A review by sparklingsinner
Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

4.0

🎾🎾🎾🎾/5

what a wild ride.

i went in not knowing what to expect, considering i haven’t really heard amazing reviews about Carrie Soto the way i did for other TJR books. 

is it my favorite of hers? i don’t think so. 
did i still enjoy it? absolutely!!!!!!!

albeit predictable, and maybe just a bit too technical on the tennis side, i really enjoyed seeing Carrie’s character development. i couldn’t stand her at ALL in the beginning, which made me consider dropping the book altogether, but then i wondered, do i need to LOVE the characters for a book to be good? even by the end of the book, i did not feel infatuated with her, but just a bit softer. i can understand why she is the way she is but also can’t. it’s all so much. 

the book also tackles the topic of misogyny in sports (and the world in general), and even pushed me to wonder if i’d feel the same annoyance with Carrie if she was a man (spoiler alert: i would have). 

her father’s death honestly made me very emotional, i absolutely loved that man. however, one can’t argue how important it was for him to be out of the picture for her to be thrusted into life and see it differently. 

i totally understand why some people would not enjoy this book at all, but i think that once again, i’m a sucker for the worlds TJR creates and how realistic they are. how raw and beautiful and flawed and such a complete puzzle. she puts in a LOT of work and it shows! 

overall, there is so much to think about and so much that needs to sink in. but ultimately, and i HATE to say it, TJR has done it again for me.