Book Review - Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Title: Carrie Soto
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Historical fiction/ fiction
Published: 2022
 
Description: Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.
 
By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best played the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.
 
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, British 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 is 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.
 
Review: With “Carrie Soto is Back”, Taylor Jenkins Reid once again demonstrate her talent for creating complex, fallible, and utterly fascinating characters. After exploring Hollywood and the world of rock ‘n roll, Reid now delves into the cutthroat world of professional tennis. The result is a nail-biting, emotional and razor-sharp drama about ambition, growing older, and the price of success.
 
The story follows Carrie Soto, the most successful female tennis player of all time. She is fiery, ruthless, and known as “The Battle Axe”. By the time she retires from tennis, she has broken every record and holds no fewer than twenty Grand Slam titles. Six years later, in 1994, Carrie is sitting in the stands at the U.S. open. She watches as the young, talented Nicki Chan ties her record. Carrie is now 37 years old, and her body is no longer what it used to be. Still, she makes a radical decision: she’ll come out of retirement to defend her record. Together with her father and lifelong coach, Javier, she embarks on a grueling year of training. She must not only battle younger opponents and a skeptical media, but also her own physical limits and demons from the past.
 
Carrie is the typical anti-hero you will love. She is not likeable in the traditional sense of the word. She’s arrogant, selfish, and obsessed with winning. That’s precisely what makes her so formidable. Reid compels the reader to respect a woman who refuses to apologize for her ambition.
 
The relationship between Carrie and Javier is the beating heart of the book. Their bond is complex, loving, and at time heartbreaking. Javier reminds Carrie there’s more to life than just winning.
 
This book will sweep you away. I used to watch a lot of tennis, but if you have no affinity with tennis at all, this might not interest you. But the way Reid describes the matches with such intense dynamic, even someone who is not into tennis could enjoy it.
 
The only reason why I’m not giving it a 5-star rating is that the match rhythm halfway through the story lead to a slide sense of repetition.
 
“Carrie Soto is Back” is a triumph. It’s a powerful statement about how society treats ambitious women and a beautiful story about growing up, letting go, and the meaning of greatness. An absolute must-read.   
Rating: 4,5/ 5