chrisljm's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As someone who knows nothing about tennis, seeing the events of the tournaments play out was riveting. Carrie is a tough personality to love but I can’t help but hope she accomplishes all that she strives for. What makes this tough is it’s also difficult not to root for her main opponent Nicki Chan. Both characters have such compelling reasons to fight for their legacy, and still the end results are so satisfying.
However, I did wish TJR gave more depth to Carrie and her tennis career prior to her comeback, in a more showing and less telling way, but even so, I was able to feel her strength and determination with the sport, as well as the love between her and her father.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Addiction
Minor: Infidelity, Blood, Sexual content, Racism, and Bullying
naturally's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
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
taylor jenkins reid does the whole historical-fiction-with-a-biographical-angle thing pretty well. i must admit, i preferred the focus on entertainers (the rivas, evelyn hugo etc), however it could be argued that athletes also fit under this umbrella...and carrie soto is back presents a strong case.
whilst i thought the use of tennis terminology felt a tad too textbook-ish, my admiration of the sport and the GOAT serena williams kept me invested in the story.
there were times when both carrie and the commentary on feminism were flat and checkbox-ey...TJR tries her best, but i ultimately thinks this comes from a lack of deep understanding and familiarity of the identities she is writing.
where TJR shines is her portrayal of both familial and romantic relationships. the fate of carrie's was extremely predictable, however their relationship was easily the highlight of this book. i also enjoyed carrie and bowe's dynamic!
overall, this was a quick - and by no means perfect-- read that kept me entertained this summer!
whilst i thought the use of tennis terminology felt a tad too textbook-ish, my admiration of the sport and the GOAT serena williams kept me invested in the story.
there were times when both carrie and the commentary on feminism were flat and checkbox-ey...TJR tries her best, but i ultimately thinks this comes from a lack of deep understanding and familiarity of the identities she is writing.
where TJR shines is her portrayal of both familial and romantic relationships. the fate of carrie's
Spoiler
father. i knew he was going to die, and i STILL wasn't ready...overall, this was a quick - and by no means perfect-- read that kept me entertained this summer!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Death of parent, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual content
david_slack110507's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
relaxing
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
4.25
Back with Taylor Jenkins Reid books and this one was unsurprisingly another hit and incredibly well written. I will preface this by saying that I cannot say whether or not this is a good representation of a Latina character and the Latino community, but I do wish that for those that can give an accurate account of this aspect, that she has done this in a careful, well thought out and well-respected manner to the community and its culture.
I really liked this book even though it is based on a sport I never thought twice about: tennis. The way that Reid wrote the tennis matches and the tennis rules was extremely engaging even if I did forget some of the rules sometimes. The tennis aspect was kept as a constant focus and was well used as a means of facilitating the larger themes and developments of the story, something that reminiscing on Malibu Rising, cannot really be said as if my memory serves me right, the surfing aspect of the book became less critical as the book went on and the party started. I also really liked the return of news articles and interview/talk show transcripts which we last saw that type of documenting format in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which allowed for there to not only be breaks in the story but also see the larger world's view on the current events and state of tennis.
Something that I also found quite strong was the themes of the book and its characters. The discussion on the difficulties faced by women and people of colour in sports in the past such as when this book is set (E.g. the mid-1990s) and even now was remarkably interesting and is a very topical discussion now and in my opinion is dealt with very well. It expertly highlighted these issues as well as those affected by these issues and how they must hide their anger with this system to appear their absolute best for the public eye. The book has a very focused look on a few characters rather than having a wide stretching one allowing for the story to feel much more intimate as we only really focus on Carrie, Javier (A standout in this book to me due to how willing he was to train his daughter and not be jealous at her success and actually understand her better than she did herself - their relationship and father/daughter bond was probably the best-written part of this book), Bowe, Nicki, and Gwen.
Carrie has to be one of my favourite protagonists that I've read about in a long time, not only does she have the fiery attitude that many of TJR's female protagonists have but she also has incredible character development. She goes from being someone who must win every single game she plays even if it means coming off as an awful person to the public and those that she cares about to being someone who still wants to win but also recognises that losing is not the be all end all of the situations and that it is the journey and the game itself that is the most important part of it all. I also really liked how Carrie developed emotionally as well going from being perceived as cold and remorseless to being someone who gives genuine thanks and appreciation to those who help her and even respect to those she is facing off against.
I really liked this book even though it is based on a sport I never thought twice about: tennis. The way that Reid wrote the tennis matches and the tennis rules was extremely engaging even if I did forget some of the rules sometimes. The tennis aspect was kept as a constant focus and was well used as a means of facilitating the larger themes and developments of the story, something that reminiscing on Malibu Rising, cannot really be said as if my memory serves me right, the surfing aspect of the book became less critical as the book went on and the party started. I also really liked the return of news articles and interview/talk show transcripts which we last saw that type of documenting format in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which allowed for there to not only be breaks in the story but also see the larger world's view on the current events and state of tennis.
Something that I also found quite strong was the themes of the book and its characters. The discussion on the difficulties faced by women and people of colour in sports in the past such as when this book is set (E.g. the mid-1990s) and even now was remarkably interesting and is a very topical discussion now and in my opinion is dealt with very well. It expertly highlighted these issues as well as those affected by these issues and how they must hide their anger with this system to appear their absolute best for the public eye. The book has a very focused look on a few characters rather than having a wide stretching one allowing for the story to feel much more intimate as we only really focus on Carrie, Javier (A standout in this book to me due to how willing he was to train his daughter and not be jealous at her success and actually understand her better than she did herself - their relationship and father/daughter bond was probably the best-written part of this book), Bowe, Nicki, and Gwen.
Carrie has to be one of my favourite protagonists that I've read about in a long time, not only does she have the fiery attitude that many of TJR's female protagonists have but she also has incredible character development. She goes from being someone who must win every single game she plays even if it means coming off as an awful person to the public and those that she cares about to being someone who still wants to win but also recognises that losing is not the be all end all of the situations and that it is the journey and the game itself that is the most important part of it all. I also really liked how Carrie developed emotionally as well going from being perceived as cold and remorseless to being someone who gives genuine thanks and appreciation to those who help her and even respect to those she is facing off against.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, and Misogyny
Moderate: Medical content, Cancer, Death of parent, Racism, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Bullying, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, and Infidelity
meaghanslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
The book started out a bit slow for me, but boy does Taylor Jenkins Reid know how to write a good story.
Most authors cannot pull off switching writing styles within a book, like from narrative to interview transcripts, but Taylor Jenkins Reid is not like most authors.
I felt I was in each match as it happened and could fully picture this on the screen. It will definitely be a movie or tv show.
Also I loved how she incorporated Spanish throughout the book and often it wasn’t translated. I had to harken back to my language classes but once I understood the sentences it felt like a nice little secret knowing I understood another layer of the book. In that way it felt kind of like watching Stephen Spielberg’s west wide story.
Most authors cannot pull off switching writing styles within a book, like from narrative to interview transcripts, but Taylor Jenkins Reid is not like most authors.
I felt I was in each match as it happened and could fully picture this on the screen. It will definitely be a movie or tv show.
Also I loved how she incorporated Spanish throughout the book and often it wasn’t translated. I had to harken back to my language classes but once I understood the sentences it felt like a nice little secret knowing I understood another layer of the book. In that way it felt kind of like watching Stephen Spielberg’s west wide story.
Spoiler
Sure the book was a bit predictable, like that Bowe and Carrie would get together and Carrie wouldn’t win it all a La Rookie. As a reader it was very satisfying for the characters I invested in to have a happy ending. It was very sad when he did passed, I think the author handled that grief and feeling beautifully and realistically to the identities of the characters she created.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Sexism and Sexual content
beatriks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This is my third book of TJR and she always delivers.
This book was such an interesting read, even though I am not into tennis. Now I feel like watching the French Open.
I love that the author doesn’t shy away for painful experiences, I loved the descriptions of Carrie’s emotions.
And the interviews and news articles are a good way to shake up the book.
Also: Carrie is reading an unauthorized biography of Daisy Jones, I find that hilarious.
This book was such an interesting read, even though I am not into tennis. Now I feel like watching the French Open.
I love that the author doesn’t shy away for painful experiences, I loved the descriptions of Carrie’s emotions.
And the interviews and news articles are a good way to shake up the book.
Also: Carrie is reading an unauthorized biography of Daisy Jones, I find that hilarious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Cursing, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual content
katja24's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Racism
Minor: Sexual content
kjb2003's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Cursing and Medical content
Minor: Sexual content
thebookpaiges's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content
atamano's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, Body shaming, Medical content, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual content, Lesbophobia, and Alcoholism
quillreads's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
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
4.5
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
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying, Medical content, Sexism, and Body shaming
Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Infidelity