Tag / Carrie Soto Is Back

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Book 49 (of 52) – Atmosphere

Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid

When Joan Goodwin leaves academia behind to try and become an astronaut, she expects that her life is going to change.  She had no idea to what degree, though, as she meets a fellow aspiring astronaut who she is drawn to, even if society, and NASA, are not ready to accept it.  Following her first trip into space, she takes over custody of her young niece and finally has everything she has ever wanted, but a shocking incident on the next shuttle flight puts everything at risk.

From April of 2022 through October of 2023, I devoured Taylor Jenkins Reid’s previous four novels.  She’s finally back with Atmosphere, which was released this summer.  This was a bit of a departure from her earlier works, which focused on famous people trying to work through life’s problems despite their social status.  In Atmosphere, while Joan Goodwin is certainly famous in certain circles as one of the first US women to go into space, her life is much more grounded.

Reid took a break following the publishing of Carrie Soto Is Back in 2022, so it may be a while before we hear from her again.  She does have four earlier works which I may try to dive into at some point, but those haven’t taken off like her later works.

 

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Book 44 (of 52) – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid

When Monique Grant, a junior magazine reporter is requested to interview the reclusive former movie star Evelyn Hugo, sha has no idea what she is getting into.  Rather than a feature about her recent charitable donations, Hugo wants to give her life story, a story of rising from a motherless young girl in Hell’s Kitchen to the darling of Hollywood.  They story behind her seven husbands and the true love of her life.  Even a shocking secret that will rock Monique to her core.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is now the fourth novel from Taylor Jenkins Reid that I’ve read in a little less than a year and a half.  Hugo, based in part on Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Rita Hayworth, is a complicated character, one forged by the lengths she had to go to in order to make it in Hollywood, was forced to hide her true self in order to become and stay famous, and one who used her privilege to her advantage with little regard as to who else it impacted.

This tale was also the start of the Reid’s interconnected universe, as husband number three. Mick Riva, would appear again in Daisy Jones and the Six and Malibu Rising, which itself introduced the star of Carrie Soto Is Back.  I’m not sure what is coming next, but I look forward to reading it.

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Book 11 (of 52) – Carrie Soto Is Back

Carrie Soto Is Back – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Six years after her retirement after a knee injury, Carrie Soto decides to return to tennis for one last go-around, planning to retain her record of twenty Grand Slam titles which is being threatened by a a younger player.  Reuniting with her former coach, her father, she sets out to regain her spot at the top of the tennis world but instead starts to figure out that there is more to life than rankings and being the best.  After suffering a personal loss, she comes to terms with where she is in life and, just maybe, finds a way to broaden her horizons.

Introduced in Malibu Rising, Carrie Soto is fleshed out into a full character here by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  I enjoyed this trek through the 90s, just as I have Jenkins Reid’s earlier works.  I’m looking forward to whatever comes next from her and the eventual adaptation of this book into a movie or series.