Taylor Jenkins Reid - Carrie Soto Is Back
5⭐
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Sports, Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 368
Format: Hardback
Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann
Date Published: 30th August 2022
Book Blurb:
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 Review:
This is my first TJR book and oh
boy it did not disappoint. I loved it so much that now this book is definitely
a contender for my top 2022 book. Also, thanks to this book and its insight
into tennis, I am now invested in tennis and want to watch all the Grand Slams
in the foreseeable future. Now after this book, I am definitely going to read
more TJR, as her writing and premises of the story, as well as characters, are
all superb.
The story follows a tennis player
Carrie Soto who in the 70s and 80s was the best female tennis player in the
world, winning twenty Slam titles and breaking numerous records from a young
age. She retired from the game in the late 80s due to a knee injury, however,
she is determined to come back to the game in 1995 to have one last season of
tennis. Carrie wants to do that because her record of twenty Slams is in
danger, since Nicki Chan, a British tennis player is about to smash that record
very soon. Carrie can’t allow it, as it will mean her hard work was all for
nothing, and being the best is all she had and have. So, in 1995, Carrie Soto
comes back for one last season to prove that she is the best tennis player in
the world and keep her record legacy going.
I loved how the first half of the
book was written in biography/autobiography format and explored how Carrie Soto
grew to be the best tennis player. This part portrays her growing up, training
with her father, who was also a tennis player, winning and losing first matches
and tours, and how she slowly turned that around to wins and records. In this
part of the book, we get to know Carrie as a person, her character and her personality,
which builds the reader up for what is to come in the second part of the book.
I also adored the contrast between the first and second parts of the book, as in
the second part readers see Carrie’s determination to win back her records, as
well as her matches and relationships with other players from up close. Readers
get to know how she is in the limelight and how she is with other opponents.
However, this book is so much
more than just a tennis player wanting to win her records back and be the best
at tennis. It also explores Carrie’s sometimes complicated but at most very
heartwarming relationship with her father, who is also her coach. It explores the
topic of Carrie being and feeling lonely as from a young age she is told to
look at any other female tennis players as rivals and not become friends with
them. This story also explores and portrays the pressures to be the best and
how quickly fame can be taken away from someone as perfect as Carrie. All of
these topics not only made the story more real but also showed a glimpse into
what is like to be the best athlete in the world, with all the advantages and
disadvantages that comes with that fame and record-breaking. It also displays
how much someone has to sacrifice to become the best at something and what
things and parts of life they have to sacrifice. This all is explored in the
book through Carrie's personality, character and life.
I loved Carrie too. She is
fierce, unapologetic, ambitious and loud. She is everything that in women’s
tennis would be labelled as bad. Other players and sports pundits don’t like
her but all of that makes her unique and original. I loved that until the very
end she stays her true self.
Overall: Loved this book so much
and can't wait to read more TJR books, especially Malibu Rising as I heard that
it links to this book. I will be definitely talking about this book for a
while, as it is just brilliant.
About the Author:
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the New York Times bestselling author of Carrie Soto Is Back, Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as well as four other novels. She lives in Los Angeles.
https://taylorjenkinsreid.com/
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