While the cover of Katie Chandler’s Backhanded Compliments suggests an ordinary tennis romance, a quick glance at the blurb reveals a twist. When professional tennis players Luca and Juliette shake hands after their first match against each other, they both feel a connection, specifically that of their soulmarks, revealing they are each other’s soulmates. Yes, that’s right—this takes place in a world that is very much like ours, except for the fact that nearly everyone is born with the faint outline of a name on their wrist, belonging to their universe-ordained soulmate, which darkens the first time they touch. For Luca, this moment is exciting, but that excitement almost immediately evaporates when Juliette responds instead with anger. As they compete both with and against each other over the course of a season, however, they learn to see each other not just as capital-S Soulmates but as an actual person with whom they can see a future.
I know the soulmate aspect is divisive, but I personally thought it was really interesting. I have read a lot of fanfiction in my day, so I’m quite familiar with the trope, and I liked the way it was built into the world of this book. There were several mentions of the history of soulmates, like how few couples in ancient times were actually soulmates because before the internet, most people never met their soulmate, which I found fun, and I liked the range of opinions the characters had about the concept of soulmates. Beyond Luca’s desire to find her soulmate and Juliette’s dislike of that lack of choice, we had characters who didn’t feel the need to wait for their soulmate to find love, characters with multiple soulmates, characters who didn’t have one at all. What could have felt cheap and gimmicky instead felt like an established part of the world these people lived in.
Even outside of that, though, I liked this book so much! Queer sports romance is probably my favorite contemporary romance subgenre because the environment is so passionate and heightened, so this book was already starting on the right foot for me, but as with any good romance, it was the characters who were the star of the show. Personally, I love “unlikeable” female characters, so I thought Juliette in particular was a delight. I liked that she was allowed to be mean in a way I feel authors are often afraid to let their heroines be, but I also liked that she could recognize when she really crossed a line and owned up to it. Frankly, I think she could have been a lot worse. Luca was both much softer and stronger, and I think that her vulnerability and determination will resonate with a lot of readers. The romance was equally delightful, particularly as they started learning to see each other. I enjoyed their banter, and I loved when they were gentle with each other.
I will say that I found the conflict resolution kind of anticlimactic. While I didn’t have an issue with the third-act breakup itself, it was resolved so easily I expected another conflict to come up later. In general, I thought a lot of the ending felt a little too easy, but by then the book had earned enough of my good will that I wasn’t super annoyed, and I could see myself liking that better on a reread.
I know the soulmate aspect will be a deterrent for some readers, but I highly recommend giving Backhanded Compliments a try anyway. For soulmate enjoyers, this is an interesting take on the trope, but even for skeptics, I think this romance has enough depth and genuine chemistry to make the concept believable. I would absolutely read more romances in this world.
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