I Have Mixed Feelings about ‘Carrie Soto is Back’
This was my most anticipated read of the year and now that I have read it, I have mixed feelings.
The Seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six are some of my favorite novels of all time. So, when Taylor Jenkins Reid announced she was releasing a new book, I knew this was going to be my most anticipated book of the year. But now that I have read it, I am definitely more confused than excited about this book.
Ultimately, I gave this book 4 stars. But this is a very mixed 4-stars. Genuinely, this was the most time I have spent giving out a star rating in a long time. Personally, this is more of a 5-star read, but objectively, this is more of a 3-star book. So, I thought a 4-star was a safe place to be.
What I Didn’t Love
This book had a lot of tennis. Like, a LOT of tennis. If you dislike sports or tennis, this book may bore you to tears. Not only is it about tennis, but it also describes the types of shots Carrie is making, the score as you go, and even what the stands at the tournaments look like. I grew up in tennis-my mom’s a tennis pro- so I understood everything going on, but if you don’t know tennis, you will be so confused. It’s so visual, which is great, but if you don’t know what a slice or a kick serve is, then you’ll be confused.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is known for writing characters that stick with you for a long time. Her characters feel real and incredibly fleshed-out. But, with Carrie Soto, I feel like TJR missed the mark. Everyone in this book read as one-dimensional. The main cast had one defining trait, and then that was it. And when characters grew, they just kind of softened that characteristic. Let’s take Carrie Soto as an example since she is our leading lady. She is abrasive, stubborn, and knows exactly what she wants. And honestly, that’s it. I mean, there is development, don’t get me wrong. Carrie’s “hard edges” are softened when something tragic happens to her. This is pretty standard for most novels, but here, it just felt pretty basic. Not that basic is a bad thing, but it just fell short of my expectations.
TJR is also quite skilled at writing relationships. Usually, you can see the threads of each character’s connections beautifully. But in this novel, it felt more forced and blunt. The romance especially fell flat. It felt wedged in and unnatural. And, I found that they had very little chemistry. I wasn’t rooting for these two. Granted, I wasn’t rooting against them either, but they were just boring. It felt like the author threw in a romance last minute when they realized that usually, her books have some kind of romance. It felt rushed and underwhelming. It did not detract from the story, but it did not add anything either. My experience reading this novel would not have changed if there were no romance in it at all.
This book would have been a great novella. But, as a novel, it just felt too long. And the pacing felt off. we zoomed past Carrie’s upbringing and past and spent so long on every detail of her matches. I would have preferred to read more about Carrie’s life and why she makes the choices she makes and less about the shots she is making during every single match. I wanted the story to progress faster than it did, but every time the story did progress, it felt rushed. I listened to this mostly on audio, which usually makes pacing issues feel less intrusive, but in this case, it just did not work.
There is an aspect of this book that makes me uncomfortable: the talk of feminism. While some of the conversations around gender equality were fine, especially the discussion surrounding women in sports and women’s portrayal in media, the attempt to bring in feminism and its intersection of POC women is not written very well. I want to clarify that I am a white woman, so my critique of this aspect of the book is very limited. If you are interested in this topic, I highly recommend checking out creators of color talking on this subject. With that being said, TJR throwing in lines from a Black woman and a Chinese woman along the lines of “yes, it is hard for you because you are a woman, but it is harder for us because we are not white” feels sloppy. I felt like the story could have commented on Carrie’s portrayal as abrasive by the media and left it there. I see that she was trying to expand the conversation beyond white feminism, but as a white woman, that is not totally her place. And, she did not go beyond this brief commentary. Nikki Chan, a British-Asian character calls out Carrie for being ignorant and ignoring the fact that she (Nikki Chan) is breaking records as well. These records carry immense weight because she is a person of color. And while Carrie acknowledges that Nikki is right, she doesn't do anything about it. She just acknowledges her privilege and moves on. So, while reading this, I just felt annoyed that there was no solution. Just because you comment on an issue does not mean you are doing anything about the issue.
What I Liked from this Book
This book did a lot well. At the end of the day, I gave it four stars, so it’s not a bad book. However, many of the reasons I enjoyed this book are personal and have nothing to do with the way this book is written.
I have grown up in tennis. I was three years old the first time I picked up a racquet. Even though I no longer play tennis, I know this game inside and out. So, the descriptions of tennis, the game, the tournaments, etc. felt comforting to me. It felt like listening to my mom talk about something she loves, and it made me love that aspect of the novel. The intense tennis descriptions in this book felt like a warm blanket, whereas most people would fund it insufferable.
My favorite part of this novel is the dynamic between Carrie and her father. It was both beautiful and complicated, and I think it is the stronghold of the novel. Carrie’s father is funny and loving, but he isn’t perfect. There are many times when I found myself questioning “is this the best choice” but also completely understanding where he is coming from. And Carrie’s love for her father is so real; she understands his faults but doesn’t care because her love for him sits above his shortcomings. Their dynamic is raw and emotional and incredibly well-written.
The writing is outstanding. TJR is a great writer, and her skill is present in this book. And what she does especially well is worldbuilding. I can see the courts Carrie is playing on- I can hear the sound of the ball hitting the racquet. This is a very visual novel.
Final Thoughts
This book confuses me because I just do not know how to feel about it. I loved so much about it but disliked it even more. I’ve never read something that I have felt so personally connected to yet understood how mediocre it is objectively. I’m giving this 4 stars, but I don’t know who would enjoy this book besides tennis lovers. TJR lovers, if they are not into tennis, might not even like this book. This reading experience is just a mixed bag, which is something I have felt while reading.