What an intense read!! I loved it & I loved Carrie. Such a fierce, determined woman! We could all do with being a bit more like Carrie! All the emotions! One billion stars from me.

You have achieved what you will achieve but Carrie still wants her come back.

Carrie the Battle-axe Soto is back once again.

I was hooked in from the start despite having no clue about tennis 🎾.

We meet Carrie Soto an upcoming fierce tennis star who knows what she wants and that's Grand Slam Titles.

Loved watching her relationship between her and her dad.

Will Carrie earn what she wants or does she face disappointment?


Highly recommend this.

I was excited to receive the latest book by TJR as I loved Daisy Jones & the Six.

After reading the first few chapters I was concerned that I wouldn’t engage with it as our main character Carrie is not very loveable and that it seemed it was going to be quite a bit about tennis which I don’t really follow. I need not have worried as I actually grew to like Carrie and enjoyed the tennis matches!

Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. #CarrieSotoIsBack

4.5/5 stars! I loved this book and now I want to pick up a tennis racquet! I loved how many years this spanned and seeing Carrie's development throughout. I especially loved reading about the 1995 matches and seeing how much everything changed. I loved reading about the last couple of matches and all of the emotions woven into them. Taylor Jenkins Reid has done it again!

I'm a huge fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books, and this has become my second favourite after Evelyn Hugo.

We follow Carrie Soto, who was the world's best tennis player when she retired 5 years ago. Now that another player has matched her record, she decides to come out of retirement to try and defend her title.

If you have zero interest in tennis then you may find this boring because there's A LOT of tennis in this book. I didn't mind that aspect and I found it really interesting being inside Carrie Soto's mind. She's not a likable character, but Taylor Jenkins Reid has this ability to write characters that feel like they're real people.

While this was very compelling and I struggled to put it down, it wasn't quite a 5 stars because I felt the pacing was a little off, especially towards the end which felt a bit rushed.

This is the story of Carrie Soto, the best tennis player the world has seen, and her come-back 6 years after retiring from professional tennis.

I think this was my favourite TJR yet! I loved everything about this and finished this book and immediately wanted to start it again.

I loved the character of Carrie; she’s not a likeable sports personality but is spiky and sassy. She’s a sore loser and her mouth runs away with her and I loved her all the more for it! Her passion for tennis and her father shone through beautifully.

I also loved the supporting characters, particularly Carrie’s father. The bond they had was beautiful and heart breaking.

I also loved the sly little nods to TJR’s other books in here which were well weaved and not forced.

I thought TJR did a great job of making tennis accessible and engaging as a vital part of the story. I was gripped through the games and felt a tension I’ve never felt in a real tennis match!

Overall, I adored everything about this book and I miss the characters already! My new favourite TJR which I didn’t think was possible after Malibu Rising!

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH! TJR has done it once again and absolutely excelled and produced another gorgeous, moving, beautiful novel.

When I knew it was about a tennis player. I was already on board as tennis is one of my fav sports but then coming away from this book and finishing it. Wow TJR never disappoints.

I absolutely loved Carrie Soto's mentions in Malibu Rising and knew I wanted to hear more about her. This book was perfect, it was intense, informative, thoroughly enjoyable and one of my favourite reads this year!

Like all the recent TJR books, there is a connection to the author’s previous books. This one is connected to Malibu Rising, as we meet Carrie again, who was quite dislikable in the previous book. However, when you get to know the real Carrie you can’t help but like her. Due to her past and commitment to tennis, she doesn’t let the people around her in easy. As everyone character follows a story arc, you can guess where this one is going.

I’m really not a sports fan, so I didn’t enjoy all the tennis talk, Which if found myself skim reading, but if you love tennis, then you will enjoy it. What I did like was the relationships that grew and evolved around Carrie as she began to realise that there is more to life than tennis. Ambition and sheer determination may bring you fame but it won’t bring you happiness. You literally watch Carrie mature in front of your eyes.

This books reflects how constantly our lives change as we grow older and as a reader you witness Carrie learning to accept that. Change is constant - that is the only thing you can rely on.

I’m very impressed how TJR can write about such different subjects. Who knew tennis would be her thing?

A great read but not as fabulous as Evelyn Hugo.

Thanks to @netgalley & @penguinrandomhouse for this review copy

Wow, this long anticipated read certainly does not disappoint! The female protagonist is strong willed and ambitious and you can’t help but care for her on her plight to win one last tournament while also looking for her happy ending with a romantic interest.

This story makes me want to learn how to play tennis, whilst also reminding me I might be far too old to do so, despite being only 30! Carrie is a likeable character despite first coming across as cold and abrupt. She is focussed on her training and determined to make her father proud of her. It’s a great tale about what motivates us to succeed and work harder to better ourselves. I found it exhausting to read about her physical training and got sucked into the story, absolutely could not put it down. I’d recommend this to any of my students interested in motivation, psychology and sports.

If you love tennis or any type of competitive sport this is definitely something for you. Having played tennis myself this was a wonderful reminder of what it takes to be a successful player. All the strategies that you work out beforehand on how to outwit your opponent, how to read the game, how to read the court etc.

The story is very well written and the book had me on the edge of my seat. At times it felt like I was watching a live tennis match and I found myself holding my breath and willing Carrie on to be ruthless!

At nearly 37 Carrie Soto has to watch Nicki Chan equal her record of 20 grand slam singles titles. a Record that was set 7 years before. From a very early age, her dad told her that she will be the best tennis player the world has ever seen but now that light seems to dim a bit.
"Having someone on this planet who is as good as me -or better- means I have not achieved my goals"
The only thing left for Carrie to do is to make a comeback, fight her way back to winning one more title, and show the world that Carrie Soto was and will be the best tennis player in history. Is this a bridge too far or is there 1 more title in her?

As a side note if you don't know anything about tennis this is also a great way to learn about the game and about the effort and dedication top players must put in to be the best. And how ironic is it that the book comes out at the same time as two of the biggest tennis players the world has ever seen both decide to retire?

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

I have previously loved both The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising so was thrilled to receive this ARC, thank you.

I adored the relationship between Carrie and her father throughout the book. He’s a key character and although his story is predictable, their strained relationship in her childhood was relatable to me. I found their dialogue in Spanish to be very distracting, having to stop and translate up to three lines of Spanish text certainly halted my reading flow.

I appreciated that the book represented many ethnicities and sexualities in names characters.

I loved the multimedia elements in the form of newspaper articles, podcasts or commentator clips.

Overall, I preferred Taylor Jenkin’s Reid previous works more than this, but would still say it’s worth reading if you love a strong female protagonist on a journey.

I think Carrie Soto is Back may be my new favourite TJR book. As a tennis kid (I played for nine years. AND share a love of the sport with my father), there was absolutely no way I wouldn't connect with a father-daughter tennis story. Throw a fierce female character on top of that? Gold.

I really loved Soto's coldness, ambition, and drive to win. Her critiques of women's tennis, and female athletics in general, are so spot-on - one of my favourite scenes in this book is simply two women talking about the double standards in women's sports. She's the perfect vehicle to explore and address these issues. I find that sometimes Reid can be a little weak when it comes to secondary characters, but this was not the case in Carrie Soto is Back. From her father to Bowe, to her agent to Nikki Chan, Carrie is surrounded by contrasting characters that compliment her personality and her story so well.

Although the book is incredibly tennis-heavy, I really think that people who don't have a love of or familiarity with the sport will still enjoy the tension, the strategy, and the joys of the games as Carrie fights to defend her title. Carrie Soto is Back is the perfect book to dive into, especially if you want something compelling enough to read in one sitting.

This book….. i wanted to love it. I was desperate to love it after how much i loved Evelyn Hugo.

But it just didnt hit the same. TJR’s writing is as easy as ever to read, but it was just ALOT of tennis. If you like a plot heavy book, this isnt the one for you.

I found, ironically, that the best character in here was Carrie’s dad. You really get a sense of his character and everything he has been through.

For alot of people, this will be a perfect end to TJR’s writing in this world… but it missed the mark for me.

I have read a number of TJR books and have never been disappointed. TJR is an auto buy author for me as I love all of her work however, when I seen this book was about Tennis I was unsure whether or not I would enjoy it. Oh how I was wrong. This book has everything you need, its emotional and its gripping and the characters are so well written.

Carrie Soto is a one of the best tennis players in the world. A record breaker, smashing expectations and setting an example to all the world of what it is to be the greatest. Or at least she use to be, until a knee injury forced her to retire in the 1980s. Six years later she watches as a fresh new talent rises to take her records, her history, so she decides to make history all over again and return to the circuit to retake her title. No one gets the better of Carrie Soto.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is back to her best here, writing a story that both captivates and excites. I'm not a fan of tennis at all, yet she managed to not only make me want to watch the game but also feel the tension in every swing and feel the ground beneath Carrie's feet. The rush of an ace, the hand thrust of a win. I felt it all with Carrie, and I was willing her on at every step.

I lived that Carrie was so determined, so single minded. Tennis is her one and only love, nothing else compares. She's so hard on herself that she comes across as this emotionless statue who doesn't mix well with others, but to herself she's just trying to prove that she's the best and she deserves what she has and should be recognised for it. Nothing else matters. Relationships don't matter. Nothing is as important as tennis. Her relationship with her father is incredibly complicated. They have a shared passion for this game, a shared determination and they don't mind telling each other how it is. But Carrie has a drive like no other, and it's something that not even Javier can compete with in her yout. Coming back into the circuit leaves Carrie open and vulnerable, and Javier (and later Bowe) take the time to get Carrie to see that there's more to life than winning.

As always I also loved the writing. Certain lines in this made me pause and reread them several times, such as Bowe talking to Carrie in Spanish about being imperfect, Carrie recognising the importance of experience and being 37. The little Easter eggs scattered throughout of character names from previous novels. There's just something quite lovely about writing that speaks to you on a personal level, and I definitely think Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing does that for me.

Highly recommend, even if you don't think sports are your thing, the writing and characterisation are superb.

Undecided between 3,75 and 4/5 stars.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of those authors who will never disappoint. Will I like some of her books more than others? Absolutely. But will I still enjoy myself and fly through her novels thanks to her exquisite writing? Once more; absolutely.

I’m not going to lie, I’ve never watched or played tennis so a big part of the book was lost on me - all the technical terms just flew right over my head. But I still got that thrill reading through the matches and training that Carrie goes through because Reid has that knack for making you care and excited about stuff you wouldn’t normally care about.

I loved the characters and how flawed they are, and I loved their relationships and growth. And this book definitely confirms for me that Reid’s strength lies in her characters.

Not everyone is going to like this book and I didn’t like it as much as some of her others (Daisy Jones & the Six, forever in my heart) but I’m still really glad I read it and I will continue to read everything she releases.

I wouldn't recommend reading this unless you really like tennis or have read Malibu Rising. I am not into tennis and didn't realise it was part of a 'universe'. I couldn't get into it at all sadly. I was a bit meh about it.

I'm going to read Malibu Rising and maybe try again and hope I engage with it a bit more then.

Through sheer determination, single mindedness and the relentless pursuit of her goal Carrie Soto rose to fame as one of the world’s most legendary tennis players. Now, six years after retirement, she intends to make a comeback and win back her title back from Nikki Chan, who is dominating the tennis scene at the moment.

Carrie Soto is Back is an amazing read, highly entertaining and packed with complex characters and relationships. I adore Taylor Jenkin’s Reid’s novels and have not come across one yet that I did not enjoy. She has a wonderful way of creating characters and stories that resonate with the reader. Carrie is a remarkable character as is Javier, her father and coach, also know as the ‘Jaguar’. Their relationship and complete love and devotion to one another is lovely to read about.

This is a brilliant comeback story and I was rooting for Carrie throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed following her return to competition, her gruelling training sessions with her father and the blossoming romance with Bowe. The story itself is heavy on the sport of tennis, but you will love it whether you like tennis or not. The author can evidently write about any topic and make it appear interesting and every one of her novels I have read so far has been unique and had it’s own special qualities.

This is definitely a book not to miss with the amazing storyline, characters and superb writing.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC.