Review: Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Just like a whole damn lot of people in the book community, I fell for Taylor Jenkins Reid’s work a little while ago by reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (not going to lie, still obsessed about this book, years later). Since then, I’ve been reading more books by the author, Daisy Jones and the Six to quote a popular one, or In Another Life.

They’ve all been MAJOR hits, so obviously, I had HIGH expectations with Carrie Soto. Let’s see if they were met, shall we?

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published by Ballantine Books on August 30, 2022
Genres: adult, contemporary
Format: ARC
Source: Penguin Random House INTL
Buy on Amazon, Book Depository, Bookshop, Blackwell's
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In this powerful novel about the cost of greatness, a legendary athlete attempts a comeback when the world considers her past her prime—from the New York Times bestselling author of Malibu Rising.
Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.
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 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. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.

I received this book for free from Penguin Random House INTL in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS:

grief, loss of a parent.

There are no spoilers in this review.

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I ENJOYED…

☂️

• You know what? Let’s say it right away: I adore Carrie Soto. It’s made it there at the top of my TJK books, following Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones. I. AM. OBSESSED.
• Just like in her previous work, Taylor Jenkins Reid delivers with her characters. Carrie, her main character here, is one fierce, determined, stubborn to a point you want to shake her person and yet. Oh, how you’ll fall for her. I really did, discovering as the story went on, behind her fierce exterior, someone caring, afraid to open up to love. She’s one heck of a badass, excuse the vocabulary, but really.
  • Former tennis player, Carrie decides to get out of retirement in order to keep her own record HERS. She’s older than all of her other opponents in all the competitions and no one expects her. I absolutely adored following her journey, both in the tennis tournaments (and this is from someone who knows absolutely nothing, nor does care about tennis) and her own journey of growth. I just. I don’t know. I absolutely adored her and was obsessed from the very first pages. I could write a novel about Carrie Soto.

• One of my favorite things about Carrie Soto is Back, was Carrie’s relationship with her father. This relationship takes a whole lot of space in this story. Carrie’s father, Javier, is a former tennis player immigrated from Argentina to the USA and, in this story, we get to see him as he coaches his daughter to become the great tennis player that she is. While their relationship has ups and downs, I found it so, so wonderful to follow and my heart soared, oh.
• Another highlight of this story was Bowe Hunter, an older tennis player trying to get back on track now that he’s finally sober. He was such a lovely addition to the story and in Carrie’s life, with his struggles similar to hers. He was also so kind and caring and I loved him so very much okay.
• Taylor Jenkins Reid’s is once again showing her talent for storytelling in those pages. Told between past and present at first, we get to see Carrie’s career starting off before following her in the biggest tournaments of her life. With a mix of press releases, interviews and narration, this book had me hooked from page one, wanting to know what would happen next, if Carrie could make her dreams come true and, most of it all, if she could find happiness after all. I adored it.

OVERALL

☂️

Taylor Jenkins Reid won my heart again with Carrie Soto is Back. This was an excellent adult contemporary read with characters I won’t forget and I’m going to be screaming about this for a long, long time.

FINAL RATING : 5 stars!

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Did you read Carrie Soto is Back, or do you want to? What’s the last adult contemporary book you read and would recommend? Let me know in comments!

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