January 13, 2025 by Daniela Fleming (‘26)
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Welcome back to Five Stars, where I share my favorite, “5 star” books that left me shocked, reeling, and thinking about them for months. These books are special to me. There’s nothing better than the feeling of opening a book and being fully immersed in its world and story. I read 90 books last year, including a wide variety of genres, so I hope that I can recommend a book for everyone’s tastes. I consider myself a tough book-grader – so only the very best get 5 stars. With all that said, I highly recommend that every fiction-lover tries these books out.
Today’s book of choice is Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’m very excited about this book because this woman is hands-down my favorite author, and I love to introduce people to her books for the first time. Don’t be surprised if you see many more Taylor Jenkins Reid books in the future! Her writing has a magical quality to it that I can’t put my finger on, and the characters come to life up to the point where I legitimately had to google if Carrie Soto was a real person. That’s how immersive this book is. Have you ever read a book where you actually can’t stand reading it? Maybe you never want to pick it up and can’t wait to be finished with it? That’s not this book. For Carrie Soto is Back, I couldn’t wait to finish it, but only so I could read the ending and continue this immersive story!
The gist of the story is this: You have Carrie Soto, tennis prodigy, cutthroat competitor, and honestly? Very egotistical. She broke the record for most Grand Slams, then reluctantly retired. Six years later, young tennis hotshot Nicki Chan takes the world stage, tying Carrie’s record. Well, Carrie refuses to lose. Although she’s far past her prime and will compete with people 10 years younger than her, she comes out of retirement with one goal: take back her title. Carrie is unlike any protagonist I’ve ever seen – she’s mean, she’s blunt, and a very sore loser. And reading a book about tennis? My expectations for the actual plot were low. But Taylor Jenkins Reid worked her magic and this book blew me away. Even if the story doesn’t seem interesting at first glance, please give it a try. You will not be disappointed – you’ll likely come out of it wanting to go play tennis.
I’ll leave the review there, because this book is amazing and if you want to read it now (which you should!), please check it out! I promise, you will not be bored. This book is fast-paced, and the stakes are high. For new and seasoned readers alike, this book is something special. You won’t be disappointed.
With all that said, happy reading!