katarina_sarmo's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
To say I love this book would be an understatement. After reading Daisy Jones and Malibu Rising, I thought Taylor Jenkins Reid could not possibly publish anything of the same standard again and yet here we are.
I fell in love with every single character and with tennis itself. The portrayal of media coverage of women in sport, father-daughter relationships, honour, and the immense cost of being the best is executed exquisitely.
You don’t need to love tennis to read this and you don’t need to be a world class athlete to understand the struggles that these characters face.
I will recommend this book to everyone I meet.
I fell in love with every single character and with tennis itself. The portrayal of media coverage of women in sport, father-daughter relationships, honour, and the immense cost of being the best is executed exquisitely.
You don’t need to love tennis to read this and you don’t need to be a world class athlete to understand the struggles that these characters face.
I will recommend this book to everyone I meet.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
lotoblanco's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Grief, Sexism, and Death of parent
iirissr's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
apparently im a sucker for tjr. i dont know how she makes a book about tennis (believe me its basically 90% tennis and 10% relationships) so interesting and captivating but i ate this book UP. love carrie<3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
ell_n's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcoholism
r_clark's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail
sefrahudman's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked this book a lot for how unlikable the main character was for most of the book. She was written that way and so it made her very real feeling and somewhat enduring at times. I like that she got some good growth near the end of the book. I also really appreciated that. I spoke Spanish, because as I listened to the audiobook, if I had not, I would have lost a lot of what was being said. Most of the exchanges were probably pretty easy to follow even if you didn’t speak Spanish, but it is definitely an asset in the audiobook being able to just listen and know what was being said. Speaking of the audiobook, it was perfection. They had all the different voices and clips that sounded like it was actually a newscast, and it was awesome!
I felt like the explanations of tennis were very accessible for somebody who didn’t really understand very much about tennis before this book. I still got sort of confused sometimes with the difference between a game, a match and a set, but it was fine, and I was able to still get excited about the matches or games or whatever they were.
I felt like the explanations of tennis were very accessible for somebody who didn’t really understand very much about tennis before this book. I still got sort of confused sometimes with the difference between a game, a match and a set, but it was fine, and I was able to still get excited about the matches or games or whatever they were.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Cursing, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming
Minor: Lesbophobia
gracedunne's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Racism
withlivjones's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is essentially the plot of Cars 3 but with tennis, and I am so here for it. I love that Carrie is an unapologetic bitch (affectionate) but I also love that she mellows out somewhat throughout the book - something I wasn’t a huge fan of in Evelyn Hugo was that Evelyn was pretty much the same character from adolescence all the way into old age, with not much growth throughout her life. The supporting characters are great too - Nicki Chan especially is a fantastic foil, and her and Carrie’s Achilles-Hector dynamic is great to read.
The romance is very sweet and isn’t a distraction from the story, rather it adds good emotional depth to the characters, and I’d go so far to say that it’s my favourite pairing out of all of TJR’s books I’ve read so far (second to Evelyn and Celia, of course!) The tennis scenes are surprisingly gripping and not as repetitive as I’d feared they’d be, and the integration of news columns and interviews perfectly illustrate the double standards for ambitious women in sport - particularly women of colour. I’m in no position to judge the accuracy of the representation in this book, but it is definitely important that these kinds of stories are told. More please!
The romance is very sweet and isn’t a distraction from the story, rather it adds good emotional depth to the characters, and I’d go so far to say that it’s my favourite pairing out of all of TJR’s books I’ve read so far (second to Evelyn and Celia, of course!) The tennis scenes are surprisingly gripping and not as repetitive as I’d feared they’d be, and the integration of news columns and interviews perfectly illustrate the double standards for ambitious women in sport - particularly women of colour. I’m in no position to judge the accuracy of the representation in this book, but it is definitely important that these kinds of stories are told. More please!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism and Racism
cassellwrites's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
katarinamh's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent