Reviews with content warning for Dementia - Check & Mate

Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

74 reviews

lkristin2018's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

3.5

This is a romance set in the world of international competitive chess. However, it’s also a coming of age book, and a book where the two main characters deal with challenging family issues.

Content Warnings

easefcik's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

This was enjoyable although

it drove me nuts that one of her younger sister was such spoiled brat for much of the book. The martyr thing she had going was understandable yet frustrating. I also felt like the attempt to have the main character be this sexually empowered character, was spoiled by the fact that it seemed like all the meaningless sex for pleasure was an unhealthy coping mechanism and the unhealthy/potentially unsafe part of meeting strangers was never addressed.

But it was fun nonetheless.

Content Warnings

stardustandrockets's review against another edition

Go to review page

Content Warnings

dai_renee410's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

Content Warnings

kathis_wonderland's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

duarshe's review against another edition

Go to review page

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