Another top notch book from Taylor Jenkins Reid, I absolutely loved 'Carrie Soto is Back' and I'm adding it to my list of favourites. 5 stars!… Read More Book Review: Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto is Back
by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Publication date: August 30, 2022
Publisher: Penguin

Summary:

Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

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, British 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 a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.

Source: Goodreads

Thoughts:

Right, that’s it, Taylor Jenkins Reid is now my must-read author! I’ve just finished reading ‘Carrie Soto is Back’, making that seven books that I’ve read by TJR so far. This author is fantastic at creating heroines with epic stories, women who have such vivid stories and lives, and she does so throughout time so seamlessly. It seems that she’s an expert at pretty much any time in recent history.

“I have always known there is no mountain you cannot climb, one step at a time”

In this book, Carrie Soto is a star tennis player. I don’t know anything about TJR’s interest in tennis, but if she didn’t know anything about it before writing this book, she knows absolutely everything about it now! The detail that has gone into this story is extremely impressive. It’s a very strong theme, but if you’re reading this and panicking, know that you don’t have to be a tennis fan to enjoy or appreciate this book.

Thinking back to Daisy Jones (Daisy Jones and the Six), Evelyn Hugo (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo), and Nina Riva (Malibu Rising), many of TJR’s characters are flawed, and Carrie is no exception. She’s got a one track mind and she’ll do anything to be the best tennis player there is, even if that means stepping on the toes of others.

This is an exciting read! Carrie is relentless and wants nothing more than to win. Spanning her career, this story shows her highs and her lows.I particularly loved Carrie’s relationship with her father, Javi, a former tennis player from Argentina. Carrie has looked up to her father since she was a little girl and he is her driving force for success on the court.

I really liked that this story included some non-traditional media, such a news reports and radio audio before and after the games. This worked particularly well in the audiobook and makes for a really engaging read. I couldn’t put it down!

I also enjoyed the crossovers as TJR dips into her other work, with Carrie reading about Daisy Jones and daring Nina Riva’s husband.

If you couldn’t already tell, I loved this book and will add Carrie to my list of favourite leading ladies. I recently saw a trailer at the cinema for an upcoming tennis themed film and got really excited thinking it could be Carrie, but sadly not. For now, we can only dream!

If you’re a fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid and her other work, I’d definitely recommend this.

Overall rating: Another top notch book from Taylor Jenkins Reid, I absolutely loved ‘Carrie Soto is Back’ and I’m adding it to my list of favourites. 5 stars!

Thanks for reading! What did you think of this book? Or if you haven’t read it, would you like to? Drop me a comment and say hello!

See my other reviews of books by Taylor Jenkins Reid here:

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