Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Carrie Soto Is Back

Since I highly enjoyed Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising, I immediately ordered Carrie Soto Is Back once I saw it had been released.

Blurb:

Carrie Soto is a thirty-seven-year-old retired professional tennis player who used to be the best woman’s tennis player in the world. When another tennis champion, Nicki Chan, comes close to breaking one of her records, Carrie decides to come out of retirement to defend her title.

Review:

Carrie Soto Is Back is a tight, breezy novel that packs a lot of emotion and excitement into its pages. Unlike some of other Reid’s novels, which feature complex storylines and large casts of characters, Carrie Soto focuses entirely on the development of its protagonist and her relationships with a handful of people. This focus allows Reid to craft a brilliantly flawed, complex, and believable protagonist who we can root for, even when she makes mistakes and treats those around her poorly. Carrie’s character arc unfolds amid the exciting atmosphere of tennis tournaments. The focus and character work in this book make it my favorite so far of the Taylor Jenkins Reid books I have read.

Reid also does a spectacular job writing Carrie’s relationships with her father, Javier, and her sparring partner, Bowe Huntley. Javier and Bowe are flawed but lovable, and the dialogue and banter between Carrie and the other characters add to the book’s entertainment value. Writing realistic relationships between characters has always been Reid’s strength, and it shines through in this novel

Although the storyline does not contain any surprises, it is nonetheless an exciting and inspiring journey to see Carrie grow as a person and as a player. Reid also sprinkles in commentary about feminism, aging, sports, and celebrity culture that is (usually) not too on-the-nose.

My one gripe with the book was the awkwardness of the Spanish words, phrases, and sentences Carrie and her father exchange with each other. I’m all for sprinkling in non-English components into dialogue to characterize a bilingual interaction, but the Spanish here felt clunky and forced. I’m not bilingual, but it did not feel like an authentic fusion of the Spanish and English languages. The sentences were so basic that they felt like they were written by someone with only a few years of high school Spanish under their belt.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like Carrie Soto Is Back if:

· You have enjoyed any other books by Taylor Jenkins Reid

· You like a good underdog sports story

· You enjoy witty banter between flawed but lovable characters

· You like watching a main character learn and grow

You might not like Carrie Soto is Back if:

· You dislike Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing style

· You despise messy, flawed, and occasionally cruel main characters

A Similar Text:

Borg vs. McEnroe (2017). I chose a movie rather than a book for two reasons: one, Carrie Soto Is Back reads very much like a movie. Secondly, Borg vs. McEnroe has much in common with Carrie Soto—in fact, the Borg/McEnroe rivalry is referenced in Carrie Soto. Similarities between these texts include:

· Stories about tennis world champions

· Deeply flawed protagonists

· Discussions of sports and celebrity culture

· Depictions of characters who push their bodies to the limit for the sake of competition

Content Warnings

milenasbooknook's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

emily_koopmann's review against another edition

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inspiring medium-paced

3.75

Content Warnings

kelly_e's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Title: Carrie Soto Is Back
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: August 30, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Addictive • Riveting • Immersive

📖 S Y N O P S I S

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.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Taylor Jenkins Reid's Carrie Soto Is Back was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, and it did not disappoint. TJR has quickly become an auto-buy author for me simply because of her unique ability in writing nuanced and vivid characters. As someone who considers themselves to be a huge sports fan, I was equally intrigued knowing it would involve tennis.

Firstly, I could not put this book down! From the very first page I was fully invested and wanted to keep reading to see how everything would pan out. The characters are complex with multiple layers to each. While Carrie's character comes across as arrogant and entitled, as the story progresses details are reveled that allowed me to get to know and understand her better. The author's writing made me feel like I was sitting in the stands watching every move of the matches, and rooting for Carrie in her comeback. One of the little extras I love about her books, is how she'll gives little hints or snippets of characters from her other books (or maybe future books?), yet she keeps it minimal, so you can easily read the books independently of one another.

Secondly, I absolutely loved the father/daughter relationship portrayed in this book. It was messy and complicated, yet never once did I doubt the father's love for his daughter. I am so used to the mother/daughter relationship trope, that this one was a breathe of fresh air. In fact, the romance development was also very well written.

Thirdly, while the world of tennis takes up much of the narrative, in my opinion, you don't need to be knowledgeable about the game in order to appreciate the narrative, yet if you are a tennis player and/or fan of the sport you'll likely have an even greater appreciation for this story. I know I came away with a greater appreciation for game, and female athletes in general.

And lastly, the audiobook featuring a full cast was fantastic! There are little extras, including parts of it felt like a real live broadcast of the matches. And it allowed for a completely immersive reading experience, and I would highly recommend going that route.

Carrie Soto Is Back is completely different from any of her other books, yet it I loved it just as much. I wouldn't be surprised to see it turned into a movie or mini series at some point in the future. TJR manages to combine plot driven and character driven stories unlike anyone else. Her latest certainly solidifies her place on my author read-it all list, and I cannot wait to read whatever she publishes next.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• mixed media fans
• TJR devotees
• Tennis enthusiasts

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Grief is like a deep, dark hole. It calls like a siren: Come to me, lose yourself here. And you fight it and you fight it and you fight it, but when you finally succumb and jump down into it, you can't quite believe how deep it is. It feels as if this how you will live for the rest of your life, falling. Terrified and devastated, until you yourself die."

"What a gift it is, to be able to guide someone to a point and then let them finish it themselves. To give someone all the knowledge you have and then pray they use it right."

"I am no longer the greatest tennis player in the world. For the first time in my life, I can be...something else."

Content Warnings

nora_knight's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Everything that Taylor Jenkins Reid writes is so so beautiful. Her characters are so intricately crafted, so perfectly flawed, and entirely human; it takes my breath away every time. I don't particularly enjoy tennis but this book was so incredibly engaging, I couldn't put it down. I absolutely adore how TJR truly understands her characters, what motivates them, and their truths (the ones they've admitted and the ones they haven't); it shines in the ways her characters interact and form relationships. Reading her writing is like reading art.

Content Warnings