I am always in the market for a sports romance and I do dabble in magical realism, so when this ARC came my way, I was ecstatic.

Juliette Ricci and Luca Kacic are tennis rivals- when they shake hands after their first match playing each other, the marks on their wrist reveal that they are in fact soulmates. So we embark on a rivals-to-lovers romance with a lot of “tennis talk” along the way.

I had a good enough time- I thought there was too much “will they or won’t they” back and forth, and Juliette was far to hot-and-cold to really enjoy her character. The slow burn is definitely there and there was a little bit of side plot that also kept me engaged, but ultimately pretty average and easily forgotten for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my review!

I'm sad to say that I dnfed this book. It was just too repetitive for me and I couldn't connect with the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This title reeled me in right away. Thank you for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! I am working through my backlog, and will be momentarily posting reviews for the stories I have yet to get posted but have finished reading.

Rivals to lovers? Okay, I'm in.

While I don't know a lot about tennis, thankfully you don't need to know a whole heck of a lot to appreciate and enjoy this book. I thought Juliette and Luca were engaging characters, and while I think a little more time could have been to develop them individually, you do learn a lot about them as the book progresses (and let's be real, I have NO idea where in the book it would make sense to learn more about them - I must have just been impatient and wanted the information about each of them sooner). If I had to complain, I felt the soulmate thing was dropped in the story and everything else was like real life. I would have appreciated a little more background at the beginning about it, as it was the only "out there" thing in this book. More about soulmates is mentioned later on, so it's not like it was forgotten about, I just kind of felt like it was almost an afterthought until the characters decided to actually do something about it (which again, may have been the ENTIRE point).

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

I want a Luca in my life! She was absolutely adorable and her passion for Juliette was unmatched. While there were times that Juliette annoyed me with her decisions, her redemption was so nice to see. It definitely shows real people who will make real mistakes, but realize and own up to them. I loved all of the side characters and their growth throughout the novel as well.

While there was quite a bit of tennis lingo that I did not understand, it was a great first tennis novel for me to try. If you know tennis, you would probably get all of it. I loved the soulmates aspect and the anxiety representation in this book. I will definitely be looking out for this author’s books in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Backhanded Compliments is a sapphic sports romance that pairs intense tennis rivalry with a soulmark-based magical realism twist. Set during the Australian Open, it follows Juliette and Luca, two competitors who discover they are fated soulmates.

While the enemies to lovers arc had strong chemistry and emotional moments, the magical realism element, the soulmarks, threw me off and kind of ruined it for me. It felt out of place in an otherwise grounded sports setting and made it harder to connect with the story. The tennis backdrop was well done, but the fantasy layer distracted from the character development I was hoping for.

Overall, it is a unique concept, but the speculative twist did not work for me. Fans of queer romance with a fantasy edge might still enjoy it.

DNF at 5%. I was not expecting magical realism in this story and it didn't feel right in this setting. I lost interest once that was introduced.

Thank you @atriabooks for a copy of this book.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

DNFed at 68%.

I really wanted to enjoy this book (as I do all sapphic romance novels), but I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that they're not for me. I find them boring, frankly -- romance books in general. I didn't feel like the couple had chemistry and none of the characters compelled me. Totally my fault, but I didn't know this was a soulmate book before reading it. Had I known, I never would have read it. In sum: not for me, but maybe for others.

Tennis lovers and sapphic romance lovers will love this book featuring tennis rivals Luca and Juliette. They are rivals in the court but they are marked as soulmates so their rivalry becomes love throughout the course of the book. This is a serious book that talks about anxiety, panic attacks, pressure from coaches, parents, and the pressure an athlete puts on themselves to be the best. The author paints a fantastic visual picture of what tennis looks and sounds like.

Super interesting premise that I read on Publishers Marketplace months ago - it stuck with me. Unfortunately, I didn't find myself invested in either main character.

If last summer was a Challengers summer, then this one belongs to Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler!

This is an amazing enemies-to-lovers romance with a dash of magical realism that makes for an ideal summer read. If you’re a fan of Ashley Poston, this one’s for you.

As a former tennis girl, I ate this up! Katie made the sport feel fun and totally accessible, even for readers with no tennis background. I also loved that the story was filled with side characters I was just as excited to follow as the main couple—always a win for me and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them!

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC!

✨Book Rec✨
Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler
Can be stand-alone

3rd person dual POV
Spice: 1.5/3🔥

This was all consuming and I loved it. I don’t usually gravitate to third person but this one truly sucked me in. The tennis aspect was so fun!! And sapphic rivals? Say less.

What you’ll find:
- sapphic
- tennis rivals
- soulmates
- anxiety rep

I think this was too long and had some pacing issues, but it's a perfectly fine romance novel. I think my favorite part was when they were at the MANN and were discussing soulmates/soulmarks in antiquity, and I would have loved if there was more of that.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️/5

Thank you to Netgalley, Atria publishing, and Katie chandler for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this book more… but the two main characters being mean girls who seem to only be together because of their soul marks really pulled me out of it and took away from the plot. I will say the spice was gooood though.

This may be your cup of tea if you enjoy drama, tennis, world travels, on page tweets, and banter.

(3.75/5⭐️)

A modern day soulmates romance, readers can expect to find big epic love, so if you're not a romantic this book might not work. But as a certified lover girl, I found Juliette and Luca's love messy and sweet and grand.

Overall, I wish there was more exploration of the concept of soulmates in this universe because it's an interesting concept that felt glossed over. Some characters have no soulmate mark, some have multiple, some fall in love with someone who's not their soulmate. It makes for a compelling take on love and destiny and choice that could have added more depth to the story.

There were other issues with repetitive writing choices and character arcs that felt shallow, but at the end of the day I liked the chemistry between the two main characters, their quippy rivalry, and their character growth.

Attractive female professional athletes who are rivals from different countries? Sign me up. The title was clever, and that was one of the things that drew me into this book.

Admittedly the soulmark and soulmate idea was a bit weird for me at first, but the author was able to weave it into the storyline with the two main characters (and others in the story) pretty well, so I accepted it as the book progressed. Another challenge I had with this book was the amount of tennis descriptions. I strongly believe readers who love tennis will appreciate this immensely, but I personally glossed over a lot of the lingo.

The rivals to lovers trope took a bit of time for me to appreciate, but the slow burn did pay off. I enjoyed the banter between Juliette and Luca. And once they stopped fighting their feelings (for a variety of reasons), the payoff was wonderful.

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me to read and review the arc of Backhanded Compliments!

3.5 Stars!

This book was the perfect blend of adorable romance and sizzling sports drama. One of the female characters had a bit of a prissy vibes at the start, but that only made her transformation all the more satisfying by the end.
If you’re a fan of sports romances with a sapphic twist—and especially if you’re hungry for more tennis-centric tales—this one hits the sweet spot and is totally worth diving into!

I went into Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler with high hopes. I love a good romance and the background sports is usually a winner for me. I knew from the blurb that they were supposed to be soulmates but I guess that the magical realism angle wasn't clear to me. But my biggest issue is that I really didn't care what happened to these characters. Part of the issue may have been due to the constant distance and use of the characters' names (perhaps a first-person narrative from each of their points of view would have worked better?).
All in all, not my favorite read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this almost magical realism romance. When I went into this I was just anticipating a tennis romance so when they started talking about soulmates I was thrown for a second, but I loved it. I always love the angst that can come with a soulmate story and this book delivered. Two girls in a tennis rivalry that find out that they are soulmates, it was great. I do feel though at some times it was a little much with the back and forth of how they treated each other. Going from despising each other to wanting to touch each other to not wanting to see each other over and over got a little repetitive. All in all I enjoyed this book.

I had such high hopes for this one. The opening screams Challengers, but the intertwined fantasy element doesn't fit the story. Juliette is exhaustingly juvenile, her emotions running hot and cold to the point that it's dizzying, while Luca is a bit repetitive. There's very little plot, the 3rd person POV doesn't work if you want any real emotional impact, and the tennis matches have too much jargon (this coming from a tennis player).

Soulmark
Sapphic
Tennis Rivals
3rd Person Dual POV