Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Pages: 368 

Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann 

Released: 30th of August 2022 

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.

In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.

What I Have to Say 

I started reading this book and was completely absorbed within the first few sentences. I literally sat down and read almost a quarter of it without stopping, which with my dyslexia these days is a hard task. It wasn't that the plot was gripping because it had hardly started, it was the writing was just so enthralling that it dragged me in and held me there. 

Carrie Soto is an interesting character. She's not very likeable, she's honestly called a bitch throughout most of the novel, but despite this I found myself caring about her a lot. I wanted her to achieve her goals. I wanted her to find love. I wanted her to make a damn friend! She needed more in her life than winning and I wanted her to find it. 

There were some twists and turns that I didn't see coming and some I did, but I didn't know how the end would go until the very last moment. Was this a novel about winning? Was this a novel about learning to take loss? Was it both and she would learn to take loss and be rewarded at the very end by winning anyway? I literally had no idea. It made the final match thrilling because I couldn't guess the result at all. 

I know I'm late to discovering Taylor Jenkins Reid, but I'm so excited to read the other books she's written. 

(5 stars) 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hutchinson Heinemann for providing me with this copy for review. 

Girls Can't Hit by T.S Easton

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 267

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 20th of April 2017 

Fleur Waters never takes anything seriously - until she turns up at her local boxing club one day, just to prove a point. She's the only girl there, and the warm-up alone is exhausting . . . but the workout gives her an escape from home and school, and when she lands her first uppercut on a punching bag she feels a rare glow of satisfaction.

So she goes back the next week, determined to improve. Fleur's overprotective mum can't abide the idea of her entering a boxing ring, why won't she join her pilates class instead? Her friends don't get it either and even her boyfriend, 'Prince' George, seems concerned by her growing muscles and appetite - but it's Fleur's body, Fleur's life, so she digs her heels in and carries on with her training.

What I Have to Say 

This is the sort of book that even if you have no prior interest in boxing will make you want to start. T. S Easton is great at humour and feminism. I enjoyed Boys Don't Knit immensely, so I knew I would feel the same about Girls Can't hit, but I feel that sometimes his characters are a bit dumb. I know it's meant to be funny when someone confuses Celine Dion with Joan of Arc, and I'm sure that people exist who do, but for me it just makes me feel secondhand embarrassment. I much preferred her mixing up the dates. 

Other than that, Fleur was a great character. She and her friends felt really real and easy to relate to. Her journey to discover boxing and how to stand up for what she wants rather than just go with the flow was a great one and I think every young girl should read it. 

I also wish I could be a fit as she came to be. Easton's description of the way her body and health was refined by the exercise was truly inspiring. As I said, it'll make anyone want to pick up the boxing gloves and get as fit and healthy as she did. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Liar's Handbook by Keren David

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 88

Publisher: Barrington Stoke 

Released: 15th of January 2017 

River's life is blown apart when his mum invites her new boyfriend into their home and their lives. River is instantly suspicious of Jason he seems fake, too good to be true.

At school, River's routine fibs are escalating into something more serious, and his teacher gives him a notebook in the hope he can channel his fantasies into creative writing instead. And so, River begins The Liar's Handbook, and an investigation into Jason.

But what he uncovers is a terrible deception involving his biological father, the police force and his mum's environmental campaign group... but will anyone take his findings seriously?

What I Have to Say 

Another really emotional story about a boy who doesn't know his father. For River, his life is about lying, He has so many gaps in his life that he likes to fill with make believe, because his imagination is better than the truth. And if he doesn't know then it means that there's a possibility it could be true right? 

The book is set out as River's journal, a book given to him to write down his make believe in the hopes of curbing his lies, but instead River sets out to create a handbook of how to be good at lying. Each chapter is titled with a rule for how to lie, what to do or not to do. It's a really nice way to set out the book and makes it interesting to see what each chapter will be titled and how it will link to what's happening in the story. 

The whole mystery surrounding Jason and River's biological father is really interesting. Though short, it contains a lot of different pieces of information that connect up to make an even more interesting solution. 

I enjoyed every minute of the book and it's the sort of book that gives you a lot to think about afterwards. 

My thanks go to Barrington Stoke and Nina Douglas for providing me with this copy for review. 

Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 384

Publisher: Walker 

Released: 5th of January 2017 

With a grandmother from China and another from Ghana, fifteen-year-old Wing Jones is often caught between worlds. But when tragedy strikes, Wing discovers a talent for running she never knew she had. Wing's speed could bring her family everything it needs. It could also stop Wing getting the one thing she wants.

What I Have to Say 

This book blew me away. It was amazing Considering the hype that surrounded this book from the day it was announced, that surprises me. I get very easily taken in by hype that leads me to getting so excited for books that they fall flat when I finally get to them. Because how can any book live up the the expectations I've got for it? Well Wing Jones soared passed my expectations and was so much better than I expected it to be. 

First of all, obviously it has diversity going for it. A lot of Wing's struggles are based on her her race and the fact that she's not Chinese and she's not black. People can't fit her into either box, and in our society of labels and categories, not fitting into a certain box is very alienating. 

And then things change and Webber shows just how well she can show emotion. She moved me to tears several times during this beautiful story of a girl struggling through tragedy and finding herself along the way.