Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - Check & Mate

Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

23 reviews

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

exasperating and unrealistic.
the feminist commentary did little to spice things up. the way mallory and her family didn't communicate for the longest time was the worst – i didn't like her nor her weird family with both sisters being annoying to the moon and back. there was nothing cute or comforting about their family dynamic. the only person who didn't piss me off all of the time was nolan, because he seemed sensible, and like an emotionally mature person and was the most relatable with the way he didn't whine about absolutely everything.
the chess in this chess romance was alright, the references to chess players and moves plenty, so at least one can't complain about that.
i thought mallory's backstory was overdramatized and so over-the-top, i couldn't really sympathise with her at all. there was basically no conflict in this book that couldn't have been solved by a medium-long serious conversation.
not one of ali hazelwood's best books, imo.

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v_____'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

»Ich weiß aus verlässlicher Quelle, dass du ein Sexsymbol der Gen Z bist.«...

- Check & Mate – Zug um Zug zur Liebe, 1%

⚠ ⚠ ACHTUNG, es können SPOILER vorkommen ⚠ ⚠

Anfangs kam ich etwas schwer rein, aber plötzlich hat mich der Sog erfasst, and I loved it. Trotz einiger Schwächen. Ich hatte die ganze Zeit ein Grinsen im Gesicht.

#HeFallsFirst und #EnemysToLovers are my favorite tropes und dann sind sie hier kombiniert, what could one love more 😍
Natürlich ist "Enemys" etwas übertrieben, aber für Mallory ist Nolan durchaus so etwas wie ein "Feind".
Daher kommen hier auch noch andere Hashtags vor, die ich liebe #tension... #slowburn... 🥵

Was ich auch sehr geliebt habe, war die Beziehung von Mallory und ihren Schwestern. Sie war super süß und liebevoll beschrieben, aber trotzdem waren sie oft voneinander genervt, was ich sehr authentisch fand. Unnötig fand ich, das Mal so lange verheimlicht hat, dass sie mit Schach so viel Geld verdient und die Lüge mit dem Seniorenheim erzählt hat. I mean: Girl, just tell them! Du bringst das Geld heim und finanzierst alle, sie sollen dankbar sein und werden dir deswegen nicht die Hölle heiß machen.

Meine absolute Lieblingsstelle war das Abendessen. Es fiel mir so schwer nicht heulend vor Lachen am Boden zu liegen:

... »Vielleicht habt ihr heute Nacht Sex?«, fragt Darcy. »Bist du deshalb hergekommen?«

Meine zwölfjährige Schwester, die jeden Abend ihren Stofffuchs mit ins Bett nimmt, hat gerade den besten Schachspieler der Welt gefragt, ob er hergekommen ist, um mich zu vögeln...

- Check & Mate – Zug um Zug zur Liebe, 35%

Auch ein großer Pluspunkt: the sex positivity. Nämlich in alle Richtungen.

Mal die einfach viel Sex hat, mit egal welchem Geschlecht, weil sie darauf Lust hat, ohne eine tiefe Verbindung aufzubauen, auf der einen Seite. Und Nolan, der noch nie Sex hatte, weil er es einfach nicht gefühlt hat, auf der anderen Seite. Beides wird in unserer Gesellschaft leider von manchen schräg angesehen und als "nicht normal" empfunden, darum finde ich es sooooo wichtig, dass es in den Medien mehr repräsentiert wird. Und, im Falle von Nolan, dass seine Jungfräulichkeit (omg, ich hasse dieses Wort), keinen streng religiösen Hintergrund hat. Er hatte halt einfach keinen Bock 🤷‍♀️ so what, he is 22. Get over it!

Mallory:
Ich liebe ja, wie sie so messy durchs Leben stolpert. Auch wenn sie mir furchtbar leid tut, wegen der Trauer die sie immer noch durchlebt, rafft sie sich auf und versorgt einfach ihre Familie. QUEEN! Es war super dargestellt, wie sie gleichzeitig hardcore kickass Heroine und verletzlich ist. Zusätzlich fand ich sie sehr relatable, mit Aussagen wie:

... Es gibt einen speziellen Grund dafür, dass ich meine Familie über den neuen Job anlüge, und dieser lautet: Ich weiß es nicht...

- Check & Mate – Zug um Zug zur Liebe, 18%
und

... Immer wenn mir etwas Peinliches passiert, lebe ich tagelang in einem Zustand der tiefsten Beschämung...

- Check & Mate – Zug um Zug zur Liebe, 24%
I so feel you girl!

Nolan:
manche finden ihn blass und langweilig. I disagree. Er ist einfach ein netter Typ, der Mallory Zeit lässt und gleichzeitig nicht so recht weiß, wie er es anstellen soll, ihr näher zu kommen, außer halt bei jeder Gelegenheit anwesend zu sein. Er macht sehr viele Andeutungen. Ich mochte besonders, wie er Mal unterstützt hat, egal welche Entscheidung sie trifft und ihr Zeit gelassen hat. Auch die Beziehung mit Mals Schwestern fand ich super cute.

Anfangs halt. ABER: Wie krass übergriffig ist es bitte, das Nolan für Mals Stipendium bezahlt hat, dass sie annehmen musste wegen des Geldes. So manipulativ!

... »Du liebst niemanden, außer dich selbst. Du bist manipulativ und egoistisch. Du bist alleine, weil dich deine Familie hasst. Und jetzt hasse ich dich auch.«...

- Check & Mate – Zug um Zug zur Liebe, 78%

You go girl! So true! Sags ihm! I'm heartbroken though! 😮😮😮😭😭😭

Malte:
Können wir kurz innehalten um zu appreciaten, das Ali Hazelwood hier einfach ein so perfekt beschriebenen Bösewicht geschaffen hat. Ich hasse ihn so sehr! Am liebsten würde ich ihm jedesmal eine reinhauen wenn er auftaucht. Oder, in Nolans Worten:

»Koch ist das menschliche Pendant einer schmutzigen Klobürste«

Amen!

Plotholes aka der Grund, warum ich hier nicht 5 Sterne geben kann, obwohl ich es eigentlich geliebt habe:
- Warum weiß Mallory nicht, dass man mit Schach viel Geld verdienen kann?
-

Wer hat das Foto beim Tic Tac Toe spielen gemacht?

SERIOUSLY, weiß das jemand???
-

Die Sache, das Nolan fürs Stipendium von Mal bezahlt hat. Es war offiziell eine Spende und sie hätte es ablehnen können. Aber aufgrund der finanziellen Situation hatte Mal keine andere Wahl und wurde quasi dazu gezwungen... Natürlich kann man sagen, Nolan wusste das nicht, aber wenn er herausfinden kann wo Mal wohnt, kann er auch mehr zu ihrem Lebensstil etc. recherchieren... Und ja, es war von ihm gut gemeint, aber gut und gut gemeint ist nicht dasselbe. Das war mir einfach zu schnell abgehandelt, gelöst mit "aber sie vermisst ihn so und möchte einfach nur mit ihm sein, weil er so gut riecht etc". Ja, I get it, sie lieben sich, aber trotz Liebe, wenn man über so Dinge einfach ungelöst hinweg sieht fällt einem das meist auf den Kopf, weil irgendwann ist die rosarote Brille dann weg... Da hätte ich mir gewünscht, dass das noch mehr thematisiert wird, dass da richtig drüber gestritten wird etc.
- Koch wurde dann so einfach "entfernt", mit Betrugsvorwurf... war mir auch zu einfach gelöst... hätte es lieber gesehen dass er eine vernichtende Niederlage im Schach erlebt...
- die Erklärung warum Easton und Mallory keinen Kontakt mehr hatten war Unsinn. Easton meinte, sie hatte das Gefühl, Mal hat Wichtigeres zu tun in ihrer Schachwelt und meldet sich deshalb nicht. Aber Mal hat ihr doch ein paar Mal geschrieben und dann kam einmal nur ein Daumen hoch zurück und dann mal gar nix. WTF, stimmt doch nicht! Easton gaslighted sie... .:(

Allgemein wurden mir hier viele Dinge viel zu "einfach" gelöst, was ich bei einer oder zwei kleinen Sachen noch ok finden könnte. Bei so vielen kommt es mir aber etwas faul vor...
Ist das ein Symptom der Fast Literature/Fließbandproduktion/BookTok-culture? maybe.

Finde es halt schade, weil es ansonsten so ein unterhaltsames Buch war, dass es dann durch so viele Kleinigkeiten getrübt wird.

»Es überrascht mich, dass du überhaupt zu Abend isst. Und dich nicht nur die Tränen deiner Rivalen am Leben halten.«...

Mallory zu Nolan 😂😂😂💅💅💅
- Check & Mate – Zug um Zug zur Liebe, 49%

... unsere Lebensgeschichten werden nicht aus wenn und falls gemacht...

- Check & Mate – Zug um Zug zur Liebe, 83%

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tmlattime's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. Read it in 7 hours, didn't want to put it down. It felt very relatable. The main character experiences a lot of chaos and is forced to grow up fast, having a lot of responsibilities. It’s nice to watch her to something for herself and learn more about herself as the book progresses.

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reminiscences's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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annieisawesome's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Another amazing read by Ali Hazelwood. I absolutely devour every one of her books. I don’t know much about chess (honestly I find it so boring), but she made it very interesting and easy to follow. Even with the main settings revolving around chess they’re not boring or clinical. Her male MCs are always impeccable and so easy to fall in love with. Nolan was no exception. Mallory was a pain in the butt at points, but not enough to make me set it aside. Everyone was very loveable.

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jencolumb0's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Another deeply satisfying Ali Hazelwood delight, filled with funny observations, spice, and (mostly) charming characters. (The characters who are not charming get what they deserve and it is satisfying too.)

My own lack of familiarity with chess made the (comforting) tropes feel less predictable. (Though, in the notes, Hazelwood acknowledges that she took a fair amount of liberty with chess details to make the story work out well. I would expect that, if you are a true chess nerd, this book might be annoying . . . and I’d actually be curious as to what is off, technically, about this book. An annotated copy would be super interesting. I digress.)

Mallory & Nolan are easy to ship. Arguably more importantly, as the book unfolds, it’s lovely to see Mallory put down a lot of the things she’s been carrying because she realizes that relationships can be repaired and she’s not as alone as she thinks she is: it doesn’t have to be, forever, as hard as it has been.

Somewhat relatedly, I really appreciated the discussion in the book of casual sex. Mallory is down, depicted (generally) being responsible about it (

the wisdom and safety of hooking up in a car in an otherwise public place raises questions but, throughout the book, there are clear statements of heterosexual couples relying on condoms when engaging in penetrative sex

), clear that “sex” is about sharing of bodies for pleasure and not just p-in-v penetration that can lead to babies, and gives a clearly-articulated explanation as to why she chooses to share her body with the folks she does. The book is fade-to-black (which Hazelwood, naturally, still manages to make steamy but I would call the pre-fade scenes PG-13 at best). Nolan is coded as shades of Ace (or, alternatively, Pan, with

Mallory being the only person he’s ever been interested in having sex with

) SO, reviews that complain about too much discussion of sex are . . . slut-shaming a fictional 18-year-old?? That’s messed up.

Personally, I found this to be a sex-positive delight that slips in neatly between binges of Heartstopper and Sex Education. Bravissima, Ali Hazelwood!

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withlivjones's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I LOVED the chess storyline, it was so exciting and definitely my favourite part of the book. The romance was cute but rather sappy and cringe at times. Definitely an enjoyable and easy read.

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thorns_and_thunder's review against another edition

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emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Does this book have every stereotype for Gen Z that could be mustered? 1000%

Is Ali Hazelwood's signature of explaining how much bigger the ML is than the FL everywhere? Of course

Did i also really enjoy the mixture of unserious generalizations of Gen Z with the real and tough topic of dysfunctional family dynamics? Absolutely

I was skeptical when i first began the book (being hit with a mention of a Bill Nye erotic fan fiction on the first page was A LOT) but was pleasantly surprised with how well this book made difficult family dynamics relatable (or at the very explained why people acted the way they did).

I also enjoyed how relatable Mallory was

(when she joked about how she was good at compartmentalizing on page 37, anger that can come from the responsibilities as the first child on page 51, and how much she struggled with feeling as if she was bothering Easton because she felt inadequate in herself and thought it was “justified” for her to be left behind on page 67).

There were many examples but these are just to name a few that stood out when I first began reading.

Overall it was very interesting seeing the dynamic of Mallory and her family, it was an extremely heavy and delicate system

(that was thankfully addressed before the ending of the book- my heart was breaking for all the Greenleaf girls).

Now the only real problem I have with this book is the characterization that it is a rivals to lovers romance.

Neither of them sees each other as a rival (I swear if we could have seen Nolan that first time they played he would have had heart eyes after Mallory beat him).

In general it feels disingenuous to place this book into the romance category at all because it is a sub-plot in the grand scheme of things. After reading it i felt like i did after Love,Theoretically because while each of the romantic relationships were becoming stronger and did take up space in the book, they did not end in a way that made it nearly as important to the plot as the character development both FMC’S went through from a readers perspective. And while i loved where both of those characters ended up with themselves, the romantic conclusions (in the book- we are to assume they progressed afterwards) were lackluster when reading through the lens of a romance and not as a coming of age/ personal growth (with a sub-plot of romance) because in both stories we are left with more on an open-ending rather than a concrete relationship.

Focusing back on this book, I was really disappointed in the epilogue. I understand the thought process behind it but it’s frustrating to read all of their cute interactions before they have their huge fight to then get next to nothing after they reconcile and just felt lazy on the authors part after, again, classifying this book as a romance.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, but I would recommend it as a coming of age story that has romantic elements, not as a romance.

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sariefaerie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I went in assuming this would be good but that it would be my least favorite of Ali Hazelwood's books. With my lack of interest in chess I, wrongfully, assumed that I wouldn't be able to relate to the characters at all. Ali Hazelwood is a genius at making relatable characters, or maybe she just knows people like me a little too intimately.

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yanagi's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Content Warnings

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