Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Check & Mate

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

44 reviews

ankiaisreading's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.75

Ugh. I really loved some things about this book but was bothered by so much. I liked the backdrop of chess, though I felt like while chess was a main focus of the book, it was pretty superficial throughout. I loved Nolan- he was the sweetest! But I didn’t see any reason for him to be in love with Mallory. Honestly there was no chemistry. The voice of this book was hilarious and I laughed a ton at some of the phrasing. But I despised Mallory. She carried too much burden, a lot of which was not her burden to bear, and she didn’t communicate her needs to her family. She ran away from any smidgeon of conflict and was really daft when it came to Nolan for most of the book. And the third act conflict was totally because of her misconceptions and her pouting. It was really dull to keep reading about her stupid choices outside of chess matches. Also, this book mentioned sex/spicy stuff and yet was super vague! So I still wasn’t convinced about Mallory and Nolan’s relationship. And the ending totally skipped over the final chess match which was a missed opportunity, though I liked the epilogue. I’m glad I didn’t buy this book, but my time feels a little wasted because this book went a lot of places I didn’t like.

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pau_line's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

das buch war schooon guut, aber ich mochte die anderen bücher der autorin glaub etwas meeehr

prooo
- schreibsril as alwaays so guuur und funny
- cute geschichte, mochte nolan sehr gerne, mallory war manchmal ein bisschen anstrengend, aber die beiden zusammen waren sehr süß...chemie war da!
- der schach-plot war so interessaaant. Es geht viel darum, wie underrated der Sport ist und wie wenig Präsenz und Förderung besonders Frauen erhalten. Ich mochte auch sehr gerne, dass man viel dazu mitbekommen hat und es nicht nue so ein "aufhänger" für die geschichte war

Cons
- manchmal war es vielleicht etwas viel schach? Also sehr viele fachbegriffe und beschreibungen, die einem man, wenn man schach nicht so sehr versteht, auch oft nichts bringen
- die liebesgeschichte ist eigentlich im ersten teil des buches eher eine nebengeschichte und entwickelt sich erst relativ spät, weshalb die protagonisten auch wenig interaktion und so süße momente haben
...tatsächlich war das aber schon relatable, dass die dann nicht 24/7 aufeinander gechillt haben, weil die nicht in der hleichen stadt wohnen, jeder sein eigenes leben hatte udn sie ja auch profi schach spieleen haha...daher ist das für mich akzeptierbar
- wie schon erwähnt, war mallory manchmal ein bisschen anstrengend, obwohk es auch in gewisser weise nachvollziehbar war, aber sie gaslightet sich schon manchmal echt selbst nh
- dass mallory so von 0 auf 100 wirklich profiliha schach spielt und gegen die besten der welt antritt...ich weiß ja nicht so ganz...ich meine, sie ist ein naturtalent und es ist auch nicht so, als hätte sie noch nie schach gespielt, aber manchmal dachte ich schon soo "als ob", aber nuuun guut

Es war in jeden Fall süß zu lesen. Schach hat dem ganzen echt so einen interessanten touch gegeben udn es war schon funny und cutsie von geschichte und chemiee her

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tootoo96's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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one_more_chapter96's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

Such an enjoyable book - the writing style was fun and realistic for the age/setting of the characters. I LOVED the two main characters and that they were ‘academic rivals’ but really Nolan was all in from the beginning. Side characters were brilliant and the sisters were hilarious. I loved the chess setting and how accessible the story made it. The romance was so cute and so good! I was hesitant to accept the redemption arc and villain arc in the 3rd act of certain characters but it all worked out. Really enjoyed; a feel good book but with sad elements for sure about eldest daughters, family trauma and friends growing up.

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