Game. Set. Match.

Carrie Soto is Back by Tayler Jenkins Reid

Picking up this book, did I expect it to be centered on tennis? No, I was just picking up Taylor Jenkins Reid’s newest read. Am I glad it was centered on tennis? Yes! It made for a book that was quite different then anything I’ve read before while still upholding what I love of Reid’s works. To clarify, I have read a romance before starring tennis players but this book is completely different. The setting is true tennis at its front, it is not just a book about characters who play tennis or like tennis. I love learning, being engulfed in an environment unbeknown to me and this was it. I may have played tennis a bit growing up, trying to beat my father on the court, but it was more-so for fun and I didn’t know the technicalities and the strategy that made tennis the intricate sport that it is. I never thought much of it and this book has changed my perspective on this sport for which I am grateful.

To briefly summarize, Carrie Soto is Back is about Carolina Soto deciding to make a comeback to tennis after seeing Nicki Chan play. She and her father, Javier Soto, foresee Chan beating Soto’s record of twenty Grand Slams and they decide it is time for Carrie to get back in the game. The story follows Carrie’s life and career, as her father trains her to be the best tennis player, and how he trains her to be once again the best out of retirement.

Let’s discuss one of the main reasons I keep picking up Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels, that being her characters. She writes her characters with such realism and intricacy that it is hard to remember sometimes that they are not real. After reading the first 60 or so pages, I wrote in my notes that this was one of the first TJR books where I had a hard time finding a redeeming quality in the main character which made her unlikeable to me. I recognized that she worked so hard and I admired her for that but she was trying so hard and was burned so many times; being bullied in her childhood and the men that just wanted to sleep with her, that she lost trust in everyone and became brash. I did not think at that point that I understood her past enough to see why she had such a strong character that was not always likeable. Thankfully, my opinion changed soon-after through seeing her interact with characters close to her. She was young and brash, and unapologetically recognized that as she matured and slowly softened.

I’m giving out a minor spoiler warning now **

There is no denying that Nickie Chan is Carrie Soto’s rival in the main plot because she is what triggers Soto to come back to tennis and I liked their rivalry. It was more clean and pure, not in the way that they didn’t want to tear each other apart because they absolutely did, but in the way that they had immense respect for the sport. Tennis was their life and they wanted to be the best. In contrast, when it came to Supernova, another of Carrie’s rival in the beginning of her career, she wanted respect that she didn’t deserve. She was faking injuries when she knew she couldn’t get the win, painted Carrie as a villain. Was Carrie a hero? pff absolutely not, but she was not a villain. She went after what she wanted and that was that. She definitely could have been more graceful in her wins but she deserved them even though the media made her out to be a monster. They painted her in a negative light, even calling her a B****, for the simple reason that she did not behave in the way they expected from a lady.

Another important character is Bowen Huntley. At first he seems to be just one more men Carrie has a one night stand with and who does not want something serious with her, but turns out this was only her side of the story. He comes back into the plot when Gwen, Carrie’s agent, believes they could practice and both improve by playing together. I got to say this was one of the parts that made me realize that TJR won my heart again with her storytelling.

As aforementioned, Carrie’s had many bad experiences with men *cough* *cough* Brandon the cheater, and is therefore quite defensive when it comes to trusting men. Bowe starts to surprise her like at the bar where she “feel[s] a flash of disappointment, because like most men, he can dish it out but he can’t take it” (p.125) but then he ends up thanking her for her advice. I got to say I found that was kind of heartwarming. There are many more heartwarming moments between the two of them such as when he calls her telling her to crush the game before the 1995 Australia Open, when he learns some Spanish sentences to casually slides them in a pep talk, when he mouths to her that he’s sorry during one of her games after a fight they’ve had the day before. She has an undeniably strong character and he matches it and understands her with the patience she needs. This book is not a romance book by any means, but this relationship helped Carrie develop and mature not only in her tennis career but as an individual.

Another dynamic I really appreciated was the one between Bowen, Carrie and Javier. I think it adds what I found the book was lacking a little at the beginning for me, a little comic relief? Lightness? When they train all together and Javier coaches them together, they joke around a little and Carrie starts to loosen up just a tad. I feel as though the beginning of the book was very dark and vengeful with the public hating Carrie and men sleeping and dumping her and she was set on proving everyone wrong and being in everyone’s face but Bowe softens her just enough. I don’t want her to be soft by any means, I like her strength, her character but I prefer when she’s a little soft, open to accepting good from others, having a little faith in others and not being so closed off.

I also loved Bowe and Javier’s relationship, I mean I liked that they even have one. It is rare for me to read books in which the father and love interest have a relationship before the love interest and main character even develop a romance. *If you have a recommendation for that trope, drop it in the comments ehe* He coaches Bowe but it’s like he’s a part of his family. Javier is like the father Bowe never had since his parents never took an interest in tennis even though it is a huge part of their son’s life. Bowe is not perfect, he has anger issues on the court when he loses, he was an alcoholic, but we see him mature thanks to his relationship with Javier and Carrie.

*Spoiler Warning over

In conclusion I believe this is a must read if you want to read a book by an author who continuously proves she has great talent for writing characters and relationships in immersive settings that you may not have yet explored. I cannot recommend this author enough, it is not surprising to me that this is yet again a five-star read, as was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising, and Daisy Jones & The Six. Many of her works are also getting adapted on screen; Daisy Jones & The Six is available on Prime, Malibu Rising is set to be a tv show on Hulu and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is getting adapted into a Netflix film. If a book with a tennis setting is not your thing, I recommend giving her other books a read.

“Siempre supe que no hay montaña que no puedas escalar, paso a paso” (p.315)