Estimated Reading Time: 3min

What happens when the rest of the world thinks you’re past your prime and you don’t have anything else to offer? Carrie Soto shows us as she determines to prove your prime doesn’t end when the world thinks so, but when you do.

Carrie Soto Is Back

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.

 

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of a Parent, Grief, Sexism
Moderate: Injury, Misogyny
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Racism

My Review

I quite liked this one. I had tried other TJR books and not enjoyed it but this one was actually a good read for me.

No objectionable content outside of the unlikable main character (purposely written that way) who was such a bad sport/sore loser that it was pretty much insufferable but outside of that, you root for an unlikable person. I suppose because she’s the only one to root for because she’s the only tennis star we really know a lot about (outside of her male counterpart).

The tennis stuff was pretty uninteresting for me (not a sport girlie) but not so bad that I couldn’t continue on – palpable, which was nice.

Even though we had an unlikable character who was a shocking sport, self destructive and basically earned the name she was labelled, somehow it was still an enjoyable read. I can’t quite put my finger on why… I think it’s chalked up to being well written and not pushing the boundaries of unlikable too far. We did get somewhat redemptive information revealed and maybe that’s why I ended up finishing this book with a “it’s pretty good” opinion.

Would I Recommend This Book?

If you like sports stories, yes, I would suggest this book.

Similar Books You Might Like

If you are thinking what kind of books would have similar feel, themes or content, here is a list that you can consider:

• Daisy Jones and the Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid)
• The Queen’s Gambit (Walter Tevis)
• Icebreaker (Hannah Grace)

---

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace