CARRIE SOTO IS BACK
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I love when I get around to reading a popular book before the buzz has subsided. Not only is this Reid’s 2022 bestseller, but she’s in the media this month because her earlier novel Daisy Jones and the Six has just been released as a TV show on Amazon Prime. While Daisy Jones was not my favorite (too whiny, read my review here), Carrie Soto is well worth a read. The books actually share the basic premise of a profile of a fictional female celebrity–Daisy Jones is a musician, while Carrie Soto is a tennis player. But the similarities end there.
Carrie Soto is raised from birth to be a professional tennis player, ideally the greatest of all time. Her father, a retired player turned coach, trains her every day of her life, calls her Achilles and instills the belief in her that she can make it all the way. Carrie’s faith in herself is unshakeable, and she does indeed earn the most Grand Slam tennis titles of any female in history. But just five years after her retirement due to a knee injury, a young player ties that record and looks set to break it in short order. So Carrie comes out of retirement to defend her record and beat this new tennis phenom.
Written as a mix of first person narrative and transcripts of sportscasts, I have never cared more about tennis than I did while reading this book. Reid makes each match suspenseful without getting bogged down in technical details. Carrie is a compelling and flawed heroine and I was rooting for her even when she was in the wrong. This is a very fun read, and I highly recommend it. (Lily)
