't have as much of an effect as I thought it would. This is because Carrie's character is much more about her winning mentality than delving deeper into her psych or any past experiences that have defined her, so I struggled to warm to her for a long time. But her character really grew on me towards the end as we began to see how her relationship with Bowe and her father developed, finally getting inside her head a little more.

Still, I think if you have more of a sporting personality or are more of an ambitious person with this same state of mind, you'll relate to her character much more easily and be much more invested in her story arc than I was able to.

There's certainly so much more to find interesting than just tennis, anyway. Most of all, I find it so fascinating how TJR delves into these very different lives of celebrity status through her characters and how the small link runs throughout them.

TJR is always an author I will be excited by, and there is no doubt this will be another No.1 Grand Slam.

I received an electronic advanced reader copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. Thank you to Taylor Jenkins Reid and Random House Uk/ Cornerstone for allowing me to read this before it’s release.

I’m not a sports person, never have been and never will be. I’ll fully admit that if I wasn’t already aware of the author from reading The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo this wouldn’t have been on my radar. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I grew invested in the results of the matches.

For me, while Carrie was unequivocally the main character, I found myself drawn far more to her father, Bowe and to Nicki Chan. While I did find myself rooting for Carrie, I found myself far more swept away with the desire for Bowe to succeed.

I did find myself getting drawn out of the story at times however, primarily during matches, though this is easily attributed to my general disinterest in sports.

I did appreciate the allusions to other books within the TJR universe, though as I’ve currently only read one I’m sure there’s many I’ve missed.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆.5

“The downside of perfectionism is that you are so used to getting it right, you completely collapse when you get it wrong. And it will not be me who collapses today.”

What a book! I have read both DJaT6 and TshoEH by TJR, but there was something about this book that kept me even more hooked. I read it in less than 3 days - I usually take 1-2 weeks. The plot wasn’t even fast-paced, but I was just addicted?

In my opinion this book has a much lighter feel to it than those other 2 I have read. It felt less full of traumatic events and sadness, and instead full of hope and love. There’s a huge amount of love in Carrie’s life and such a beautiful support network which made me adore this book a lot more. The characters of Bowe, her father and her agent Gwen took this book to a whole new level. They were such beautiful souls, and having such an open outpouring of love gave this book such a gorgeous energy.

I didn’t love Carrie for most of the book, and she irritated me mainly, but that doesn’t affect the book for me. TJR is so BRILLIANT at producing irritating, complex characters that somehow she keeps you rooting for. Carrie was such a badass. she was often arrogant yes, but confident in how hard she works and her ability to win every match. She stood her ground, and wasn’t afraid of being disliked. she was a powerhouse.

The romance in this book made it that little bit extra special for me. DJaT6 and TshoEH contained romance, but often quite tragically, whereas CSIB has such a beautifully healthy relationship that had me “awww”ing whilst reading. He was such a beautiful person who created such a healthy dynamic. I REALLY loved them, and definitely a favourite part for me.

Bear in mind that this book is HEAVY on tennis. Like I hadn’t planned going into it for it to be quite so technical with the tennis aspect. If I’m honest, being a big fan of either watching and/ or playing tennis will enhance the experience of reading this book as it is very heavily focused on it. However, I am not much of a fan and still LOVED it so it’s in no way a requirement.

Only issue - I learnt Spanish for a few years so could translate the Spanish. But not everyone knows Spanish. There was a quite a lot of Spanish and VERY rarely any translation? Which would’ve made many sentences go wasted if you don’t know what they mean? But a minor note.

It’s an incredible book.

- Lara <3

“You are perfect, even in your imperfection.”

Another winner by TJR. Daisy Jones and Evelyn Hugo are firm favourites of mine, this is another highly enjoyable read.

What TJR does incredibly well in my opinion, is writing superb characters! Not necessarily likeable, and you’d be forgiven to remember they’re not real life people.

Tennis is one of my favourite sports. I played it, my sons played it and we are regulars at the Australian Open every year. That said, I firmly believe that even if you have never played, this book is much more than just tennis. I came away with a greater appreciation of gender bias, female athletes endure(d) and a deeper level of understanding of what it takes to be an elite athlete.

Carrie Soto was first introduced as a character in Malibu Rising. Here, she makes a phenomenal come back to professional tennis at an age where most are deemed too old. Indeed, her motives to come back and reclaim her title are not quite as simple as just winning. Her beautiful and often fraught relationship with her father is crux to her personal demons and making peace with her limitations and imperfections.

Carrie Soto is a highly engaging read, I was totally immersed in the world of tennis and all the characters, all written with incredible depth. Carrie is not a particularly likeable character. However, here is where you see the magic of TJR. Making a flawed, complex, character, into someone you feel empathy towards and end up positively cheering for. It's a story that will stay with me for a long while. Beautiful and heartwarming - Best have tissues handy!

TJR Strikes Again! 👏🏽🎾👟
It's a book about tennis yet its not about tennis at all. Just like Fredrick Backman and his Beartown - a book about hockey yet it's not about hockey at all. Backman again, (Anxious People) writes a book about a bank robbery yet it's not at all about a hideous crime. TJR did it with Daisy Jones, wrote a book about a rock band but it's nothing to do with a fictitious rock band really.

I think you catch my drift.

Plot wise it took about 50% of the book to get going so stick with it, I then sailed through the last 50%.

What I adore about TJR is her ability to consistently write strong fierce female characters whether they be supporting or up front they are always present and it's actually those on the side line I love most. She did it with Karen Karen in Daisy Jones and she's done it again with Gwen Davis Carrie's agent. Gwan Gwen Gal! 🙌🏽. Nikki Chan is pretty awesome too.

I adored the writing, the tension. she created with the tennis matches. Read this book for its writing quality. Little moments brought big smiles to my face such as the moment Carrie is contemplating purchasing a second nightstand in her bedroom. I love that, simple language that speaks volumes to its reader. Yes TJR. The fluffing the pillow sentence. That classic show don't tell quality of her writing. Love it!

All in all a 4 star read for me. It was missing that emotional reaction from me which I just didn't get at the key points when I could have.

Lastly I want to say a HUGE thank you to @netgalley and the publishers @hutchheinemann for my advanced reader copy in return for my honest review. I never thought I'd get approved, I was overjoyed to get approved for this one!

Taylor Jenkins Reid does it yet again. I was absolutely mesmerised by the raw talent that Reid has in bringing her characters alive. Just like in her most recent books, I believed Carrie Soto to be the greatest tennis player alive in our world. The way TJR writes makes you feel like you're sat there in the stands watching the tennis match right in front of your eyes, play by play, as the ball is passed over the net. Although Carrie Soto might not be loved by all, reading about her determination and drive to become the best and seeing everything behind the scenes of how it is to be a famous athlete was absolutely captivating. All characters introduced were wonderful and I could not help but love them all. TJR even made me want to play tennis.

Like so many others, I love Taylor Jenkins Reid - but I will confess I wasn’t sure going into this one. I couldn’t get my head around the fact that this was about tennis. But of course within pages I was hooked. Carrie Soto is a brilliant protagonist. Stroppy and on the face of it unlikable, by the end I was absolutely on the edge of my seat, wanting her to win. The whole novel has both heart and depth.

I have been putting off writing this review for 2 weeks because I just don't believe I can do the book justice. So here's me eating that frog and getting on with it.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I got approved for an ARC of Carrie Soto is back. Taylor Jenkins-Reid is an auto-buy author for me and despite not being a tennis fan (not one teeny tiny little bit) I knew I had to read this.

Initially I was nervous that I would struggle to get into it because of my lack of interest in sports and tennis in particular but, once TJR decided to write a gripping, feminist, sporty love story that all changed. I am now counting down the months to Wimbledon so I can relive the beauty of this book.

As always TJR made me forget I was reading, and once again I found myself believing that all characters in this book were in fact real people, and maybe this was a sneaky biography (I very much dislike non-fiction so once again bravo TJR because I would definitely be reading a biography written by you).

Her writing has a kind of magic that makes me care so much about the characters, from Carrie to each new person in the novel. I do wish we got more of a back story with some characters (namely Nicki Chan) but appreciate that this is part of the beauty of TJR novels.

It pains me to write my one and only irk with this book. The amount of Spanish dialogue was too much for me. I found myself having to translate whole sentences to understand conversations which stopped the flow of some sections, although luckily this was sent to me as an ebook ARC and I could translate these straight onto my kindle.

Overall thank you TJR, for creating this wonderful world we can escape to. I heard a rumour this may be the last in the Evelyn Hugo universe and I truly hope you change your mind and give us some more. I for one could read these until the end of time.

Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone and Netgalley for making my dreams come true and giving me a digital ARC of this novel.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is a genius and I will read whatever she puts out. This was beautiful. I don't think it is her best work, purely because Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones are sensational pieces of ART. But nonetheless stunning. I would always recommend that her books are read in print copy and not Kindle as I find some of the formatting on a kindle is awkward.

4.5 stars

As someone who isn’t into sports particularly tennis, I am quite shocked that I actually enjoyed the book. I have read couple of TJR books (Seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo being my favorite), but I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much I did.

Carrie Soto is a strong character who can come off as arrogant initially; however as we read we start loving and rooting for her. Her dad’s character is so lovable and the relationship and the bond they share is absolutely adorable. The writing in the book got me hooked from the beginning to the end. Whether it was the love between father and daughter, her love life or love for tennis, everything’s so well put together. I couldn’t help but root for her matches and growth. There were times I was mad at her, proud of her and happy for her (so it was actually like watching a match). The story isn’t particularly sad but there were times I shed little tears be it for her achievements, her dad’s words for her or for the love she deserves from the audiences. The book’s engaging, inspiring and motivating.

Thankyou Netgalley and Libro.fm for the arc.

Wow! I am not a sport fan but this had me absolutely gripped. Jenkins Reid once again creates a crediable, female voice. It takes an accomplished writer to write well in the first person and for it not to grate especially when the protagonist is deliberately drawn to be abrasive.

Thank you Netgallery for the opportunity to read this title in advance.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Random House UK for approving me for an ARC of this book. I love TJR and am making my way through her entire collection so I squealed with delight when I got approved for this one.

I firstly must apologise to two of my book club members as we were buddy reading this one over on Storygraph. However I picked this up on Tuesday and could not put it down and raced through to the end. Luckily with Storygraph you can leave comments along the way so they will see my views as they read it.

Where do I even begin with this one. Firstly, who knew that a book centred around tennis could be so addictive. The matches were described just enough to make me aware of what was going on without boring me at the same time. I actually felt the tension during the pinnacle moments and felt that I was holding my breath on several occasions, waiting to see where the ball would land.

Carrie Soto is bold, fierce and one hell of a tennis player. Whilst this story is about her comeback I actually enjoyed the development of Carrie as a person. Yes she has a hard exterior and to the media she comes across as ‘The Beast’ but there is a softer side to her too. The relationship with her father and training partner Bowe were the highlights of the story for me. Even her feud/friendship with Nicki Chan was entertaining and showed the best and worst of women’s sports.

I was rooting for Carrie from the start and when the media got involved it only fuelled my support for her. Whilst her comments and actions weren’t always agreeable with me I couldn’t help but love her and want to see her prove everyone wrong. She’s a force to be reckoned with that shows what pure determination and obsession can do to a person.

Towards the end of the book I was in tears and the just kept flowing. It’s a beautiful story and has now taken my top spot for my favourite TJR read!

Only two weeks to go until the explosive Carrie Soto is Back hits shelves and I'm so excited for people to read it. When the book starts, Carrie has decided in the 1990s to come out of retirement to take back her title for most slams and show everyone why she is still the greatest of all time. However, we quickly realise she is as famous for her unapologetic bad manner as she is for her unmatched game.

This is the fourth book of Taylor Jenkins Reid immersive, loosely related "series" about invented and interconnected pop culture figures in the late 20th century in California: movie stars in the 60s like Evelyn Hugo, rock and roll legends in the 70s like Daisy Jones and surfers in the 80s in Malibu Rising. You don't have to have read any of the others to enjoy this novel (and in fact it is far better than the previous book), but readers will remember Carrie's introduction in Malibu Rising, when she turns up to the house party as the "other woman" and gives that guy hell.

Carrie's ruthlessness and refusal to compromise could sound unlikable, or like Reid is making her seem like a bitch for the sake of it, but Soto is an incredibly thoughtfully drawn character and I felt like I knew her totally, and completely understood her reactions and decisions at every turn. Not only that, but I got more annoyed each time the narrative switched to press or broadcast villanising of her every move. When she wins a huge match and roars "Who's next?" into the screaming crowd, I was nearly on my feet screaming too, and I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. It's electrifying, and is a triumph for Reid's storytelling.

Taylor Jenkins Reid succeeds again in making you believe these celebrities are real and the perfectly fleshed out world and popular culture around them supports this feeling completely. I love that, by creating this new world full of its own cultural memory Reid is really saying pop culture is important, we find the cult of celebrity fascinating for a reason and informs so much of how we see ourselves in and relation to famous people, and as well as how we see recent history.