Carrie Soto Is Back focuses on the return of tennis great Carrie Soto to the sport. With her father acting as her coach and a hitter whose reputation precedes him, she is determined to reclaim her tennis records no matter the cost.

I’ll be honest: this was not the book for me. I came into this read starry-eyed from Evelyn Hugo, not having read Jenkins Reid’s other novels, and was expecting something just as marvelous from Carrie Soto. Unfortunately, as refreshing as I found the former, the latter ended up being just the opposite.

Carrie commits all the deadly sins in my book. The first quarter of the novel focuses on a summarized version of Carrie’s career up to her initial retirement – a huge chunk of the book, all things considered. The direction of the plot is clear from the set-up, and it does not waver from the path beaten to death by so many other books dealing with the same topic. The love interest is clear from the beginning and seems to see something in Carrie that I can’t for the life of me fathom. And Carrie herself is an obnoxious protagonist, but not in the way one can actually root for; her “bitchiness” is not just a figment of the imagination of the men in this book, as much as the novel tries to hammer that home to the reader.

And therein is the narrative: a headstrong woman being called a bitch by the men in her industry when really she’s just determined and ambitious. It’s clear that is the story Jenkins Reid wants to tell, but it’s so incredibly formulaic and without nuance given that, yes, Carrie is in fact a jerk and pretty darn unlikable! Those close to her either encourage this or tell her it’s cold-hearted, though it’s clear the reader is meant to always side with Carrie even in her dark moments, and frankly? I just couldn’t deal with her. I wanted to put the book down so often because I was just so done with the combination of the well-trod plot and Carrie’s dramatics.

The one beacon of light in this novel is Nicki Chan, Carrie’s biggest competition on her return to tennis. Nicki, though a side character for much of the story, is fantastic, and she is proof that Jenkins Reid is capable of crafting complex, unique characters – which makes Carrie herself all the more disappointing in her shadow.

I can see why others might want to pick this up, if you’re looking for a read that doesn’t demand too much of the reader and can be inspiring for other headstrong, determined women. Sadly, that alone just doesn’t cut it for me, and neither does Carrie Soto.

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.