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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. I wondered why anyone would want to build anything out of sand, when tomorrow it will be gone, and you'd have nothing to show for your day.
Reid pulled me right inside the mind of Carrie Soto and right into each heart-pounding game of tennis. I am not a sports person, don't watch sports, but I was for the duration of this novel. The gruelling training, the ferocious competition, Carrie's need to be the best and her fear that she might not be. The story of a young girl who sees other children building sandcastles and thinks: Falling in love is really quite simple, " she says. "You want to know the secret? It's the same thing we are all doing about life every single day." The author chose to make Carrie’s character with many imperfections, and her character arc is deliberately created in an imperfect way even though she is a world champion to make the novel more realistic. I loved how the author decided to raise her voice against sexism through her characters. Still, I wouldn't say I liked a few of the statements told by Carrie. I will share one quote told by Carrie here. That said, I read the blurb and that's it. So, I had completely forgotten that the title character was even IN Malibu Rising, let alone her role in it. I don't think it would have made a difference to me either way, as I enjoy books about hated characters, but still...I'm glad I didn't remember who Carrie was until about 25% in because it really allowed me to absorb Carrie independently of anything else.I don't know exactly how TJR had me glued to my book, feeling anxious for some matches that weren't real, played by tennists that are not real, but it feels like they are. I don't understand shit of tennis, to be honest, and one of my friends taught me a lot about it, so I was watching all of the videos that he was sending me, lmao. This means she has to train more and work with the man she had a past with. The man’s name is Bowe Huntley, who is a struggling tennis player working so hard to get in shape after being sober, getting through divorce, and lots of game losses.
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The View's Sunny Hostin Suggests Trump Is Using Racist "Dog Whistles" When He Confuses Biden And Obama: "That's What's Happening" Now, I was not a tennis player and I never played to the level Carrie did, obviously. However, I WAS a collegiate scholarship athlete who spent the majority of age 5-21 on a sports field with a VERY dedicated and involved father. As a result, I felt VERY connected to Carrie...her competitive nature...her perfectionism...and her fear of failure. I am afraid of losing. I am afraid of how it will look to the world. I'm afraid of this match being the last match my father ever sees me play. I am afraid of ending this all on a loss. I am afraid of so much." Stream It or Skip It: ‘Faraway Downs’ on Hulu, A Laudable Expansion of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Australia’ That Tries To Repair The Sins Of The Past But this book isn't just about competing and winning. In true Taylor Jenkins Reid fashion, it's bursting with heart and soul. It shines a stark spotlight on what it means to be human, to want to strive to be the best you can be, and to achieve whatever you set your heart to. It reminds us that hard work matters, and that age ain't nothing but a number. But it also shows that it's okay to fail, that letting go is sometimes the right thing to do, and that greatness isn't always measured by what everyone else says.From that moment, I listened differently. I heard her father's motivation and heard is as she did: an expectation to win. To only win. To be the best. To never let anyone else be better. My heart broke every time she needed to be more. Every time the transcripts written in the story told her she wasn't enough no matter how many records she set. Every time we saw what people thought of her versus who we see she is. And Taylor Jenkins Reid is no stranger to Hollywood. Before she gained fame as an author, Reid was a casting assistant and a screenwriter for the show Resident Advisors, and many of her novels take place in the entertainment world of LA. Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Leo’ on Netflix, in Which Adam Sandler Voices a Lizard Who's Also a Child Psychologist Joy Behar Calls On Will Smith To "Get In The Ring" With Jada Pinkett Smith On 'The View': "He Sits There And Takes It" The first time she realizes that her love for tennis is the only thing that matters... I cried. I cried a lot, honestly. Because while this book is about tennis, about being the best and wanting to remain the best... it's more so about realizing you can't be number one forever, and accepting that. It's a journey we all take with ourselves constantly. Or, it's one we should take constantly.
There is almost nothing I liked about Carrie but I understand that in the sports world, like other worlds, being best has nothing to do with being liked or being a nice person. Carrie is single minded again, focused only on winning another Slam or two. She'll mow down anyone in her way and if she fails to do so she'll rage at herself mercilessly. Winning is everything. Carrie's coach father is one of my favorite characters in this story but I lost much of what he was saying because he spoke so much Spanish that wasn't translated. Bowe was another favorite of mine, with a pretty amazing attitude after years on the circuit as the bad boy of tennis. Jenna Bush Hager Reveals To Hoda Kotb That Her Daughter Asked Her Husband Why He Was "Lying" When He Said She "Never Looked Better" Carrie Soto is an athelete who aims to be the greatest tennis player in the world. To achieve that goal, there a lot of hindrances in her way, one of it being her own self. Will she be able to be the GOAT? What will it cost her? TJR's writing style is wonderful as always. She knows how to grab your attention and keep your eyes glued to her books. Her writing styles is so addictive and fast paced. You don't even feel the time flying! This is not just a sports book. There are more layers hidden inside it. It is a story of true love between a father and his daughter. Their bond reminded me of the amazing bond between Richard Williams and his daughters Venus and Serena, who are true legends in the game of tennis. At one point in the novel, I felt deja vu when I read the conversation between Carrie and her father. It reminded me of the words of Maria Sharapova about her father, Yuri Sharapova, and the amazing bond they shared between them. She once said," My father Yuri believes in miracles, and so do I." This book also shows the battle of egos between the players and the race for winning grand slams and breaking records.
Carrie Soto is Back
I know for a lot of people she never left, but after really loving a couple of her earlier books, I have been disappointed by Daisy Jones & The Six and Malibu Rising. The format in the former didn't work for me (I very much like to be immersed in a story) and I don't know what was going on in the latter but it didn't hold my attention. Kelley Curran Blames Turner's Penchant for "Self-Sabotage" for Her Soup Scheme Fiasco in 'The Gilded Age' Season 2 Episode 5 I enjoyed the crossovers from "Daisy Jones and the Six" as Carrie reads the biography and dates Nina’s husband from "Malibu Raising."
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