Title: CARRIE SOTO IS BACK
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
ISBN: 978 1529 1521 35
Publisher: Penguin UK / Hutchinson Heinemann
Pages: 368
Source: Private Copy
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.
Official Summary
07 October 2022
Carrie Soto broke all previous records throughout her whole career as a professional tennis player. Commentators referred to Carrie as the “Battle-Axe” because she was brutal and made no friends along the way to success. Six years after her retirement, Carrie is now witnessing young player Nicki Chan come dangerously close to erasing all of her achievements. Carrie, therefore, decides to come out of retirement and reclaim her championships with her father and coach’s help.
This book brought so much to the table. It was so many things at once, it was romance, sports fiction, historical fiction and family drama. This book is very different to the other books I typically pick up. However, after I read Daisy Jones and The Six, I just knew I had to read more of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books. So my mother agreed she would buy me this one just as long as she could read it first. (Thanks Mom) So naturally, I agreed and I am so glad I did.
Even though I have very limited knowledge of Tennis, I found this book extremely gripping. I read it while on holiday and finished it in three whole days. I found the book made me want to watch tennis as a sport for fun, which is very out of character for me.
If there is one thing TJR can do it is write characters. Carrie Soto is an easily likeable character. You watch as she goes through so many hardships throughout her career. You see how she has to deal with sexism and being a woman in a man’s world and see how she faces double standards and the media’s judgment. I loved how her character grew emotionally throughout this book. The Carrie Soto we see on the first page to the Carrie we see on the last page is so different, like chalk and cheese. And I have always been a sucker for personal growth when it comes to characters.
However, it was not just Carrie who was an amazing character in his book, the side characters were just as amazing, Javier who is both Carries coach and father. I loved his character but mostly I loved his relathionship with Carrie. My favorite parts of this book were the moments between Carrie and her father, sweet or not. There was a lot of emotion packed into small moments between them and I think their relationship was the true heart of this book.
I loved the mention of Daisy Jones it this book, that was a nice surprise, I also read after I finished the book that Carrie makes an appearance in Malibu Rising. So I think that just might be the next Taylor Jenkins Reid I pick up.
Overall I loved this book and I would definitely recommend this book. It was a solid four and a half stars from me.
Also by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy Jones and the Six
Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the real reason why they split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
About The Author
Author Bio from the Author’s Site
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the New York Times bestselling author of Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as well as four other novels. Her newest novel, Malibu Rising, is out now. She lives in Los Angeles.
Thanks, Mom for buying this (even though you read it before I got to it) and raving about it which made it go so high on my TBR.
Thanks for reading let me know what you think in the comment below…..Goodbye.
