was so excited about this one but unfortunately it fell a little flat. the idea of the soulmate marks was interesting but underdeveloped and ultimately didn’t seem that impactful to their relationship. the pacing felt off as well. great chemistry between Luca and Juliette though!

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

This had a lot of potential but the execution didn't really work well for me. 

Juliette and Luca are tennis rivals who also happen to be soulmates. Luca accepts it immediately, while Juliette does not. I should note that I'm not a huge tennis person, so a lot of the vernacular was a bit much at times and hard to follow. I was really intrigued by the idea of having your soulmate's name tattooed on your wrist, and it becomes black once you make physical contact with them, but it wasn't really explained properly and didn't seem like it really served the story in the best way. 

The two also didn't have the best of chemistry- I love a good rivals/enemies to lovers story but Juliette in particular was downright mean at times (she even references it later), and it really took me out of the story. All in all, a promising premise but not a great follow through.

This is a great debut novel! It’s fun, the characters are well thought out and have depth to them, and overall memorable. I especially loved reading the tennis matches- with the POV being from our FMCs Luca and Juliette, you are inside their minds as they battle it out on the courts and it gives the reader a better understanding of the characters, what drives them, and their approach to the game…and each other.

I am becoming a big fan of tennis romance novels, and this one is great, with the exception that I think it taught me I'm not a big fan of soulmate romances. I love the tennis aspects, and the fake that it is queer, but the soulmate parts were hard for me to grasp. I like even without that added thing, Luca and Juliette could have come to each other naturally, where the soulmate part makes it feel a little more pushes. I do believe the tennis was represented and written well, with some disclaimers at the beginning about having 'moved' the schedule to make it work better in the story. Juliette has a large family, including her father being her coach, and I think her family dynamics were written really well. Luca really only has a few people in her life, and seeing her gain people from Juliette was really nice to. There are spicy scenes in the novel, and I think they are well written as well.

Thank you so much to Katie Chandler and Atria Books for this E-ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own! 🥰

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

Find more on my IG @kayreads_romance

⚠️ !! Please be sure to check any TWs before diving in !! ⚠️

What to expect:
* Sapphic romance
* Rivals to lovers
* Tennis!
* Forced proximity
* Soulmate!AU
* Important sunburn care ☀️


Spicy chapters:
27
28
29
34
45

Thoughts: OKAY TENNIS!!!! These tennis romances and that movie with Zendaya may make me give tennis a chance!
I love rivals to lovers!!

This was fun and a great read for pride month (the month it was released) or any month!

I would definitely read more from Katie!

Rating: 4.5⭐️/5

Two tennis stars who are fated to be soulmates, but they are bitter rivals. A lovely enemies-to-lovers FF romance with magical realism. I thought it was a very refreshing sports romance and I haven’t read a lot of tennis romances but this one was great!

It portrays the pressure of being a professional athlete especially with emotionally harmful coaches. I really enjoyed this one.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this book’s defense, I didn’t realize it was a soul mark story. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have picked it up, as that’s not my taste. I didn’t end up finishing the book due to a series of things, one of which being I couldn’t really get into the plot or the characters. Another was how immature the characters felt. This book is probably better suited to someone else. 2.5 stars

This was a fun, steamy sapphic romance with a speculative twist that I loved. I really enjoy romances that have some minor, added magical element and this was a great one. The premise felt reminiscent of fanfic which made it fun and nostalgic, especially as the story didn’t take itself too seriously. Sports romances can be hit or miss for me but I really liked this one, even knowing little about tennis. The way the matches were written was so engrossing and tense!

4.5 stars! tennis is so stressful even just reading about matches was nerve-wracking… sapphic sports romance you will always be famous and this one with the soulmate magical realism twist was so fun

thank you netgalley for the arc!!

Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler is a sapphic sports enemies-to-lovers, with the added soulmates trope. I liked Chandler’s writing, however, I think the pacing was very push and pull. I feel like it’s worth mentioning, I know nothing about tennis, and I was able to understand what was happening. As a former athlete, I think the author did a good job portraying what it’s like to have that kind of relationship with your father who is also your coach. It’s not always fun!

[spoiler warning ahead (?)]
I found the third act breakup to be completely unnecessary. Following that, Luca was so quick to forgive Juliette. I would’ve loved to see Luca push back against Juliette for breaking things off so abruptly.

Other than that I loved the connection between Luca and Juliette. I liked the progression from opponents/enemies to friends to lovers.

Thank you to Atria Books and Net Galley for this ARC, and happy pride month!

Sapphic romance, tennis, magical realism, what else could you need?

This book follows two tennis pros who are rivals but also soulmates.

This book is definitely heavy on the tennis at times which did not bother me. I really enjoyed how normalized the sapphic romance was, the conflict is centered around the rivalry instead.
I didn’t love the beginning of the book, rather than tension the characters just felt immature to me. There is a lot of growth but I struggled to be as invested with how the romance started. The ending was definitely my favorite part. I also think some of the side characters were interesting and would make a good spinoff.

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for my eARC.

DNF at 28%

Unfortunately I could not get into this story. I couldn't understand why Juliette hated Luca as much as she did, it felt unfounded and unjustified and just a reason to have the enemies to lovers bit. And the soulmate mark was odd but I found it to be interesting in an otherwise non-fantastical world. But then some of the other soulmate magic I couldn't get behind. I am trying to be better about not forcing myself to finish a book I'm not loving so this one didn't make the cut.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Katie Chandler’s Backhanded Compliments is a darling debut that reimagines the sports romance subgenre with a dash of magic. Rife with angst, tenderness, and queer joy, Chandler’s first novel kick-starts a promising literary career. If you’re in the market for a sweet and spicy sapphic love story, give this one a try!

This one wasn’t for me. The writing itself is descriptive and I can appreciate the style, but the story struggled to hold my attention. Magical realism was introduced without any clear explanation, and it left me confused more than intrigued. If it was explained earlier I think I would be more interested as I do enjoy magical realism as a plot device.

I also didn’t buy into the relationship between the two main characters—aside from being on the same tennis team, there didn’t seem to be much chemistry or development that made me care about them as a pair. Their interactions felt overly juvenile, and I found myself disengaging the further I got.

Unfortunately, I had to put it down at around 40%. Just didn’t connect.

*big deep sigh*

I don't want to go into a rant here, but every single "enemies to lovers" IS NEVER A TRUE ENEMY! Just because these are two very hard-working girls who are trying to be the 'best' in the sport, DOESN'T MAKE THEM ENEMIES!

If all it took was an oily massage to get them to go from 'enemies' to lovers, THEN THEY AREN'T ENEMIES. Also I almost DNF'd at the massage scene, felt like a cheap porno was about to be made.

[A cheap 3rd act breakup, over what? oh just one of them thinking they know what's best for the other but never actually discussing it with the other, just making the choice themselves. How was that solved btw? Oh it basically wasn't, they just went *oh well* and dated anyways. Lazy writing imo. (hide spoiler)]

They barely go into how the soul mate thing works. Just that some have 2 and most have 0, but how does it show up? Doesn't say, at all.

There are some very detailed tennis scenes, I zoned out during those but if you're really into tennis, you'd like it.

This book really surprised me! The setting, the heroines, and the scenes were very well developed. As a sports fan who LOVES Tennis, I really felt the author did a great research work. Then we have the soul mates thing, which was not very convincing for me, but the end was nice. If you want a Sapphic romance with tons of competitiveness and a nice HEA, this one's for you.

QUEER RIVALS IN A PROFESSIONAL SPORT WHO ARE ALSO FATED MATES??! I didn't even know I needed this until I had it in my hot little hands.

As a rabid fan of Cleat Cute, I had a pretty good idea that I was going to like this, even though the plot and the context of the sport are very different.

In this world, some people get a "soulmark" - the name of their soulmate on their wrist that darkens when they meet that person. So they spend their lives knowing the name of their soulmate. Our leads, Juliette and Luca, are elite professional tennis players who are pitted in a rivalry against each other. While Juliette is losing her love for the sport and the pressure she feels from her coach/dad, it causes her to make mistakes. Luca is shut down and alone, believing that all she has is tennis. Both of them are very aware that the other's name is on their wrist...

This has great family dynamics (Juliette comes from an Italian tennis dynasty) and the ebbs and flows of relationships between sisters, and Luca shows that found family can be just as supportive (and make the same kind of mistakes) as your blood family. Luca finds that people actually like her, and Juliette learns that life is better with a spine instead of just a b*tchy attitude.

It took me a minute to get going with this one because I don't know a ton about tennis, but once I got the rhythm of this I was SAT and could not put it down. I laughed, I shouted at them, I cheered for them, and I definitely happy cried at the end.

Thank you to Atria for the e-arc

I'm going to be honest I DNF'd this book pretty early. I tried getting into it twice but I really just could not like I would just start dozing off or daydreaming. I think the concept is cool and I'm even open to the whole soulmates trope aspect but I just think the writing (that I've seen so far) hasn't really left e wanting more or wanting to engage. It almost feels like im reading a textbook. There's definitely an audience for this just not me.

I started skimming this book EARLY. I’d missed the memo on the fated mates component, which didn’t feel justified in this contemporary setting. So often, this trope is used to justify skipping over actual character development, and this was one such case. So to go right from the characters thinking about their fated marks (??) to an excruciatingly long and unexciting description of a tennis match did not bode well for my overall enjoyment levels.

I still gave it a shot, and I know that these tropes CAN work for me. ‘The Prospects’ made me care about sports in a way I never have IRL, and I’ve read a variety of other sports romances. While they aren’t my automatic go-to, if I care about the characters, I can care about sports matches. Unfortunately, this didn’t work for me, because the character development was a bumpy ride.

I prefer not to leave negative reviews of LGBTQIA+ books wide, so I elected to DNF and confine my review to NetGalley’s platform.

What a fun idea! I haven’t read any soulmate romance yet but it truly was a delight. The tennis stuff was also very good and interesting and kept me engaged even if I am not a big tennis girl. I did like the romance a lot and even though the plot slowed down for me in the middle, it picked up by the end and had me in tears (the good kind). I do wish certain elements were more fleshed out (like the soulmate stuff, Luca’s family and anxiety stuff, etc) but otherwise a fun sapphic read! I will recommend to my followers.