Unfortunately this one was not for me. I typically enjoy a sports romance, a sapphic novel, and a romance with a little fantasy twist, but I guess I didn’t love them together. I have read 100+ sports romance and this was SO heavy on the jargon that it will only make sense if you’re very into tennis. I thought it would be interesting to read, but I really struggled through the first half and it wasn’t even bully romance or enemies to lovers it was just… rudeness. I’m sure this will click with some readers, but I just don’t think I was the intended audience.

I’ve been living for tennis romances lately!

The first 50% of this one I was locked in. The banter and tension were top tier and I was giggling and mixing my feet. However, the middle half really slowed things down for me. I found myself not totally wanting to reach for it and feeling a bit disconnected from the characters.

The ending was definitely satisfying and overall it was a pretty solid read!

Thank you atria for the arc!

This was another book that I tried to read a few times and just could not get into. I found the characters to be a little frustrating and off putting. I normally love a sports romance and sapphic romances too, but this one was not for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

4.5 rounded up!!!

AHHHHHH do i know literally anything about tennis? NO. do i want to go learn it so i can meet a pretty girl who hates me but we eventually fall in love? FUCK YA

this book was so freaking good to me. RIVALS TO LOVERS IS SO BACK. there is literally nothing that gets me going quite like an enemies/rivals to lovers that actually gives me “i cant stand you” vibes.

i absolutely loved how vicious these two could be with each other on and off through out the book, is that a toxic ass thing to say? yeah probably, do i care? no? i LOVED that even though Luca & Juliette are matched soulmates they dont immediately succumb to “well guess we gotta be together and like each other now!”.

this book is messy, raw and very real. this book is very fast paced and it WILL give you whiplash with how these two go back and fourth on their conflicted feelings towards one another. i had no clue going into this one that there was magical realism and honestly i thought it was insanely fun how it was implemented but it wasnt the sole focus of the book. this book is VERY tennis heavy, but thankfully it wasnt done in a way that where if you know absolutely nothing about tennis (like myself) you wont know whats going on.

the anxiety rep in this book was really good, i liked how raw it was on page with the panic attacks and showing how the girls both worked through it/helped the other. the spice was WOW (its a great day to be a girl kisser truly). i am very very excited to see what Katie puts out in the future, i do believe whatever she writes, i will read 🙂‍↕️

I was super interested in reading this book after finding out it was a tennis romance! There are so many sports romances out there and I feel as if using tennis gives it a unique edge. I thoroughly enjoyed the soulmate mark trope, it was nostalgic from the days when that was popular in fan fiction. I felt as if the author had great pacing throughout the book, as the two FMCs started out as rivals, only knowing of each other and having negative preconceived thoughts. Juliette especially had so much depth in working out her feelings and working through all of the external and internal conflicts that arose throughout. I did feel like the conflict was just the tiniest bit repetitive, but it was a major plot point for the novel. If you are unfamiliar with tennis, the descriptions of what happens during the matches might get a little confusing, but you pick up easily. As I was reading I felt myself connecting with both Luca and Juliette, crying when they did and panicking when something got to be too overwhelming. In terms of spice, it first appears around halfway through, and it doesn't overtake the book, which is perfect. Overall, I felt as though the plot was solid, the characters were relatable, and I had just read one of the cutest love stories to exist!

I did not enjoy the characters in this book. They were all so entitled and annoying. I also dislike when fan fiction tropes make their way into mainstream media, so I did not like the soulmate trope in this one.

I'm sad because I love magical realism and soulmate AUs, but this really fell flat for me.

I found myself skimming through entire portions of the book just to try and feel something for these characters. While I did like some of the anxiety rep, Juliette being in consistent denial, disapproval, and annoyance was really frustrating to me.

I just couldn't vibe with this no matter how much I tried.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Backhanded Compliments is a sapphic Challengers-esque novel set in a universe where your soulmates’ name is marked on your wrist. For Luca, it’s a romantic and lovely notion. But for her tennis rival Juliette, it would only get in the way of achieving her tennis goals. Juliette is from a big and talented tennis family, and the pressure is on to measure up to her sisters. As the two circle around each other and inevitably grow closer on the journey to the Grand Slam, Juliette must decide between a sport she loves and the woman she is beginning to.
I liked this book! It was definitely tennis heavy, especially in the first two chapters where we are introduced to Luca and Juliette, but it felt very Challengers-esque and fast-paced. I wish we dug into Luca’s emotional background a little more, because Juliette definitely gets more center stage attention as we explore her relationships with her father and her family. The conflict resolution between the two in the 3rd act left something to be desired, but overall, this was a fun, easy romance. The two girls did grow and mature throughout their relationship, and it was very cool how much research and detail the author put into the tennis tour experience.
An honest ARC review, Thank you to NetGalley!

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria for the ARC!

I was intrigued by a romance about rival tennis players and I enjoyed the sport as a backdrop to the story. I’m a fan of enemies to lovers but I felt that the animosity between the main characters was pretty childish and the fantastical element to the story felt jarring. Once the romance started it was pretty enjoyable.

3.25 stars rounded up

I somehow missed the soul mark part of this book when I signed up for the arc. I’m shocked this trope made its way into published media. Overall it was a good read thought and I enjoyed it.

Review also posted on goodreads.

The way Katie Chandler wrote the tennis matches was completely captivating - there was so much tension radiating off the pages that I felt I was sitting there front row. Initially when I started the book, I was unsure about the magical realism aspect and how it would play out throughout the book. Sometimes magical realism can just feel too out of place in a book and really makes it difficult to connect to what is happening. But in this case it is a small aspect in the grand scheme of things and I didn't think that it felt too unrealistic. The two characters, Luca and Juliette, were so dynamic and even though they were soulmates, their relationship developed slowly and naturally, and they made a conscious choice to love and support each other. Honestly, really enjoyed this one and look forward to seeing what else Katie Chandler writes in the future.

Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC!

The fated mates thing in a contemporary sports romance was a unique twist, but it didn't really do it for me. If that's gonna be a trope, I would rather it just be in a fantasy setting.

I would like a book about Octavia and Leo, please and thank you. Because THAT is an interesting twist...👀 (no spoilers)

Backhanded Compliments is a tennis romance with a twist…soulmates! I absolutely LOVED the soulmate aspect of this book. However, there were some things I disliked about this book.

The characters were the saving grace of this book. Luca is everything to me! She is complex and not cruel to Juliette. I liked how the pressure social media and family can place on an athlete was handled. I enjoyed the side characters! They offered so much to the story, especially Livia!

This book is very tennis heavy in the beginning and I really struggled to get through it. If it weren’t for Luca, the angst, and the tension then I wouldn’t have finished this one. I was super excited for this because it’s sapphic and I enjoy sports romances–this just fell a bit flat. Juliette was not my most favorite character. I think that Luca is way too forgiving because Juliette was quite awful to her at times. However, I did like her more towards the end of the book.

Overall, I didn’t love this. I think some of the best parts of this book allowed me to overlook most of the things I disliked. Once I got past the heavy tennis parts, I really did enjoy it. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the early copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A sports romance with a magical realism twist? Say less.

This book reignited my interest in tennis (shoutout to Carrie Soto Is Back for starting that hyperfixation). The on-court tension paired with off-court chemistry made for an entertaining read. Juliette and Luca were genuinely cute together. It’s the author’s debut, and while the writing could use some tightening, I’m excited to see what she does next.

A big criticism I had though was that I thought the fated soulmates concept was underutilized. It felt like it was put on the back burner as the story progressed and didn’t feel essential to the plot. I also wasn’t a fan of the dual POV; Juliette’s side felt way more developed compared to Luca’s.

I still had an enjoyable time reading, and would recommend this book for anyone who wants romance, tennis, and just a sprinkle of magic.

I really enjoyed the rivalry/relationship between Luca and Juliette. I will admit I didn’t care for Juliette I thought she was a stuck up egotistical spoiled brat who didn’t deserve Luca. I liked the twist with the soulmarks. The spice was the perfect amount. I didn’t know anything about tennis before reading this so it was fun to learn about that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Juliette Ricci and Luca Kacic are both at the top of their game in the tennis world. They have been trading barbs in the media for ages, but have yet to meet on the tennis court. When they finally do, their chemistry is undeniable - they realize they are soulmates. Everything they thought they knew about love and tennis has been thrown out the window.

A sapphic tennis romance? I am IN. However, the overlying theme of pre-determined soulmates really threw me off. In this world, some people are born with the name of their soulmate on their wrist, and when they finally meet them, the ‘tattoo’ turns black, and there you are! Your soulmate!!! It was hard for me to be fine with this concept because a. The mechanics of it all felt incredibly unexplored, and b. The rest of the world felt sooo regular that it just didn’t fit.

I did enjoy the character development and the great cast of side characters, but the soulmate thing took up so much of the story. There was a great book here without that inclusion. I would still love to read other books by this author.

If you want to read a book that has big fanfiction energy, in a good way, then I think this will be right up your alley. The tension building in the first half felt a bit drawn out (very fanfic), but it was still a fun time. I'm a sucker for a well executed rivals to lovers and I think this book accomplishes it quite well. Sports romance is such a great vehicle for that dynamic and I'm so happy we're getting more trad published sapphic sports romances. I also enjoyed how these character's personal and relationship struggles feel grounded in real emotions; it made for an interesting juxtaposition with the magical realism element.

I've read many a soulmate AU and I'm shocked that it's taken until now for me to see it in a mainstream romance. We all know how big omegaverse is so I'm surprised that this much tamer concept hadn't breached containment until now. I will say that the soulmate stuff felt a little clunky to me, but I was able to let it slide. If you've previously been squicked out like me by the idea of fated mates because of the cisheteronormativity of it all, I think that you could vibe with the soulmate concept. I do wish that we had gotten to see an example of soulmates that were not romantic in nature because it felt like there was an inevitability that these two would get together. As a result, it kills some of the tension because they're basically destined to be together. Overall though, I had a lot of fun with this and will happily read this author's next release.

CW: on page panic attacks, historical implied child abuse

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. Also thanks for the free physical ARC as a part of a goodreads giveaway.

As a longtime fan of sports romances and a casual tennis player, I was so excited about the premise of this book. The idea of two rival tennis players navigating both the professional court and a growing romantic connection had me immediately hooked, and I think that this book has the bones of something great.

However, one element threw me off from the very beginning: the inclusion of magical realism in the form of a soulmate mark system. This was mentioned in the book's summary, and I take responsibility for possibly skimming over it, but I wasn't expecting it to be such a central feature right away. I went into this book expecting fierce competition and chemistry on court, but the sudden pivot to fantasy made it hard for me to settle into the story.

I also struggled quite a bit with Juliette's character. She comes from a prestigious tennis family and has a lot of pressure on her shoulders, but her hostility throughout the book (especially towards Luca) felt overly intense and under-explained. Or, the explanations that were provided felt repetitive and overused. It made it harder for me to root for their romance, especially when things did finally come together. The emotional payoff didn't land for me, and the third-act conflict wrapped up a little too neatly given how tense things had been previously.

That said, I still think there's a lot here for fans of unique romance premises, especially those looking for a fresher take on the rivals-to-lovers trope.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book.

bro this book was so disappointing. I think it would have been 10x better if the soulmate trope wasn't a thing. I feel like it was used as an excuse to not develop the romance between our main characters. They also need to better market that this is fantasy-esc

2.5 ⭐ Thank you Netgalley for the arc review! 🦋
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Backhanded Compliments had so much potential; a sapphic rivals to lovers tennis romance with soulmate tattoos? Yes please. But unfortunately, this one just didn’t quite work for me.

The premise was fun, and I liked the tension between Juliette and Luca. Their chemistry worked, and I appreciated the mental health rep around Luca’s anxiety. But the soulmate angle felt a bit underused, and the tennis descriptions got a little too in-depth for my taste, I found myself skimming to get back to the emotional bits,.. and I like tennis,

Still, it’s a unique, fresh sports romance with strong vibes and a solid emotional core. It didn’t quite hit all my sweet spots, but I can see this being a win for readers who love detailed sports scenes and sapphic slow burns.