I was so excited for this one, rivals to lovers, and tennis? I thought it would be so good, and I didn’t even truly realize the magical realism part and I really would have liked this one cause the story was set up so well, but I couldn’t connect with the writing. Being in 3rd person, which I don’t mind, but also switching POV many times with a chapter and from chapter to chapter it didn’t feel seamless. The POV flip felt clunky and would often pull me out of the story so I struggled to really get hooked into this one. The other thing I didn’t like was the amount of tennis and time apart the characters spent in the first half of the book, it’s like we were teased with their little moments, but then went back to full chapters of friendship, tennis, family and individual time, but didn’t feel like the world was truly set up to do that well. For the first half of the book, I really wanted what the second half gave which is the time between the two of them.

One thing I really did like was the chemistry between Jules and Luca once they acknowledged their feelings to themselves (not each other haha) and really started to enjoy spending time in each other’s company, it was so sweet and fun, you could easily see their friendship building alongside the relationship. I had a love hate relationship with the naming conventions of these characters, they would often call each other by their first and last name exclusively but flip depending on the situation or the topic of the conversation in the narrative which I think was on purpose to see the characters mindset change but it also made it harder to connect when Luca was being exclusively called by her last name even in the inner thoughts and then it’s flip to her first name.

Mostly I just don’t think this writing style is for me, which is sad, because I really hoped to like this story, but I’d still recommend to anyone looking for a good rivals to lovers romance!

Tennis + soulmates = LOVE! (And I don’t mean zero…)

Ah! Tennis girly here and proud of it. Growing up, my life revolved around the sport and I even completed a summer internship with the USTA, which culminated with two full weeks live at the US Open. So this book speaks directly to that die-hard fan girl!

The tennis commentary is so well written, you’ll feel as if you’re watching the match rather than reading about it. The tension is so taut that I felt my head spinning and swiveling as if watching the action— it’s not just the conversation of the rally, but the fiery dialogue and vivid description of body language that’ll have you at the edge of your seat to see who comes out victorious at every interaction.

I will admit I was thrown off by the soul marks — it was an unexpected twist of magical realism that hadn’t fully clicked for me when I read the synopsis. But it was a nice conduit for tension between Juliette and Luca, and a hot topic for a media storm.

Game, set… it’s a love match.

This is my 3rd soulmate book in the past 2 months. Not quite sure how this soulmate mark would really work, but Luca and Juliette have each other's names scarrified on their wrists.
They are pro tennis rivals, each very good players who meet up at tournaments.
Juliette is Italian with 2 sisters also on the circuit and her father is her demanding coach.
Luca I believe is Croation, a very lonely woman with only Vladimir her coach, and Nicky, a male tennis player who is her best friend and has his own soulmate, Magnus.
There is a lot of tennis in this book, a lot of gay sex, a lot of jealousy surrounding players.
I am worried about who is going to buy this book in today's climate, what with all the book banning and library defending, but I hope it gets read for just these reasons.
I am not the target for this book, being older, straight and not a sports follower.
However, I believe people should read whatever they want, and I think younger people, gay, straight or whatever, can empathize with a lot of this book.
It comes down to, what is important in life, being an unhappy winner, or a supportive partner even if you are rivals.
I often wonder if tennis rivals can be friends off the court, for who else will support each other. That is what I particularly liked about this book, how the woman, who played against each other all over the world, ate together, partied together and even though at times catty and jealous, knew that they had to be their for each other.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the EARC. This is my honest review.

WHERE TO EVEN BEGIN!! I LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS BOOK!

This is my first time reading something by Katie Chandler, and honestly, I hope is not the last time! I absolutely fell in love with the way she wrote her characters and the story!

I wish I could be less biased, but I truly fell in love with this story!

I loved the development between Juls and Luca! They were so incredibly complex and layered! It was so interesting to see Juls deal with the dilemma of whether having a soulmate is more romantic or better than normal, regular love! It was so curious because my own wife and I have had this discussion before!

It was so fascinating to see Juls fall for Luca and have the courage to be with her, and most importantly, be happy!

I love reading happy gay stories! I love that the fact they are queer is not the main struggle in the story! Happy Pride month, everyone!

This one was tough for me to get into. The setup—rivals-to-lovers on the international tennis circuit—had a lot of promise, but it took a while for the story to find its rhythm. Juliette’s intensity and Luca’s aloofness made it hard to connect with them at first, though their chemistry eventually started to shine through.

Once the emotional layers and vulnerabilities surfaced—especially around Luca’s anxiety and the tension between ambition and connection—the story picked up. I appreciated the unique setting, the focus on women in sports, and the twist on the soulmate trope, but it didn’t fully land for me the way I hoped.

If you love slow-burn sapphic romances with a competitive edge and don’t mind a slower start, this could be your match.

Didn't realize this had the soulmates fanfic trope. Would've looked past it because I was in the mood to read a proper sapphic sports romance, but the writing itself is SO wooden and infodumpy with zero character charisma development. Like we're supposed to fill in all the personalities of closest resembling tennis celebrity. I'm sure there's an audience for this, I am not it.

Thank you Atria Books for the E-Arc!

Fated Sapphics with a Tennis Rivalry is what we needed and we got exactly that.

I do have to point out that this book is written in third person, which I know a lot of other readers may not enjoy. Personally, I don't really mind it as long as the story is good.

I really do love my sapphic community and therefore I will stand by them through and through. I feel like Mean Girl sapphics get hated on a lot but personally I love them!

There are so many great scenes, one of my favorites involves a sexy message to heal a back burn!

One of the big things about this book is the anxiety that both characters experience but both present it completely different. It was really sweet to watch them open up to one another about it.

The third-act break-up wasn't my favorite, especially when it's something that can easily be communicated and shouldn't be rushed into a break up but it didn't bother me too much.

I don't play tennis nor will I ever have an interest in it but this book has a lot of tennis content, such as the moves tennis players use and the tournaments they play in. I found this super cool and hope that others feel the same about it.

If you're looking into reading a sapphic romance with some tennis and spice, this could be the one for you!

First, thank you so much to Atria for the ARC of this book!

I will be completely honest and say that I DNF’d this book around 20%. While the plot had promise, the writing itself fell a bit flat for me.

I found it quite repetitive and the characters lacked depth for me. It felt as if Juliette was mean just for the sake of being mean and Luca was meant to be more of a doormat who allowed Juliette to treat her that way.

I loved the tennis element, but even this was off for me. As someone who played tennis and still loves the sport, I knew going in that some aspects would be changed for the sake of the book and the plot, but I couldn’t help but be confused whenever the game was played on page.

I had such high hopes for this book since it had everything I love (sports, romance, sapphic, slow burn, rivals to lovers) but this wasn’t it. The “fated mates” and “soulmark” bit also didn’t make a ton of sense to me since there was no backstory on it. Where did that come from? When did it start happening? How did people figure out that’s what it was? I know that I didn’t finish the book, but that information should have been in the beginning to better set up the reader. Since it’s a MAJOR part of the plot.

Thank you again to Atria for this arc!

I am really conflicted about this book. On the one hand, it’s a really strong sports romance, with interesting characters and a good plot. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the tennis plot in this book, but I will say that I have no interest in or knowledge of the sport and I found this book both interesting and easy to follow. All of the characters are well-developed and feel like real people. On the other hand, this book uses a soulmate/soulmate plot. Which, while it is interesting, cheapened the development of the romance plot. I don’t know that these two characters would be together without the soulmate plot.

Katie Chandler’s debut Backhanded Compliments serves up a sapphic rivals-to-lovers romance with a twist of fate. Set in the high-stakes world of professional tennis, this is a slow-burn, will-they/won’t-they story that simmers with tension.

Luca and Juliette are fierce competitors, volleying jabs on and off the court. Their rivalry and forced proximity builds toward a satisfying romance storyline. Still, Juliette’s hot-and-cold demeanor was difficult to connect with at times. While clearly intended to be guarded and complex, her treatment of Luca often came off as cruel rather than layered. On the other hand, Luca’s quiet strength and emotional restraint felt more naturally portrayed—even if her past remained frustratingly underdeveloped.

Hints about Luca’s history surface throughout the novel but are never fully explored. Instead, much of the emotional heavy lifting is reserved for Juliette’s relationship with her sisters and father, as well as the Juliette and Luca’s competitors. These aspects seem to lay groundwork for future interconnected standalones, but it left this novel feeling a bit uneven.

That said, Chandler’s writing is nothing short of gorgeous. She clearly paints each tour stop, immersing readers in detailed cities and emotionally charged moments. Certain scenes pulse with feeling, and Chandler’s ability to capture the emotion behind a glance or conversation was breathtaking.

Even as a tennis fan, though, I found the extended match play, strategy talk, and lengthy description of each player’s style, a bit much. While the sport enhances the stakes and deepens the characters’ connection, the technical descriptions often bog down the pacing and will quickly lose the interest of readers unfamiliar with tennis or primarily reading for the romance.

Overall, Backhanded Compliments is a promising debut. Despite some pacing issues and heavy focus on secondary characters, the romantic tension and stunning prose are strong. I’m interested to see how the character building in this novel leads to future installments.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was so excited for this one, and it just didn’t live up to expectations.
From the beginning, I thought the rivalry was manufactured in a very unoriginal way, and Juliette was immediately petulant and unlikable. I actually liked Luca, but her part of the relationship was just as uninteresting to me. As a player, I did like her more. I was also frustrated by the amount of time spent on the visual physical description, especially within the progression of the first meeting. It could have been so much deeper, getting to know each others styles and grow a rivalry from there but it felt weirdly like they never studied each others play before, like they hadn’t seen each other yet and it just made things feel like they were amateurs, not playing something as big as they were.
The soulmate trope has always been one I enjoyed but I really didn’t like it here. Pushing them together through it felt forced, and it was wholly unsatisfying.
I also think there were too many characters going on to be able to keep track of them, much less remember who plays tennis how.
All in all I think having a single pov could actually have served this book better—especially if told from Juliette’s perspective. There would have been much more room for her family and she might have even sounded justified in hating Luca.
Not for me, in the end, which was really a shame because I was highly anticipating this one.

In an adjacent universe, your soulmate is quite literally written on your skin.

I really, really wanted to love this title, but it honestly felt like the author had an Interesting Idea, but also realized sports romances are big now and just sort of mashed them together. This could have been two completely separate books: sapphic sports romance and alternate magical reality about soulmates.

I would have read either book, but this just didn't hit the mark for me as-is.

Thank you to Atria Books and Katie Chandler for an arc of Backhanded Compliments.
I ended up giving this book three stars in the end, because I had a lot of mixed feelings about it. While I tend to be a huge fan of Rivals to Lovers this one wasn’t my favorite. For at least the first half of the book, I didn’t find Juliette to be very likable, at times she just came off as mean and catty. I definitely perceived her almost like a high school bully. Plus, there were times where it felt like she was straight up unfair to Luca. However, she did redeem herself throughout the story, but my feelings for her changed as I gained more context of why she acted the way she did. Later in the book she became an incredibly sweet, caring character that was very self aware of her own issues in her and Luca’s tumultuous relationship. I was very intrigued by the soulmate idea, it’s not a concept that happens a whole lot in contemporary romance but should in my opinion. Katie Chandler did a great job in making it feel fresh and unique in this story. Through two main ways, with the soulmate marks, but also the fact that it’s random and rare. The love story between Luca and Juliette was significantly more interesting in the second half of the book, and I found them incredibly cute. They seemed to fill the roles that the other ultimately needed, a comfort and closeness they could only find in each other. But I could have used a lot more of them, I found myself getting lost in a lot of tennis talk. At points I really considered dnf’ing this book but I had a feeling it would rebound. And while it did it wasn’t enough to make me love this story. While none of that is to rag on this book, I’m more so saying that maybe it wasn’t for me.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler.

What a fun enemies to lovers romance between to rival tennis players! The banter was fun between Juliette and Luca, but at times very frustrating and sometimes Juliette was just too mean, to a point where I almost stopped reading because she seemed like a conceited brat. However, I gave her a chance to grow, and grow she did! I also thought this book had a fun spin on soulmates and some characters having a soulmark, which tells them who their soulmate is. Very fun to have a magical aspect in the regular world.

There is a lot of tennis jargon, so that was confusing for someone who doesn’t know anything about tennis, but it was still very fun to read and had a few spicy scenes. Overall, 4 stars!

This book isn’t for me. Too much tennis, not enough plot. DNF.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received.

I had such high hopes and unfortunately had to DNF this one (and during pride month no less 😫). Both main characters were horribly unlikable/mean girl energy and the magical realism bit felt so out of place/unexplained. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy!

There were so many things I LOVED about this book. The travel, all the characters, the tension and banter were all so good. I also was pleasantly surprised by the magical realism & incorporation of soul marks!However, I do feel like the plot dragged in the middle & got a little repetitive. Jules & Luca struggled with the same issues for a long time, and I kinda wanted them to go through something else. I expected the two characters to act a little more mature given they are in their early twenties. But I did really love the anxiety rep, the found family & blood family, and how the girls learned to care for each other. Overall, I’m so glad I read this and it was such a great kickoff of my very queer TBR for pride month!! 🏳️‍🌈💖

Before I get into my review, I first want to say thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC of “Backhanded Compliments”!

I unfortunately DNF’d this book around 45%. I have been anticipating this book for a very long time since it was announced, but honestly, it fell kinda flat for me.

One of my biggest issues with the book is how it is written. The entire book is written in third person yet has dual point of views. Another reason is I didn’t really love the chemistry between Juliette and didn’t feel the connection to the characters.

As I say this, I would love to give this book another chance in the future, but at the moment, it’s not for me.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5 stars

Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler serves up a sharp, tension-filled rivals-to-lovers sapphic romance with a refreshing fantastical twist—and it mostly aces the execution.

Juliette and Luca are fierce tennis opponents with chemistry that crackles both on and off the court. Their rivalry is deliciously layered, filled with snarky banter, mutual grudging respect, and unresolved longing. When the soulmate twist is introduced, it adds an unexpected emotional complexity to their dynamic—forcing them to question what they truly want: victory or vulnerability.

What makes this book shine:

The sports setting is dynamic and well-researched without overwhelming the romance

Sizzling tension and slow-burn moments (yes, the massages and limoncello scenes deliver)

Realistic portrayal of mental health, ambition, and the cost of being the best

A heartfelt exploration of queer identity, pressure, and earning your HEA

Where it drops a few points: the emotional back-and-forth can get repetitive, and some of the soulmate mechanics could have used a bit more fleshing out to feel truly earned.

Still, Backhanded Compliments is bold, queer, emotionally nuanced, and filled with heat. If you're a fan of enemies-to-lovers, found family, and sports romance with a dash of magical realism, this one deserves a spot on your court-side TBR.

I loved this book so much! Katie Chandler managed to make a 300-something page book feel like a lifetime- in a good way! I genuinely feel like I went through so much with these characters. They both felt so real and their decisions and actions were so realistic. Each character was so dynamic and their relationships with each other, themselves, and others were so unique and I really appreciate that in a book. I personally really like watching tennis, so the representation of sapphics in the tennis space was awesome. I tend to wish sports-romances leaned more into the sport that the character(s) play, and I wasn’t disappointed with this one, at all. I will say, I do have some experience with how tennis works and the rules/terms, so I didn’t have a difficult time understanding what was happening in that aspect; however, I feel if you do not have that prior knowledge you may get a little lost, as it’s not explained. Otherwise, I really enjoyed these characters and their journey of falling in love.