said it before and i'll say it again: TJR NEVER MISSES!!! i loved this book so, so much. it was literally perfect. characterization is tjr's speciality; she is so good at writing imperfect/flawed characters but making you love them so much anyway, and carrie is no exception. i love her she's so funny and her determination to win made me root for her and feel empathy for her throughout the book. i also loved the focus on carrie's different relationships such as the one with her dad, bowe, and gwen. it felt so special to read about and they were written so well (bowe and carrie are such a cute ship i love them). i also love the individual journey carrie goes on and how she learns to grapple with loss in different aspects of her life, and also how she learns to open her heart and realise that she is loved no matter what.

additionally, the plot of this book kept me on the edge of my seat literally at all times!! and it's so cool when a book can do that because i feel like it doesn't happen that often. i didn't feel like this book was all that predictable, except for a few things, but that's expected yk. it's funny bc i don't even like sports all that much, and the tennis matches in the book are described in such detail, but instead of making me bored, it just made me so excited and gave me a rush of adrenaline. and even though i didn't understand all the tennis terms that were being said, i still felt like i could visualise it in my head really clearly like a movie. more than anything, this book was SO FUN to read. i have no better word for it. just so incredibly entertaining, all the characters, the plot, the way so many one-liners made me laugh. i feel the strange urge to watch a tennis match now lmao. go read this book!! it's one of taylor jenkins reids' less heavy/emotional books, so if you want to read her books but something more light and funny, i would highly recommend this <33