Carrie Soto Is Back

Disfrutón y Carrie eres chulísima (he llorad0).

These characters TJR creates are the kind of characters I know I will remember in a long time.
I hated Carrie Soto right from the start, but I understand her.

Right before it was about to end, I thought, maybe she read The Daily Stoic. In my mind that's how she was loosing all the unnecessary thoughts she had in her head.

Thank for you giving a wonderful ending to this book.

This might have been the first audiobook I ‘binged'. The narrative arc develops as expected, but TJR writes a great yarn, and makes everyone root for her feisty and competitive protagonist. Being a fan of tennis obviously helps as well.

3.5? 3.75?

i had high hopes for this one after having loved evelyn hugo/daisy jones/malibu rising but i guess i just don't vibe enough with tennis to get fully invested and, as an argentinian, i didn't love the way tjr wrote in spanish but points for trying i guess? because it's not every day i read about a character of argentinian descent in american media. all in all, i still find this world tjr has created comforting to come back to and i hope she keeps writing about it.

My favourite of TJR's books. It touched the deepest crevices of this former athlete's soul. A compelling character who learns an invaluable lesson.

okay, it's been a few days, and I am ready to do a proper review. so I loved it. it's a 4.5/5 for me.

She is unlikeable, but she's great. Here's how you do that right! I am convinced that if a man tried to write this character, he would prolly fail. TJR nails the unlikable women's character with this. She has flaws; she is rough on the edges, but she is a good woman and a remarkable player, and she deserves your goddamn respect!

Couple of things I liked:

the story is so simple. it's in the title, but it works. I enjoyed the tennis; the sports and the two main characters were introduced smoothly. recreating the action, the pause, and the thrill of the next move in sports writing is HARD. I rarely see it written in a way that I can visualise AND be invested throughout. Esp for a sport that I have watched maybe five times? I was invested in action. I binged the chapters because I wanted to know how the game went.

So few characters <3 After Malibu Rising and Daisy Jones, I have happy to have a book with fewer mains. central characters. We have three key figures and then a few that comes and go. I enjoyed getting to them well and seeing their growth trajectory. I got a chance to get attached to them. I am a do-or-die for Carrie's dad now, and he ain't even real.

The slow burn but its fast pace. We have seen her travel through years in her books before. This one goes through the past fairly quickly (?), and the “present” is done linearly. I liked the singular timeline for a change.

The sports commentaries were so well done. As someone who does consume a lot of football, I could see the “commentators” switching sides, calling names, and being disrespectful. it felt real. TJR always adds these little newspaper/tv clips situation, and i love it.

Taylor Jenkin Reid Universe - Carrie refers “Daisy Jones & the Six” in this book. She has created her own cinematic universe and referenced it. Good for you!

All in all, I 10/10 rec this book. this was a fun ride, I had a good time. Thank you very much.

Not as strong as Daisy Jones or Seven Husbands for me, but an improvement over Malibu Rising. 3.5/5

I think Carrie Soto was such an amazing character because she often wasn't so likable. She needed to win at all costs because to her, winning was everything she was. Having such a layered and unique protagonist made the story read like a memoir, and it's wild to think that Carrie Soto is a figment of TJR's imagination.

As someone who enjoys playing tennis, I loved the intensity and suspense of the matches throughout the book. However, I can understand why someone who is unfamiliar with the t

Well, I think I like tennis now. This was fun, with wonderfully flawed characters and a nice “maligned women of the ‘90s” theme.

I just finished reading Carrie Soto is back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto was the number one tennis player in her prime. In a surprise decision she decides to come out of retirement to protect her title and legacy.
Can Carrie prove everyone wrong and make the kind of comeback no tennis player has ever accomplished before? Or will she end up devastating her reputation?

Are you ready to delve into the exciting world of women's tennis?

This book lived up to all the hype. Finding out all about Carrie Soto and her legacy was divine. The book fills you in on her whole life and how she ended up being the woman she was.
I am not a huge fan of books that center around sports but this one didn't feel like a sports book. It was more about Carrie's connection to the game and her relationship with her father/coach.
I even enjoyed the sports commentary parts too. It was nice to be able to get other points of view on Carrie and her competitors without needing other characters' points of view in the book. Clever really.
The character development was carefully executed and the author hit an ace on this one.

If you like the kind of book with one heck of a slice serve, drawing you right in with the speed of a tennis ball, this is the one for you.

If you have a passion for literary fiction that leaves you breathless, then add this to your list!

4.5 stars

Thank you to netgalley and Penguin random house canada for my review arc copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Received from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Look, the thing about Taylor Jenkins Reid is that she's very readable - I read this in a couple days. I've read all her books, each in a couple days. There's not always a lot there, but they're fun and good at the time, but I don't think about them much. Other than Evelyn Hugo, I've enjoyed her earlier books the best, and could do with more of those and less of these focused on famous people. That said, you'll definitely enjoy this if you've enjoyed her other books.

If you've read Malibu Rising, you know a little of Carrie Soto. But here, here you get her whole story.

I loved Carrie, even when she's hard to love, and her father, Javier. I loved watching her relationships with other players (Bowe and Nicki Chan foremost) grow and change. Some of these changes I saw coming, others I did not at all.

I know earlier I said there's not always a lot there, and I do stand by that - I don't know how much I'll think about Carrie now that I'm done - but there's still so much to take away from this book.

I loved watching Carrie grow and change. She's a tough person to be in the head of. I wanted to yell at her to be nicer a lot. But that makes for a nice change when she begins to soften and relax into who she is now.

I don't read many new books, but Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author that I always look forward to new books from. If you like her books, read this. If you don't, you still might enjoy this. Who'd've thought I'd enjoy a book about a tennis player?!