Just occasionally, I look forward to a book so much that I'm almost afraid to read it in case it lets me down. Taylor Jenkins Reid has been a favourite author of mine since Daisy Jones & the Six and Malibu Rising was one of my favourite books of last year. Carrie Soto had a cameo in that book, so I was excited to hear that TJR was going to write her story. I was even more excited to learn that it would be set in the world of tennis, which has fascinated me since I was a child.

I couldn't pace myself with this book and gobbled it all up in a couple of days. The plot was compelling and I enjoyed the nods to previous novels (although this works entirely as a standalone read). I was moved by the relationships that Carrie forms, particularly that with her father, and it was fascinating to delve deeper into her ambition and motivation.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of Carrie Soto is Back in exchange for an honest review.

Game, set and match, Taylor Jenkins Reid!

I did not think that I could love a book as much as I love Daisy Jones and the Six. But I now have a new favourite TJR book in Carrie Soto is Back. I was completely obsessed with the book and I did not want it to be over. I am a massive tennis fan and I couldn't get enough of this story. It had everything that I had hoped that it would and so much more. I loved the nods to Nina Riva and Daisy Jones as well.

Carrie Soto is a brat! That was my first thought of her and it stayed that way for most of the book. But, you cannot help but admire her and I warmed to her as the story went on. She wasn't liked on the WAT tour and she had the nickname of The Battle Axe throughout her career. Tennis is her life, she knows nothing else and wants nothing more than to be the best player that the world has ever seen. When she retires, she holds the record for the most grand slams of any player ever.

6 years later, 1994, and Carrie is sitting court side at the US Open with her father who was also her coach. English player, Nicki Chan has just equaled her record and she wants it back. She decides that she has to make a come back, and get her record back. She is now 37 and will be the oldest player to ever win a slam, if she can make it.

We get the story of Carrie's career from a young girl, through to her retirement, as well as her journey back to Grand Slams. With sports reports and newspaper articles, this book was incredibly well done.

I cannot praise this book more. It was a pleasure to read it.

Thank you so much to Random House UK for my advanced copy of this book to read. Easily all the stars and more

I was fully immersed in this book like I always am with any Taylor Jenkins Reid's books. I cannot explain just how much I enoyed this.

Her characters are alway so relatable and you want to support them and want their dreams and goals to come true. Even if they are somewhat unlikable but that what nakes them feel so real. Carrie is flawed, there is no question there. But you still root for her because as a reader you want to see how her decisions, good and bad, will play out. The relationship she had with her father was also an aspect that I felt was so real and relatable. Their dynamic was easy to understand and empathise with.

This book really demonstrated the resilience and the determination Carrie had especially as a woman and a female tennis player in the 90s who wanted to prove herself and what she will do to achieve them but also how the people around her shaped her opinions and her outlook in her life.

This is absolutely brilliant. I could not read it fast enough. It full of drive and determination. Carrie Soto is a bitch, but she knows what she wants and she’ll stop at nothing to get it. I enjoy tennis, especially Wimbledon, but if you’re a tennis fan at all you’ll adore this book. Absolutely 10/10 from me!!!!!

CARRIE SOTO IS BACK

🥁 … a couple of hundred votes in yesterday’s stories for the next review to be CARRIE SOTO IS BACK// Taylor Jenkins Reid! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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It’s no secret, I LOVE TJR’s books, and her upcoming one is no exception. Taylor’s storytelling and making the reader so immersed into the story, is just fantastic. Carrie was a young tennis super star, holding so many records. Her father (and coach) always encouraged her to be the best version of herself- She is incredibly competitive, so when her record title is smashed by a newcomer several years into her retirement, she just has to make a comeback. But Carrie is now 37, her body isn’t what it once was- can she do it? At what cost? 🫣😬⁣
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I loved Carrie’s complicated character, as someone who has perfectionism tendencies I felt seen in some of these pages! This book is just full of ambition, determination and resilience - an inspirational story that feels so real, as well as a tender father/daughter story. I can’t wait for it to hit the shelves at the end of August so you can grab a copy 👀

Let me start this by saying that I’m a HUGE TJR fan. Evelyn Hugo is one of my all-time fave books, I adored Daisy and loved Malibu Rising.

So I squealed in delight when I was approved on here for Carrie Soto Is Back (those of you who read Malibu Rising might remember her as the home wrecking affair…?!).

Anyhoo, unfortunately this book just didn’t do it for me. I have learned a great deal about tennis, but Carrie is not a very likeable figure and the intensity of the story was just a bit too focused on the one thing without much letting up.

What TJR did so amazingly well with Daisy and Evelyn and even Nina was the back-and-forth and the different POVs. Here we get Carrie and Carrie alone. I’d have loved to have learned more about her dad or even about Bowe but we only get her perspective and it’s not always a nice one.

Anyhoo, I’m sure many of you might disagree but I just didn’t feel like this one lived up to its predecessors. Still, an entertaining and patriarchy-shattering read and a lovely father-daughter relationship, and for that I commend it.

Carrie Soto Is Back by TJR ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Carrie is widely regarded as the world’s best tennis player, the problem is that she’s been retired for years and there’s a new girl in town who’s close to matching her record number of Grand Slam wins!

As with Evelyn and Daisy, TJR once again effortlessly transports you into another world.
I really don’t know how she manages to get inside the minds of her characters with such insight and empathy, you completely felt Carrie’s drive and heartache as she’s strives to claw her way back with the help of her father/coach.

Free courtesy of Netgalley

Never read any of Taylor's books before but I absolutely loved this one.

The story is about a middle aged retired, successful tennis player, who's GrandSlam record is just about to be broken by a young star named Nicki Chan.

Carrie is known as the battle axe, and wasn't much liked by people when she played in the 80's as she was aloof and rude but she has decided to come out of retirement to play in the GrandSlams to retain her record, this means she must play some of the best female players around and all of them are much younger than she is. Can she make an impact on the sport again, with the help of her father, who is a well known and loved coach ?

The story follows Carrie's preparation and each of the four Slams she enters, watching how she changes throughout this process, can she learn to trust and fall in love with someone as well as tennis again ?

This book will be amazing for tennis fans, as it gives an insight to what the players must go through to stay on the circuit and show the pressure they put on themselves to win. I would recommend this book

I loved everything about this and have never wanted to play tennis more.
The pacing, the characters, the atmosphere - TJR knocked it out of the park again (wrong sport, same sentiment?)

I absolutely love Taylor Jenkins Reid's books, and i didn't even bother reading the blurb to see what this book was about - I just knew I wanted to read it.
It was easy to read, just like all her other books, but sadly this is where the positivity ends for me.
It wasn't thrilling or exciting, and i feel it felt more like an autobiography from an actual tennis player, and sadly tennis doesn't interest me at all.
Was a bit of a drag for me in all honesty - definitely not for me.
That said, I will without a doubt still read her future books as I know what an amazing author her previous books have been.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has fricken' done it again! Oh my god, words cannot express how much I loved this book! I have no interest in tennis, or any sport, for that matter, but holy moly, this book captivated me and may have made me watch some tennis matches upon finishing. Taylor Jenkins Reid always knows how to right strong-headed, independent, fierce women and Carrie Soto was absolutely no exception.

Carrie Soto Is Back is set from the mid-'50s spanning over the years right up until the late '90s and TJR does a fantastic job of handling the misogyny and sexism within women's sports. There were some really important discussions held that were so poignant and carried out really carefully. If the fact that sports was, and still is, full of sexism and misogyny was ignored; I can honestly say I would have been deeply disappointed.

At times, Carrie was a very unlikeable character, but that made me like her more. That may be a bit confusing so I'll explain. All Carrie has ever known is tennis. She was told from the moment she could hold a racket that she was destined to be the "greatest tennis player ever" and that has stuck with her. It has driven her ambition and when someone gets overly ambitious, they tend to become annoying and unlikable because they have their blinkers on, so to speak. They are oblivious to everyone and everything and ignore all the other potential opportunities for them. That is exactly how I saw Carrie Soto. So why did her being unlikable make me like her more? Well, at some point in our life, we all get lovely ambitious and I resonated with that. She wants to be her best self, she's just going about it in a, in my opinion, unhealthy way. The character development Carrie goes through is slow but steady and so worth it in the end.

With the main focus of this book being around tennis, I knew there would be a lot of "tennis match" scenes and anticipated the book being repetitive and boring but I was proved wrong. There is something unique in each of the matches, it kept me captivated. There were times I found myself literally shouting "come on, Carrie".

The side romance was beautifully written and didn't take the focus off the main plot. I loved that this was the case but now I want more from them. Bowe plays an important role in Carrie's character development and I loved seeing Carrie's tough, stubborn facade slowly fall.

All in all, this may be the best TJR book I have read. I loved the little easter eggs (I know some reviews have shared them but I won't, I'll let them be a surprise) that were included and I can't wait to see what TJR has in store for us next!

WOW - Taylor Jenkins Reid has gone and done it again with her latest release, Carrie Soto Is Back.

TJR is the queen of writing realistic, immersive historical fiction with such well-developed characters that you will be checking whether or not they're real (TJR is THAT good!).

I adored Carrie Soto, the flawed yet relatable protagonist. I know some people found her unlikeable at times - especially after her appearance in Malibu Rising - but I fell in love with her from the get-go for her no-nonsense attitude and ruthless ambition (yet with a kind, loyal heart underneath that she slowly shows to a select few). I also really liked all of the well-rounded side characters, especially Carrie's father, Javier, and her tennis partner Bowe. The relationship between Carrie and her father was one of the true highlights of the book and even had me welling up at times for how moving it was.

I'm a huge fan of tennis but I still believe even if you don't like the sport, you would enjoy this. TJR makes the plot extremely readable and exciting; I was on the edge of my seat reading all of the matches, rooting for Carrie to win. I will say though that at times I did skim passages when they were overly technical as about 80% of this book is about tennis matches with incredible detail (so well-researched!)

It was also refreshing to read discussions about sexism within sport - in this case tennis - and the different portrayals of men and women in the media. Some of the conversations between Carrie and Nicki about this subject were fantastic.

Ultimately, I loved this new release from TJR and it's quickly become one of my favourite books of hers and of the year. I can't wait to see what she comes out with next in the TJR universe (I keep going back over passages for easter eggs)! 4.5 stars

Brilliant! I absolutely loved this book! I’m not much of a tennis fan so wasn’t sure on this one. But because it is a book by TJR of course I had to read it! And I was completely captivated!

Carrie Soto was the best the world has ever seen! She had shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. However, 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 player named Nicki Chan. Carrie makes the decision to come back to reclaim her title with her father taking on the role of her coach once more.

During the course of the book we are learning about Carrie in a duel timeline format going between her early years and her current come back. The writing is immersive especially the present day. I felt like I was watching the tennis matches with my heart in my mouth and on the edge of my seat! I really liked learning about Carrie’s younger self and about her amazing talent and determination. Her father is a lovable character and throughout the book he would talk to her in bits of Spanish. (If you don’t know Spanish it doesn’t take anything from the storyline) I found this endearing and we got a real sense of his character. The whole journey of Carrie’s comeback was quite an emotional rollercoaster and - not giving anything away - the ending really got me. It was brilliant and made heart sing!

This was an exciting and emotional read. I would highly recommend this book.

This book blew me away! Firmly holding a spot in my top ten so far this year and likely to stay there. I first discovered Taylor Jenkin’s Reid when I wanted to read Malibu Rising (I know - where have I been) and decided to read Evelyn Hugo first. Evelyn Hugo also made an impact but since then Malibu Rising and Daisy Jones didn’t quite hold up to it. Carrie Soto might be back but for me Taylor’s back at that Evelyn Hugo level!

The story follows Carrie, an ex professional tennis player who decides to make a comeback to defend her record breaking title wins. The media are quick to suggest she’ll flow but she has the unfailing support of her father behind her.

This is such a fast paced booked that I got swept up in it very easily and read it in one sitting. I was completely absorbed by Carrie’s character and although I can’t personally relate to a professional tennis player (I can barely walk without falling) it was so easy to imagine myself in Carrie’s shoes.

We’ve recently posted about working through authors back lists and Taylor’s is one I’d like to get through - what should I read next?

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I give this book 5 stars

At age 37 Carrie Soto makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement 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.

This book is going to be a summer “smash” hit….game set and match to TJR!
The story has a dual timeline covering Carrie’s early life career and then her comeback and the narrative is totally compulsive. l really enjoyed the multi media format, the Spanish dialogue and the mentions of Malibu Rising.
The hilight for me was the relationship between Carrie and her father Javier which is so beautifully and emotionally written. But l have to also mention the authors detailed and immersive descriptions of the matches, l was on the edge of my seat and felt like l was right there it was so vivid,tense and breathtaking.This author has such a unique skill of writing main protagonists that you gradually fall in love with and they feel so realistic you want to go google them.Carrie is no exception.she’s flawed,hugely competitive,appears strong but has vulnerability.
Despite not liking tennis…..l ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS ONE!
With thanks to Netgalley,Taylor Jenkins Reid and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Hutchinson Heinemann for my chance to read and review this book

Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it again!

Carrie Soto is the worlds best tennis player.. she holds all the records, titles and most slams ever by a female tennis player. Carrie has been in retirement for 6 years when an upcoming tennis player is threatening to break her records and she does not want this to happen. The book follows her as she re-enters the world of Tennis and navigates the multiple issues that come along with this!

As someone who does not play tennis or watch the games, I went into this a bit hesitant that I would not understand what is happening but I was totally wrong and very happy about this. The technical side of it is explained clearly and not in a way it seems as though it is offloading. I may actually tune into Wimbledon now after reading this!

I loved seeing the character development through out this, the relationships Carrie develops and the dynamics between Carrie and her father who also happens to be her coach. There was also a strong narrative on both being a women in sports and also ageism, some really important issues that even now still comes up in the sports world!

I would recommend this to anyone looking for an inspirational and compelling read, 4.5/5 stars from me!

4.5 stars for Carrie Soto! 

I was not a fan of Malibu Rising, but I love tennis and I loved Carrie Soto is Back.
Carrie used to be a professional tennis player who retired 6 years ago. She holds the record of most Grand Slam wins but Nicki Chan has just won the US Open and tied her record. Carrie can't let Nicki take her record, clearly she is the best tennis player of all times. Carrie makes the decision to come out of her retirement and win one more slam. 

I thoroughly enjoyed following Carrie's hard core training to get back in the form. I have no idea whether TJR plays tennis but even if she does, she must have done tons of research to put this book together. I think even if you don't follow tennis you might find this book enjoyable but tennis fans will love this even more.

Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a tennis fan, this was the perfect kind of book for me. A good balance of reflecting the game and the type of person it takes the play it. The impacts it has on your life. I loved reading about Carrie Soto, a woman who is not liked in the field because she's steely and fiery and unwilling to compromise. Known as the Battle Axe, she has her eye on the prize and will do anything to get there. I found her character refreshing, wanting to root for her while seeing how she consistently gets in her own way. It also shows much of the relationships with the small number of people Carrie allows in her life, especially between her and her father/coach which really tugged at my heartstrings. Throughouly enjoyed this.

Wow I am beyond words!
A story about Tennis? Never would I have thought that someone could make this so good!
Maybe this even takes the top spot of my favourite Taylor Jenkins Reid books

I was intrigued by this book and wanted to enjoy it but I found it hard going to be honest. It just wasn't for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.