This book felt like a warm hug. I loved diving into this world and am excited to read more of the author’s work. 

Jenkins-Reid manages to make everything in the book SO vivid. Every single character felt like someone I could see walking past me on the street, and I even looked up a couple of tennis players names to see if they were real. I could picture every single stroke of every single match as if they were being played right in front of me. She truly captured the language and character of the tennis world (at least from an outsider’s point of view). 

The mixed media/transcripts worked amazingly to make time skips and additional peripheral information feel natural rather than info-dumpy. They added a lot to the narrative, rather than just being an information delivery method. 

As someone who formally trained (intensively) in classical music, I found so many parallels between Carrie’s mindset and my own, and they really tugged on my heartstrings. The most striking example was when she said she’d forgotten how to enjoy playing. Like Carrie, I worked so hard to get better and ‘win’ that I completely lost sight of the fact that I actually liked playing. 

The insight my former training has given me did also make me question a couple of parts of the book. Obviously, sport and music are different in some ways, but I think my points still stand. My main gripe was the idea permeating throughout the book that its possible to get better at something every time you practice it. That’s so untrue and a slightly dangerous thing to imply. No-one can completely control their progression – sometimes you have setbacks or get stagnant and just can’t get any better for a while. Especially as a child, burnout would be a given both mentally and physically going that hard without ever seeming to have a break. Maybe Carrie did have rest days/periods of time off and Jenkins-Reid just didn’t mention it – I certainly hope that’s the case! 

And to finish off – the mention of Princess Diana watching her from the stands was just so blaringly American. Why are Americans so obsessed with our royal family? Its wild. I can guarantee that if a British person had written this book that would never have happened. 

Overall, a really enjoyable book, even with its slightly toxic portrayal of professional training. This is one of the few really hyped books that I have actually enjoyed this year, so I am very glad I gave it a go!