This is my first Taylor Jenkins Reid book and I can happily say that I really enjoyed it. She has a keen focus on her subject matter and does the research needed to ensure she gets the authentic, appropriate language and understanding required for such a story as Carrie Soto is Back. Not a lot of people can say they’ve written a tennis sports fiction with not only insight into the sport but the players and how sports commentary curates their stories.

Let me note that I know tennis, I played it for years, so going into this I was excited to see how in-depth the training and matches would be. I was blown away by the technicalities, the immersion into the Carrie’s head mid-match and the way that TJR was able to make not only Carrie’s first steps into tennis an enjoyable reading experience, but her return to the sport in present day too. I also love the use of Spanish between father and daughter in casual conversation. It makes their relationship and the identity of who they are shine through above their labels as tennis star and tennis coach.

The relationships between characters and their relationships with themselves are so interesting and conflicting. I will say that while I understand that young Carrie’s attitude and approach to tennis would be competitive and arrogant, I feel that her older self should have changed her perspective a little during her years away. Significant things happen, not just to her but to her father, and it doesn’t seem so strange that she would have taken a step back emotionally from the sport as a reaction to what was going on. She spent five years off the court, that is a lot of time and more than enough time to reconsider what priority level tennis has in her life. How highly she values it compared to her family, her friends, and herself.

Her narrow-mindedness and arrogance make for some blunt conversations and a lack of understanding on her part towards others. As a thirty-seven year old, I feel like she should have more awareness of others. Her behaviour is like that of her younger opposition (opposition in their late-teens and early-twenties) and it doesn’t make her look like she’s maturing or really understanding what it is she wants. Everything is a drive for absolute success, unable to take the little markers she reaches as progress and success on her way back to the top. It was a little irritating to be honest and she really only reaches a point where she’s ready to step back right at the end of the book (heavily pushed by that plot point).

I love Carrie Soto is Back but there are a few elements of Carrie’s character that annoy me. Nevertheless, it is an incredible book and one I would recommend to a bunch of people. If you’re looking for a break from your chosen genre or your slowly working your way back into exercising and fitness, Carrie Soto is Back is the book for you. If it’s summer (or spring) and you’re looking for a book to emulate the vibes of summer this book definitely has it. If you’re wanting a book about father-daughter relationships and battling with the need to prove yourself, pick up Carrie Soto.