Review of "Carrie Soto is Back"

As part of my goal to read more fictional sports book, I decided on this one because from the description, I thought the main character would be based loosely on Serena Williams.  While there is coaching from her father, there are some, but not too many other similarities.  That is a good thing, as Carrie Soto is a very interesting character in an excellent novel.  Here is my review of "Carrie Soto is Back." 

Title/Author:

“Carrie Soto is Back” by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:  While I have started reading more fictional sports books, I had never seen one in which tennis was the primary sport.  Having never read anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid previously but reading so many reviews and articles describing her work, I decided to pick up this novel on a brilliant but unlikable tennis star, Carrie Soto.  Carrie was the record holder for most Grand Slam titles up to her retirement in 1989, then it was threatened to be broken by Nikki Chan.  Soto decides to come out of retirement in 1994 to play in the 1995 Grand Slam tourneys to re-claim her record.

This book validates all the positive material about Reid’s work. The best part of her work is the character development of not only Carrie, but also her father Javier.  Javier coached Carrie during her career and is doing so for her comeback as well.  Other great characters in the book include Bowe Huntley, a male tennis player making his own comeback and was a former romantic partner of Soto; her agent Gwen and even Chan, whom the reader learns more about later in the book.  All of them are brilliant people in one way or another and yet, have flaws that make them vulnerable. Readers can relate to all of them, even if they are not great tennis players.

During her time as a champion, Carrie is called a “battle axe” or even worse, the “bitch” due to her abrasive personality and that shows during her comeback as well.  But there is more to Carrie than the hardened personality and killer on the court and it is for this reason that I believe the book is well worth the time for anyone to read, even if they are not tennis players, fans or even know much about the game.

Be prepared, however, to read a lot about tennis and the strategy, types of shots and what goes through players’ minds as they prepare for matches.  These passages are written skillfully by Reid in that they are complex enough for tennis buffs to not be bored while reading them, yet simple enough that even those who have never been exposed to the game will be able to understand them.  More importantly, regardless of how well the reader understands the sport, the tennis passages give great insight into the characters of Carrie, Javier, and Bowe.

The book and story flow well and the ending is not entirely predictable.  Granted, there are only two ways the ultimate goal for Carrie will end, but which one of those will happen is in question until the end. That isn’t because of the suspense, but simply because the reader will be rooting for whatever character appeals to them the most – and that just might be a hard decision as this is a completely engrossing book with memorable characters and great tennis action.  Fans of either Reid or tennis should add this one to their library.  

 

Link: Carrie Soto Is Back: A Novel: Jenkins Reid, Taylor: 9780593158685: Amazon.com: Books