Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Check & Mate

I enjoyed reading this book so much. It was a lot of fun and I really liked the characters. I felt like this book had a really strong cast of characters. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about reading this book because I know very little about chess. But I think at this point Ali Hazelwood could write a book about anything I'd probably love.

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stardustandrockets's review against another edition

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kathis_wonderland's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing slow-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

4.0

Check & Mate is the first young-adult novel by Ali Hazelwood. Mallory swore off playing chess forever but agrees to play at a charity event. There she wins against current world champion Nolan. After that Mallory starts to play chess more and crosses paths with Nolan. But Mallory has many responsibilities at home and Nolan is her rival. However, this does not keep them from coming closer to each other.

I became a massive Ali Hazelwood fan and I am glad that I enjoyed her YA debut as well. It often happens that when authors who usually write spicy books write a young adult novel tend to include explicit spicy scenes in it. This is something I am a bit sceptical as so many young people in their early teens are reading YA and spice is just something that might be too early for them to read. But Ali Hazelwood did well! We cannot expect for eighteen to twenty-year-olds to not think about or have sex. This book had no explicit scenes in it. There were instances where the reader knows what is happening, but nothing explicit.

This love story is really slow to develop! I was rooting for them for a long, long time and couldn't wait for their first kiss. There were so many swoon-worthy scenes. When he trapped her leg between his during dinner. There first kiss. Him just being there to support without showing himself to her. Oh, Nolan is just the cutest. He is so patient. Mallory has a lot on her plate. My heart ached for her. The book actually made me cry towards the end. That hasn't happened in quite a while. But I kind of knew how Mallory was feeling. The overburdening and overwhelming feelings one has when they feel responsible for everything. I have so much respect for her. And it is awesome that we have a bi main character!

I really enjoyed this book. It had some really slow parts and I had to google some chess words as I don't know them in English. But Mallory and Nolan have good chemistry and I love how they love chess. I can highly recommend Ali Hazelwood's books.

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annadelreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

“He told me once that sometimes, with some people, it's not about winning or losing. That with some people, it's just about playing. Though for the longest time, I didn't really believe him.”

When you stay up late and take a half day off from work, that’s how you know that a book is good. I wanted to devour the book after the first fifty pages just to see how Mallory’s story would progress.

I love how the first hundred pages is just about Mallory's life (and yeah, that chess charity event too but it was just one chapter, right?). So the author really just made me get a feel for Mallory's world - her past and how the present came to be. It's not all about romance, which is one of the best thing I actually enjoyed (somewhat ironic since I'm a romance lover). It's mostly all about chess so when I get that little snippets of Nolan happens, I'm just dead, head-over-heels in love with that man. I also love how the characters are opposite where it's the girl who's sexually active compared to the guy, it's legit one of the favorite things in this book because I rarely see a romance book with that trait. The story also has more of a family aspect to it where it really shows the dynamics between each family members. Did I say that I'm in love with this book to the point of me actually watching chess games in youtube? Nope? Then yes. I'm in love with this book and it makes me want to enjoy chess - and believe me, I did try it and it's just not for me. Nonetheless, this book is just amazing.

So far, I've read almost all of Ali Hazelwood books except for her latest one, Not In Love, which I already have though! So I'm really excited for that!

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sarahcar_63's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

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clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

I put off reading this despite my absolute love for Ali Hazelwood (I've been pre-ordering her books since Love on the Brain, lol) because I'm not a huge fan of YA romance - unfortunately, I need my smut, lmao! Thankfully, as my favorite book Instagrammer Beach Reads & Bubbly put it in her review, this book is absolutely brimming with sexual tension, and despite no overt sex scenes, there is a lot of steamy content. Ali is so good at taking opaque and esoteric fields that are not that easily digestible to a layperson and making them make sense - I know nothing about chess, and I was able to follow all of this relatively easily - and she always exposes the sexism and misogyny inherent in those fields with a deft and light touch. I loved Mallory as a character, and I adored her family and the way their ecosystem operated. That was one benefit of Ali writing YA - in her other books her characters are grown-ups and we don't get to see a lot of how they grew up, and of course Mallory's family is so central to her story. As usual, the found family aspect is also quite strong. I just love Ali's books so much! I'm pumped to read Ali's newest book Not in Love, which is supposed to be her steamiest yet, squeal!!!

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showlade's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-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? Yes

4.5

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