Hardcover, 384 pages
English language
Published by Ballantine Books.
In this powerful novel about the cost of greatness, a legendary athlete attempts a comeback when the world considers her past her prime—from the New York Times bestselling author of “Malibu Rising.”
Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.
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 player named Nicki Chan. …
In this powerful novel about the cost of greatness, a legendary athlete attempts a comeback when the world considers her past her prime—from the New York Times bestselling author of “Malibu Rising.”
Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.
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 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 if 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. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.
This book is about tennis.
If you like tennis, you'll like this book.
I like tennis. I liked the book.
3.75 stars
You act like you've dedicated your life to tennis. But you came back to win, not to play.
This book grabbed my attention and didn't let go. I love a redemption story. I love an underdog tale. I love reading about athletes that are at the top of their game and how they continue to stay at the top. This book gave me everything I enjoyed and more.
Which matters more? The wins or the losses?
Carrie Soto was destined to be the best at tennis and nothing else. Her struggles with failure, reconciling what Self she wants be and overcoming adversity made this a very entertaining read.
The book I brought is an unauthorized biography of Daisy Jones and the Six. I'm only reading to see who slept with who, but I can't focus.
Insert meme of Leo sitting in a chair pointing at the TV.
As I write …
You act like you've dedicated your life to tennis. But you came back to win, not to play.
This book grabbed my attention and didn't let go. I love a redemption story. I love an underdog tale. I love reading about athletes that are at the top of their game and how they continue to stay at the top. This book gave me everything I enjoyed and more.
Which matters more? The wins or the losses?
Carrie Soto was destined to be the best at tennis and nothing else. Her struggles with failure, reconciling what Self she wants be and overcoming adversity made this a very entertaining read.
The book I brought is an unauthorized biography of Daisy Jones and the Six. I'm only reading to see who slept with who, but I can't focus.
Insert meme of Leo sitting in a chair pointing at the TV.
As I write this review I'm on my third Taylor Jenkins Reid book (Malibu Rising) and I am appreciating the little universe that has been created. Single sentence references to characters have a whole world and story to explore. It's not required reading to understand the context but I definitely appreciate how everyone is impacted, be it big or small, but the characters Jenkins Reid has created.
As happy as you are when it starts, you always end up that same amount of sad when it's over.
I took a few days to write this review and some of my thoughts have escaped me but I highlighted a bunch of passages from the book so I'll add them here.
We live in a world where exceptional women have to sit around waiting for mediocre men.
Somethings I think being the very best is antithetical to being happy.
I wonder how it feels to be able to love tennis without it threatening to forget you with every passing match.
Maybe it's a lie that you have to keep doing what you have always done. That you have to be ale to draw a straight line from how you acted yesterday to how you'll act tomorrow. You don't have to be consistent. You can change, I think. Just because you want to.
Stopped by the library and happened to catch this new release as it was first being shelved. I've enjoyed other books by TJR, so I scooped it up – and was not disappointed. At first I worried that I'd get bored by an entire book that basically talks tennis in point-by-point detail, but she did a good enough job developing the characters that I got into it. For her other fans: this book was more "Daisy Jones" and less "Malibu," which was a big plus in my book. (I hadn't realized that TJR wrote this, Daisy, Malibu and Evelyn Hugo all as part of one world... while they aren't a series, there ARE overlapping characters and references across all four books, which I found fun. Fun enough, in fact, that after finishing this book, I went and found this article summarizing those connections: www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2022/08/taylor-jenkins-reid-universe-carrie-soto-malibu-rising.
Single sitting read. The TJR-verse is ❤️❤️❤️!
When I finish a book, it's because I listen to the audiobook. I can't and don't have patience of turning pages of a book, but I could sit/work to an audiobook all day. I get exactly what the writer wants to tell me. That's what I prefer. This book makes it worth the drive time to and from work.
Really great book. I almost didn’t read it and to be honest, I almost put it down after about 35 pages because I really don’t like tennis but TJR is one of my favorite authors so I stuck it out and I’m glad I did.
3.5
This is usually not my style but I heard so many good things about the author, and I find tennis interesting so I picked it up, and it was cool enough, Carrie Soto is the main interest of this book I think + the relationship with her dad. There's also a cute love line, nothing fancy, and the author touches upon some subjects like women in sports, women of color in sports, etc. but it did not really kept me entertained. It was easy to read, fluid, but the hype for the author made it more disappointing lol, now I don't think I want to especially pick up another book by TJR, if it's just going to be another 3 stars lol I don't know, yeah for tennis though
