horizonous's review against another edition
And then there's all of the tennis talk. I played tennis myself, I understand the game. I much rather watch it then read about minutely detailed training sessions or match rallys.
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexism, and Infidelity
Minor: Grief, Cancer, and Car accident
quillcg's review against another edition
- 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
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
norebax's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Infidelity, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Body shaming
simply_fran's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity and Injury/injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism
hanna's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Carrie Soto is an absolute bitch and I respect her so much for that. Her inner thoughts about winning & losing changed so beautifully over the course of the book and really spoke to me.
(Idk how tennis works tho) (made the whole thing a bit anti climatic at times)
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness and Racism
Minor: Alcoholism, Medical content, and Cancer
Mental Illness is related to what I felt like were disordered eating habits portrayed by the athletesbella_cavicchi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
All said, I will gladly continue to grab whatever Reid writes next, because again: compulsively, addictively readable!
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Sexism
Moderate: Medical content and Injury/injury detail
Minor: Racism, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Cursing
kdailyreads's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Cursing, and Grief
Moderate: Injury/injury detail
Minor: Racism, Vomit, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, and Alcohol
genny's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Spoiler
"After coming out of retirement, Carrie is going to get win after win (after a grueling re-training montage and some early losses, maybe) and then realize it was all for nothing and that winning doesn't equate to happiness. Maybe her dad dies."Overly competitive people irk me to no end, so you can imagine how incredibly annoying Carrie was to me at first, even though it made sense due to her upbringing. Of course she became more likeable as she learned to acknowledge her faults and I found myself rooting for her eventually. I especially enjoyed her banter with Nicki Chan (the best character, hello?!). This was much more entertaining than Malibu Rising, though at this point I don't think anything can live up to Daisy Jones for me.
I loved the ending! What a fun last line.
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Grief, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Injury/injury detail, and Alcoholism
kimveach's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Death, Cursing, Racism, Alcoholism, Medical content, Grief, Infidelity, and Medical trauma
theespressoedition's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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'm really glad that I chose to listen to the audiobook. Similar to Daisy Jones & The Six, it had a full cast of narrators that made the story even more immersive. I felt like I was living in it rather than just reading about it. I proceeded to listen to the entire story in one day, which made me have some strange tennis dreams…
Speaking of tennis, if you're a lover of the sport and you have a lot of knowledge about it, you'll really enjoy this book. When it came to my personal experience, I felt like a lot of the most intense moments were lost on me because I don't have a clue how the game works. However, despite my lack of insight, I still enjoyed the tennis-centered scenes and the emotions that came from the different characters allowed me to understand what was happening - possibly almost as much as someone who actually gets the terms.
The serious lack of romance was super surprising to me. This is something that was fundamental in almost every other TJR book I've read so far. In Carrie Soto, there was very little focus on that. It existed, but never in graphic ways and it certainly wasn't a primary plot point. Carrie's relationship with her father was defiitely the top theme for the majority of the book. That, and her rivalries.
It was interesting to see how Carrie changed throughout the book. I wouldn't necessarily say there was grand character development or growth, but she did become different people throughout each part of the story and I found a lot of what she went through to be very relatable. I enjoyed "seeing inside her mind" so to speak.
I definitely recommend this one! You don't need to read Malibu Rising to understand it, but I enjoyed the little nods to parts of that story (along with the mention of reading a Daisy Jones & The Six biography at one point). Having all four of the latest TJR books set in the same world is really fun!
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Injury/injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity and Misogyny