Carrie Soto Is Back, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It’s complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25 Stars I love Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books and was ecstatic to receive an ARC from the publisher. I devoured this book in about 30 hours (so excited that I had a plane ride which meant built-in time to dive in).  I liked Carrie Soto is Back about as much as I enjoyed Daisy Jones & the Six but not nearly as much as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or Malibu Rising (which were both 5*).

Carrie Soto is not likable. . . she is emotionally stunted and unable to give or receive care or friendship. She just wants to win at tennis.  And it took me the first half of the book for me to even care about her or if she won or lost. She is mean and spoiled – quitting when she didn’t think she could win anymore and coming back because she couldn’t stand that someone beat the record she was most proud of.

There is a line between being strong and being mean and often strong women are portrayed as “not nice.” But in this case, Carrie repeatedly is needlessly rude and heartless and it hurts people who cared about her and kept those who could have respected her from doing so. All of Carrie’s self-worth comes from winning.

By about halfway through the book though, I did start caring about her – I wanted her to be better – not at tennis but as a human being. Not only for her sake, but for the sake of her father and others who poured so much of themselves out with so little response from Carrie.  And I was not disappointed. TJR masterfully develops Carrie through the relationships with those around her who see something more in her.

There is a lot of tennis in this book which I didn’t care for. Though it did give me an appreciation for the sport, the stamina required, the focus, and the commitment needed. And certainly, you get an insight into a sport that doesn’t encourage teamwork and by its nature encourages alienation from your opponents.

I can understand and respect the athletes we’ve seen recently who step back in order to practice physical and mental self-care. And I appreciate that the author touches on the beauty standards, racial inequity, and gender double standards that come with the sport and in general society.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an incredible storyteller and writer and with Carrie Soto, she accomplishes a grand slam!
Thank you Random House/Ballantine for the ARC
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