By Lauren Shin Staff Writer
THE New-York Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid is back. Her most recent book, Carrie Soto is Back, was released on August 30th, and quickly made its way as #1 in the Goodreads official list of 6 Great Books Hitting Shelves This Week.
Although it may be due to the fact that Reid is my all-time favorite author, I loved the story of Carrie Soto from start to finish. Taylor Jenkins Reid has published numerous bestsellers in the past, such as the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones and the Six, and Malibu Rising, just to name a few.
Carrie Soto was first introduced in Reid’s Malibu Rising, which was published in 2021. Although not a big character at the time, this new release tells the story of Carrie’s career as the world’s greatest female tennis player.
Ever since she was born, Carrie and her father, who was once an extremely talented tennis player himself, knew that Carrie would grow to become the best tennis player the world has ever seen. Starting at the age of two years old, she was trained to be a strong victor. She practiced every day with her father to reach her full potential, while other girls her age went out to eat ice cream or go shopping. She believed that because all her successes were earned through hard work, she was entitled to them. Her cocky and unapologetic mindset was not favored by people who thought of her as cold-hearted, which gave her all the more reason to close her heart toward others.
Having reached her ultimate goal of setting a world record as the tennis player with the most awards, she retired with contentment. Now, six years later, 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 the age of thirty-seven, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last time in an attempt to reclaim her record. Despite her worn-down and weak knees; despite becoming the oldest female tennis player; despite everyone cursing her for being too ambitious and cold-hearted, everyone making hateful comments straight to her face, saying that they never liked “the Battle-Axe”; despite it all, Carrie Soto is back to remain known as the best in history for a sport that means the world to her.
One user on Goodreads, Destiny, complained that “…this book is about TENNIS. Not tennis, but all CAPS. TENNIS. As in, the entire book to the point I threw in the towel, is about TENNIS. There is no drama. No mystery. No plot. There is just the history of a TENNIS career. So, unless you really LOVE TENNIS, you’re going to get really bored, really fast,” but in my opinion this book is a SERVE and it seriously made me want to drop everything to become a tennis player. Although I had zero knowledge of tennis whatsoever prior to reading this book, I didn’t find myself struggling to keep up or getting bored at all. If someone with zero interest, like me, found the story of Carrie Soto admirable and compelling, I can only imagine how appealing it would be for those who enjoy tennis. Additionally, I didn’t think this book was only about a tennis career; Carrie Soto is Back is a novel about family, love, tennis, the price of fame, and the defiance of expectations society sets for women.
Mrs. Shagogue, the school Media Center Specialist, shared that she thoroughly enjoyed the book. She states, “I loved the book. I loved it. It was such a quick and easy read, and I liked that it was historical fiction and that it featured characters from her previous book. I liked that crossover. I really like the element of mystery that [Taylor Jenkins Reid] uses in her book. There’s so much that’s unknown that you don’t find out until the very very end. I guess Carrie Soto was written a little differently, but all her other books are like that; you don’t know what’s gonna happen until the very end. I really like her writing style because they’re very easy to read and they’re quick reads but once you start reading them, you don’t want to put them down; they suck you in.”
In response to readers who disliked the heavily integrated details about tennis, Mrs. Shagogue claimed that she found it rather piqued her interest. “I knew it would be about a tennis star, but I didn’t think it would be so tennis heavy, but personally, that didn’t bother me. I actually loved that about the book because I felt like I became a tennis pro because I learned so much about the tennis tournaments. I honestly was a little nervous because I thought I would have to have a strong tennis background knowledge to understand the book, which I did not, but it was totally fine,” she says.
Some others criticized that “Carrie’s father repeatedly speaks Spanish at length. [Taylor Jenkins Reid] makes no attempt to offer any translation or explain what was said. Readers who aren’t fluent will be left clueless.” Yes, it’s true that Reid incorporates moments where Carrie and her father hold a conversation in Spanish throughout the book. However, there are usually translations or context clues to figure out what is being said. I do not deny that there were a couple times where I had no idea what they were talking about, but I appreciate that the author incorporated this authenticity to her novel. I personally prefer being able to experience Carrie Soto’s story the way she herself experienced it, and I always know I can quickly google translate something if I’m really dying to know what was said.
Junior Chaewon Cheon shared that she has “always been a fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’ve read all her previous books, and I loved them all so much so I was really excited when I heard Carrie Soto was coming out. I like all the books and all the characters she created a story around, but I was also kind of skeptical because I know that Carrie was featured in Malibu Rising and she wasn’t a very favorable character. After reading Carrie Soto, I can sort of understand where she’s coming from and why she makes the decisions she makes. I do like the book, but it’s not as good as other other ones. That might be because I haven’t finished it yet, though.”
In Carrie Soto is Back, Reid will take you on a journey following the life of Carrie Soto, which is full of successes and failures in her career, problems in her relationship with the people around her, and most importantly, the story of an emotionally vulnerable human behind the mask of a superhuman.
“Do not let what anyone says about you determine how you feel about yourself.”
-Taylor Jenkins Reid, Carrie Soto is Back