Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Check & Mate

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.

Content Warnings

readwithria's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense 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

4.5

Check & Mate stole my heart! Mal and Nolan are so cute, and I loved the chess so much. This book made me want to go rewatch The Queen’s Gambit, and to get into chess, and to reread all my favorite Ali Hazelwood books.

I will say this didn’t feel very YA to me, except for when it did. At times it felt like a closed door adult romance, and at others it was very obvious that Mallory was a teenager (/derogotory, it was very well written shitty teenager behavior 🤣). I think age groups for books can be a bit subjective, but sometimes I forgot Mal wasn’t in her mid 20s.

Ali Hazelwood always hits, and this was close to a home run. 4.5 stars.

Content Warnings

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!

Content Warnings

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!!!

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

duarshe's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny 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

4.25

I read an Ali Hazelwood book and it's not five stars!! I know. I'm shocked, too. It's four starts instead. OMG how can I? Anyway, this was a cute and light read, it just felt a little bit underwhelming, ESPECIALLY, the end. We were building up towards that World Championship tournament and it is just weirdly summarised in an article in the epilogue. When the epilogue should be just extra scenes of Mallory and Nolan being cute and shit (imo). And, in general, I just felt their relationship kind of rushed. I missed the ANGST, the YEARNING that I always feel when reading Ali's books. Sometimes I just felt as if they just were good friends and work buddies. Finally, I would like to highlight how round of a character Mallory is, she has a really complex perception of herself and a complicated relationship with her past and family, which is always interesting to read.

Now, I will go and rewatch The Queen's Gambit. Thank you very much.

Content Warnings

hecate23's review against another edition

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The story was all over the place. For a romance book, the main couple was hardly the main focus, and it was not a well-built relationship. Chess is basically the only thing they are attracted to concerning each other, and the main character had a very flat personality. Not to mention the constant underlying sexism and misogyny theme throughout that the main character had to deal with, but never actively stood up for herself. Love some of this author's other books, but this was a letdown.

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