I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting, and the plot was adorable. Definitely a great, light summer romance story.

In an ideal world, I would describe Backhanded Compliments as "Challengers but make it sapphic". Instead I am going to have to describe it as "wanna be Challengers that got everything wrong and boring".

Backhanded Compliments follows tennis rivals Juliette Ricci and Luca Kacic. As they are battling it out over grand slam wins, they find out they are actually soulmates. Is it possible for them to develop a relationship that won't distract each of them from their respective games?

I think my main complaint about this book is that it is just boring. Juliette and Luca are supposedly rivals, but the day they find out they are soulmates is the first time they have ever played one another. Not to mention Luca is currently ranked #1 and Juliette, while in the top ten, is not close to her, so I couldn't figure out why these two specifically were beefing in the first place. From the beginning, I could not believe in the rivalry, and the tension between them felt completely manufactured.

As we get further in, the main conflict between them becomes that while Luca believes in the power of soulmates and would like to get to know Juliette better, and maybe give a relationship a shot, Juliette does not feel the same. She thinks soulmates are stupid and doesn't want anything to distract her from her game. However, she definitely wants to jump Luca's bones.

I found our leads to be individually boring, as well as the relationship between them. What little chemistry they did have was built entirely on sexual attraction to one another. What little personality they had was suspiciously similar to one another. They made for some pretty bland characters whose POVs read extremely similar to one another. I didn't see a unique voice distinguisher between them at all.

I love tennis, and I was really excited at the prospect of finding a sapphic tennis romance that I could get excited about. It was a shame to be so let down by this.

UGH! It is with a sad heart, that I tell you that I did not like this book. I was hoping to get cute sapphic romance, and something about the way that the author wrote these characters, I was not a fan of either one. It resulted in me DNF-ing at 50%.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for my early e-arc review.

really fucking good. i loved the banter, the plot, all of it!

thanks to netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review

This one just wasn't hitting for me like I had hoped it would.
I am usually a huge fan of magical realism and I love a good sapphic romance (especially when it's centered around tennis).
I feel like once the two of them finally started seeing each other as more than the enemy I liked it a little more.

DNF at 33%

I’m really disappointed because I was really looking forward to this book.
1. First off, I feel like we got too much information too soon. I don’t know what I was supposed to be looking forward to or anticipating. There was no tease to a future plot other than them being rivals which they got over within the first third of the book. I genuinely sat back wondering “why do I care about this story?” Because it was giving me nothing to anticipate.
2. With that said, the characters had no depth to them. I didn’t really understand what their personalities were supposed to be and what drove them. For Juliet we kept hearing about an alleged “tough” father who never seemed to be tough. I think her sisters were more interesting than the main two female characters.
3. I switched to the audiobook, hoping it would help but it honestly made it work. The “accents” the narrators used bled into one another so it got confusing who was talking at which time. Suddenly Luca would have a slightly Italian accent and it would throw the whole scene off.

Really disappointed and hoping to hear that future project will be better worked out.

Backhanded Compliments is a sapphic enemy to lovers romance novel about two professional tennis players, Juliette Ricci and Luca Kacic. With a fantastical twist involving soulmarks.

Luca is everything Juliette wants to be, a great tennis player with an impressive winning streak. Luca is intrigued by Juliette despite all the insults they have been throwing each other’s way in the media while playing against each other in big tournaments.

Luca and Juliette must decide if they would rather have love or a trophy.

I wanted to love this book so much. Sapphic tennis players who are rivals?? Sign me up. Unfortunately, there was a lot left to be desired.

I ended up DNFing this book at 55% for a few reasons. One being that I never cared about either of the characters. They both feel too immature for being 24 and professional athletes. Neither of them felt real or likable.

Their chemistry was completely lacking. The term “steamy” being used to describe the relationship feels completely inaccurate. If there is a steamy moment, I must have missed it.

The comments Juliette and Luca made about each other felt more mean girl than smack talking an opponent. I expected the rivalry to be more smack talking to each other outside of the media and being more flirty in nature, but that’s not the type of comments that are made.

Soulmarks play a very large role is this book, and I have learned that I like my romance novels with no fantastical elements. I feel like the words “soulmark” and “soulmate” were used so often that it took me even more out of the story about these two rival meant to turn lovers. It’s hard to believe these characters are supposed to be soulmates when there is no chemistry.

I think this is a rough go for this author but I’m definitely open to giving this author another chance on her next book before I completely write her off (no pun intended).

Thank you to the Atria marketing team for sending this arc through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

ugh finally! love me some sapphic soulmates! 🤭

i appreciate that majority of the book focuses on the characters playing tennis in every event. also, i love the concept of soulmarks.

but to be honest, i didn't like juliette's character. she acts like a brat (even though luca's her soulmate, she's acting mean against her despite their rivalry.)

Juliette and Luca are tennis rivals who find themselves to be soulmates. I did not realize this book had magical realism elements, so that took me by surprise. I really wanted to love this sapphic sports romance, but I think the soulmates plot did not hit for me. I would read another book by this author to give her another try! Thank you for the e-arc!

Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler is a cute sapphic romance. Luca and Juliette are rivals on the tennis court but soulmates in real life…if they can get over their rivalry. The characters were cute and I enjoyed the banter between the women and their friends/family.

The main characters were tennis rivals so I understand the tennis matches as a lot of the setting and descriptions of their matches but…There was a lot of tennis talk—like a lot. So honestly, if you aren’t a fan of tennis, I would say skip this one. It didn’t really add much for me and I think it made it drag a little bit.

I really wanted to like this book as the summary sounded wonderful, a contemporary romance with a dash of paranormal/supernatural but I could not connect with either character. I felt like I had been dropped into the story halfway through it and kept looking for the author to explain why Juliette was so bothered by Luca and why Luca wanted Juliette to like her so much but it never happened and therefore I had to DNF the book

I enjoyed this sapphic romance! I don’t know that much about tennis but this didn’t feel confusing! I enjoyed the romance a lot

I was initially drawn to Backhanded Compliments due to its mashing of the sports romance and magical realism genres. I am also a big tennis fan and love reading books centered around the sport. The rivalry between main characters Luca and Juliette immediately set the tension and it was interesting watching their perceptions of each other shift and mature. Their sapphic romance was a major highlight for me and the chemistry between them sizzled.

The luxurious jet setting also kept me highly entertained and while I did enjoy the overall vibes of the book, the magical realism aspect fell a bit short for me. The fated soulmates concept seemed underdeveloped and was oftentimes put on the back burner. The story could have easily functioned without it which made is appear less essential to the overall love story. Additionally, I often felt like we were being thrust into the world without enough backstory, especially when some of the side characters were introduced. I would have preferred to receive a bit more context when it came to Juliette’s relationship with her family and Luca’s connection to her coach.

Overall, this was a fun sports romance that centered the the rivals to lovers trope. I think fans of tennis and queer love stories will find something enjoyable to take away, as those elements were the highlight of my reading experience.

What You’ll Find:
- Genre-bending
- Sapphic romance
- Rivals to lovers
- Pro tennis players
- Globe trotting
- Mental health rep

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

Ok for the most part it was really enjoyable, but the end kind of through me into a tailspin. Maybe it was the magical realism but they started using words like transcend and discord and harmony to describe intimacy and it was a little much for me. Like babe chill.

I wish we learned more about Lucas family, that felt like a gaping hole in the story. On the flip side I think we got a little too much of Juliette’s family. Octavia’s side made sense because it directly related to Juliette’s conflict, but the whole Livia plot line was so unnecessary and distracting. We never even find out what was really going on with her and it just made the whole TAB messier.

It was fun for sure but had some limitations when it came to really fleshing out the story. The chemistry between Juliette and Luca was pretty good though.

If this book had been about tennis rivals who grow to love each other, I would have been totally there for it. I was intrigued about the issue of soul mate bonds, giving it some magical realism. However, the soul mate plot device was very heavy handed and became the only real catalyst. The vibes were off for me.

In this steamy sapphic rivals-to-lovers romance with a magical twist, two fiercely competitive tennis players—uptight Juliette and effortlessly cool Luca—find themselves reluctant soulmates thanks to a fated tattoo that appears after their long-anticipated match.

The beginning totally hooked me! The banter was sharp, the chemistry sizzled, and the tennis backdrop made everything feel fresh and fun. I absolutely need more sports romances like this! Luca’s anxiety was also portrayed with care, and I really appreciated that.

But around the halfway point, the pacing started to drag, and I found myself less eager to pick the book back up. The soulmate tattoo element (which I didn’t realize was part of the story going in) isn’t my favorite trope, and in this case, it made the romance feel a bit too forced by fate rather than earned through emotional connection.

Still, there’s plenty to love: sapphic tension, enemies-to-lovers vibes, and a unique setting. A strong start with some stumbles, but a solid read overall!

I chose to finish this book based on the first 25% so I can only speak to that part of the book. The true love marks didn't seem necessary to the story at all and really threw me off. I would try this author again in the future but just didn't think this story was for me.

This was sadly not for me… I did enjoy the tennis parts, but the magical soul mark thing had me a little confused and took me out of rooting for this couple as a true romance… probably should have looked more into the plot before picking it up, but hopefully it can find its readers who do enjoy rivals-to-lovers sports romance with a speculative twist!

I really struggled with this one. It took a while to get into and I really didn’t connect with the characters. Sports romances are hit or miss with me and I just didn’t care for this one. This is through no fault of the author. I think I just wasn’t in the right headspace for it.

I will recommend it because even though it didn’t connect with me I think it will with the right audience. I am interested to see what the author writes next.

Cute and fun and original premise! This one was unexpectedly charming and I ordered it for my library.