Stephanie Sullivan: Review - Carrie Soto is Back

TITLE: Carrie Soto is Back (audiobook)

NARRATORS: Stacy Gonzalez, Mary Carillo, Patrick McEnroe, Rob Simmelkjaer, Brendan Wayne, Max Meyers, Reynaldo Piniella, Vidish Athavale, Tom Bromhead, and Heath Miller

RATING: ★★★★

Summary (from Goodreads): Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

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, British 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 a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.

REVIEW: I wish there were half-star ratings because I would give this book a solid 3.5 stars. Carrie Soto was really hard to like, but listening to the audiobook version could've been the reason for this. Let’s just say the narrator did a very good job making Carrie sound like a true “Battle Axe”. Her determination to succeed was equal parts admirable and annoying. I did enjoy the range of characters on the audiobook, though, especially the sports commentators. By far, my favorite character was Javier Soto. What a great man! If you’re a fan of tennis, then chances are you will love this book. The tennis talk didn’t bother me because my mother played tennis throughout most of my childhood, so it wasn’t difficult for me to understand. What did bother me was the Spanish. Now, if you’re fluent in Spanish this of course won’t be a problem for you, but most of us aren’t, so that was irritating, especially listening to the audiobook, since there’s no way to translate the text like you can with an ebook. I couldn’t help but wonder, “What am I missing? I hope it isn’t something important”. Other than that, it was a good story. It’s definitely not my favorite of Reid’s, but I would still recommend it.

2 comments:

Tanya @ Girl Plus BooksJune 25, 2024 at 7:26 AM
I agree that Carrie wasn't always likeable. She was her own worst enemy. But I still couldn't help but pull for her. Ditto on all the Spanish. If if was going to be used so frequently there should have been translations. Despite that one issue, this was still a big hit for me.