The magical realism/fantastical element of this didn't work for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel in exchange for my review.

I was so disappointed with this one. The premise sounded really fun (hello! sapphic enemies to lovers sports romcom!) but the execution for me was a real let down. The writing was bad and the whole 'soulmates' stuff was super annoying and detracted from the story. None of the characters felt very developed therefore I didn't root for any of them. I almost DNFed this so many times, but ended up basically skim reading it to get through to the end. The only saving grace in this was the brief Shrek reference (shreference if you will) - which says all you need to know. I wish this had landed for me but unfortunately it was a complete miss.

[arc review]
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Backhanded Compliments releases June 10, 2025

Chandler introduces a unique speculative element in her sapphic romance novel between tennis rivals, but unfortunately doesn’t quite succeed in its execution.

In this world, a small percentage of individuals have a soulmark — the first name of their soulmate etched into the skin of their wrist like a scar. When you come into physical contact with your soulmate for the first time, your soulmark becomes more pronounced.

The fate of Juliette and Luca as soulmates is revealed <I>way</I> too early, which leaves no room for the plot or characters to progress naturally. When both the readers and the characters immediately know how things are supposed to pan out, any tension or chemistry that follows feels forced and unearned, and the page count quickly feels like it triples in length.

Juliette is beyond unlikeable as a character and has no redeeming qualities. She is often bitter, angry, and just a straight up brat. As a tennis player, I instantly got the ick when she pulled a tantrum on the court, smashed her racquet, and made a fuss about Luca using a medical timeout.

Speculative elements in contemporary romance can work well when done right, but Chandler’s worldbuilding was flimsy.
I found it odd that the narrative never really challenged the concept of soulmarks with Juliette and Luca’s relationship despite Juliette’s firm belief that a person has a choice over who they love, and the fact that it’s actually more common for someone <u>not</u> to have a soulmark, than it is to have one or even two.

The only plot device Chandler confidently utilized was the physical healing properties of a soulmate’s touch.
To create a more tangible and complex conflict, I think it would’ve been interesting if the romance between soulmates/rivals was structured in a way where only one of them had the soulmark, or if one of them had a variance of the other’s name that wasn’t publicized due to their profession (ex. Luciana for Luca), as a way to question the validity of soulmates and their overall compatibility.
I think this is important to be critical of as a reader because Juliette’s reasoning for not wanting to be with Luca actually had nothing to do with Chandler’s concept of soulmates at all… Panic attacks over being photographed together in public and blaming someone else for being a distraction while training are components that would’ve naturally arisen by dating <I>anyone</I> as a professional athlete.

Loved the banter, drama and tension/chemistry that Luca and Juliette had the first half of the book. Though the second half felt redundant and I DNF'd 80% through.

A spicy sapphic romance between two professional tennis rivals. It had all the makings of my favourite type of enemies to lovers story - unfortunately, I didn’t really feel a connection to either Juliette or Luca. It took me reading more than half of the book to start empathizing with them and to understand their mental health issues which caused them to be so closed off. Maybe if I was more into tennis the story would have kept my attention longer? It is one of the few sports I know next to nothing about. Also, the slowness of this slow burn romance really got to me by the halfway point in the book - I was screaming at them to just kiss already!

There is a magical realism soulmate subplot in this story which I think would have been interesting to explore in different ways. I like how Juliette’s parents aren’t soulmates but choose to love each other regardless, which almost makes their love stronger than fate. I wish there was more to Juliette and Luca developing feelings for each other outside of knowing they are soulmates. I would have liked to know more about their families, especially Luca’s side. It was a well written sports romance with plenty of spice, but it didn’t capture my attention enough at the start. I may recommend this to the queer tennis players in my life, but for my regular sports romance readers I have other books that stand out more than this one.

Okay so I didn’t hate this book. But I didn’t love it either. Outside of tennis lessons when i was 13, Challengers and Serena Williams I don’t have much knowledge about tennis. Be that as it may I was still able to follow along (for the most part). One of my favourite tropes is enemies to lovers so I thought I would enjoy this rivals to friends to lovers but I did not. The rivalry or like dislike between the two main characters felt too forced and honestly it’s mostly because of Juliette she was such an annoying character.

One can only have so much patience for her seemingly forced dislike of Luca who on the flip saved this story, there was so much depth and care put into Luca’s character and story and I wish we got that for Juliette as well. Next point is I would’ve liked more diversity to the story besides the names of some characters- it was a very white queer story which there’s nothing wrong with but as a reader who reads diversely I would’ve even appreciated more of the story going into Luca background as croatian.

I know this seems negative but I did actually like the book I just didn’t love it. The side characters also really helped this book and i would love to read about so many of their stories so this isn’t a write off I would definitely read more by Katie!

Going into this I didn’t realize it had a magical realism element of soulmates. But I was here for it! Such a fun and interesting concept. In the case of Luca and Juliette their situation is made all the more complicated as they’re tennis ‘rivals’

Katie Chandler creates real, flawed characters who don’t always say the right thing. It’s refreshing to see in a romance novel. And I absolutely loved the anxiety rep. It’s written in such a way that it’s integrated so well into the storyline and Luca’s character. It’s a prominent part of her life but it’s not who she is. That’s such an important distinction for me as I myself have dealt with anxiety for years.

I loved the push and pull. The will they or won’t they. I’m also not much of a tennis fan but boy did I feel like I was front row (is that a thing) at the matches that took place.

Overall, a really fun read. I enjoyed it and all of the side characters. From the Ricci sisters, to Remi, and Luca’s friend Ricky. Luca’s relationship with her coach is so heartwarming and sweet. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long while!

Backhanded Compliments is a quick, enjoyable read. This was one of my first sports romance books. The lifestyle and characters were well fleshed out. However, the sports descriptions failed to translate for those without knowledge or inspire me to learn. There was also many unfinished plot lines by the end.

I found this book to be quite interesting! I loved the competitive spirit of rivals/enemies to lovers with the fated mates combination that this book serves. The tennis plot point was also really lovely considering how it showed representation for females in sport. It almost reminded me a bit of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s “Carrie Soto is Back”, only it was for YA audiences. I also loved the queer couple rep as that is not always seen within YA books. My one thought was how difficult it was to really settled into the setting of the book. Magical realism is quite a difficult genre to read since it’s a bit of modernity and fantasy, which can be difficult especially for younger audiences. So the setting, in my opinion, could use help.

Thank you so much, Simon and Schuster for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think I would describe this book as warm. It was filled with ups and downs, and a whole lot of pain and misunderstanding, but at the end of the day, their love story made me feel warm inside.

I didn’t think I would like a tennis romance story this much, but guess what? I did. And rivals to lovers? It makes me anxious, but it’s so good.

I started off the book not liking Juliette and rooting for Luca, but at some point, I fell hard for Juliette. I saw the development in her character. I might relate to Luca more, but Juliette is also me.

This book also touched on anxiety and I felt so seen. I think that’s why Luca is so dear to me because I recognized myself in her and it was a lot to realize…at 4 in the morning (it is currently 6).

With the games, I think a part of me wanted something different to happen, even though I felt differently at the beginning. But I recognize that that was the point of the book (I hope I got it right). To let go of those feelings and bask in the happiness that comes from doing what makes you happy.

YOUR happiness matters too. I loved this.

Criticism: I would say this book felt one-dimensional at times and left me hanging on certain issues. Like, why did this happen? Who is the secret guy? Why was this person hurt? Somethings were just left unaddressed, and my brain couldn’t let it go. Tell me!

All in all, this book has lovely supporting characters and a love that made you want to pull your hair out, but still love them.

Thanks to Atria Books - Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC!

This was my first sapphic book and I think tennis sports romance and I really enjoyed it! This world is very similar to our world except for 1 main difference: people can potentially have their soul mate's first name appear on their arm, like a birth mark. When the meet their soul mate, the name becomes darker showing the person that they have come across them. I really quite enjoyed this twist to the world!

Our FMCs are both tennis players and rivals. This book starts up where they are in the finals against each out. Juliette comes from a family of tennis players but she hasn't won a grand slam yet and that has been her whole dream. Luca is an up and coming tennis start that has be labelled Lucky Luca. They both have soul mate marks that list the other's name but unsure if they are in fact soul mates. When Luca beats Juliette, Juliette doesn't take it well and when they realize they are in fact soul mates, she really doesn't take it well. Juliette has never wanted a soul mate, she wants to make her own choice and just focus on her tennis career. While Luca has only wanted someone to pick her for her. But the two of them start getting closer, on and off the court, and learning more about each other.

Overall, I enjoyed this! It started off a bit slow for me and wasn't sure about it being in third person but around 40% I quickly got drawn into their story and couldn't put it d0wn. Both of the FMCs are dealing with stuff and I loved seeing them help each other start to heal. The tension and angst was great! I also really like the whole soul mate aspect and how it isn't as perfect as it seems. Would love to see more in this world!

This went well in fits and bursts. It was trying to be too many things and suffered from not being enough of one thing. That is to say: we introduced a concept curated for the depths of Ao3 with little to no regard for how it fit into the story. The side characters all suffered from not getting their own footing and the main characters were often...intolerable in a way that is at odds with how we're meant to be feeling about them. Everything took a long time to get going ( despite the constant time jumping) and then it wrapped up incredibly quickly.

I think with some more attention to pacing and a bit more care paid to the other characters it could be threaded into a better story but as it stands right now, something was missing and it made it hard to read.

Firstly, thank you S&s for the advanced copy.
Three stars only because the premise sounded amazing and I was genuinely excited for this one.
I feel like nothing happened. There was a whole lot of tennis (which | get, it's a tennis romance) but.. not much of anything else. There was no growth, no development, and nothing to hold my attention. To me, this story just fell flat.
It had all the markings of a super fun romance, however I feel this just missed the mark. I hope the author continues to write and just fleshes out the story and characters a little more.

the book started with an intense tension and chemistry between luca and juliette. they both played some games together and then ended up in the same team, house, room… i definitely enjoyed the banter and drama happening at the beginning, however, after the 50% plot became too repetitive and flat. there was no conflict between 40% and 80% which made me almost dnf the book.

i couldn’t connect much with either of main characters. both girls gave mean vibes and even after getting together, those vibes never went away. in my opinion, both main characters didn’t fit much together, their relationship felt kind of pushed and the “soulmates” trope was the only thing keeping them together.

phrase, word, sound or whatever “Erm” means appeared too much throughout the book. it comes up every second page and it was definitely annoying.