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.