Carrie Soto is Back, by Taylor Jenkins Reid {Book Review}

I remember when I was younger and visiting my boyfriend’s family during Wimbledon season, I’d have to sit there and feign interest in those matches. My boyfriend and his family would literally watch that ball bounce from left to right for hours. I never got it, because it’s literally a ball been slammed between 2 racquets right? Well Carrie Soto would probably not agree with my observation on what tennis looks like….

What is Carrie Soto is Back about?

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.

My Thoughts

I enjoy TJR’s writing and storytelling style. This story features Carrie Soto (she features briefly in Malibu Rising), who at age 37 wants one more shot at being the best tennis player in the world…after being retired for many years. I enjoyed how unapologetic Carrie is about who she is….quite frankly she really is quite bit**y…and I like that about her. I also really enjoyed her relationship with her dad.

Okay, so this book did make me realise there’s a lot more to tennis than I ever thought. I did find the strategy and training behind it to be quite insightful and keen to now watch an actual match to see if I can put my newfound tennis training to good use 😉

That being said, this book had a lot of tennis in it. Like a lot! Also, there is only one POV, Carrie’s, for the entire book….and did I mention a lot of tennis? There’s not much in the way of plot twists, suspense or tension. It went exactly as I suspected it would, so there were no surprises in the book. Also, there’s quite a bit of Spanish with no translations. Thankfully most of it you can make out yourself and with the longer sentences, I used my translator on my Kindle. A very sweet read though with a bit of a love story thrown in as well.

My Rating

Carrie Soto is back has a Goodreads rating of 4.27 stars. I’ll give it a solid 3 stars. As a palette cleanser between more intense books, that’s probably what I’d recommend this one for….or a beach day read….this would be perfect for a day at the beach;)

*Review copy provided by Penguin Random House SA. All opinions are my own.