Carrie Soto Is Back

CARRIE SOTO IS BACK

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Award: Goodreads Winner 2022


Nominations: BookTube Longlist 2023

 

Date Read: February 18, 2023

 

Carrie Soto, once the world record holder of the most Grand Slams won in women’s tennis, cannot stand that a new crop of players are overriding her record. Already in retirement, she vows to train and reclaim the dominant title. The only problem staring her in the face but she refuses to see – no matter whether she wins or loses, someone will always come up behind her and outdo her record. 

 

The other challenge Carrie faces is that she is a bitch. She is demanding, ungrateful and the tennis world rues her because she is the least friendly player. Yet, I still found myself cheering her on more due to Reid’s talents than the likeability of the character she has created. Although she softens somewhat towards the end, I overall found her loathsome and wish everyone in her life would turn their backs on her.

 

Carrie has several things against her besides her overweening ego and bitchy demeanor. She is a woman of color and comes from an immigrant father well-versed in the world of tennis, having been a tennis star himself in his past life. Carrie’s mom passed away when she was very young and her father and tennis have been her entire world. The belief and patience her father, Javier, shows her is truly remarkable.

 

I could never figure out why Bowe, a fellow tennis star on his way to retirement, continues to hang around Carrie, knowing she doesn’t care one way or the other for him. Eventually, yes, they do fall in love, or rather, Carrie finally admits she has feelings for him but why would he stay all that time to be her door mat? The fact that Bowe and Javier form a relationship outside of their connection to Carrie was truly sweet.

 

Overall, I found this a page-turner as are all of Reid’s other novels. The deep-dive into the tennis world was a new one for me. I was disappointed, however, that more character growth didn’t occur for Carrie. The only thing I can say is at the beginning she wanted to win, not to play and by the end, the reverse was possible.

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