Book Review: Carrie Soto is Back

I am a big fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books and after reading Malibu Rising last year I wanted to read Carrie Soto is Back but at the same time I didn’t know what a whole book on the tennis player would go. It’s been on my tbr for a long time and I finally picked it up and read it. I couldn’t put it down and read it in less than 4 days!

The novel follows the title character, Carrie Soto. When the novel begins, Carrie is 37, and a retired champion tennis player. She is spectating with her father and former coach, Javier, at a tournament when Nicki Chan breaks her record of most grand slam wins. In that moment she decides to make a comeback. She will train with her father and aims to take her record back by completing in the four slam championships – Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.

The novel flashes back to her childhood training with her father, a former tennis player himself, and her rise to the best tennis player of all time and then back to present day with her training and tournaments. Carrie also starts training with Bowe Huntley. Bowe, a little older than Carrie, was a top tennis player in his own right during the same era as Carrie but he hasn’t retired yet. He wants to try to win one more major tournament before he walks away. They start training together to push each other. Bowe helps Carrie realize she can’t just make herself be the way she used to be, but learn to be a powerful player as she is now – older, a little slower, but still one of the best. Can Carrie prove the world and all the commentators wrong that say she’s old and going to embarrass herself and tarnish her legacy by even attempting to compete against all these younger women?

I loved this book and I could not put it down. As I mentioned above, I wasn’t sure how TJR was going to write a whole book about this character that makes a cameo in Malibu Rising and is known as the tennis player that Nina Riva’s husband was having an affair with. And, honestly, in the beginning of the novel, Carrie is not that likable. She comes off as cold and rude. But, once I got to know her more I loved her and was really rooting for her until the very end. I also was not expecting to cry in this book! The relationship Carrie and her father have is so warm, loving, and her father truly knows her best. And the friendship turned romance between Carrie and Bowe is so tender and I love that no matter how prickly Carrie can be, Bowe understands her and doesn’t give up on her.

This is definitely going to be one of my favorite books of the year!