A review by poisonviolet
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The one Taylor Swift reference made up for the abundance of Riverdale references (so… so many Riverdale references). The funny thing is I wouldn't have given it another thought, but I have a friend who has some heavy feelings towards the show so each time I read the word ‘Riverdale’ I instantly had the urge to text her (amenity to said friend even though said friend is probably the only person reading this). HI FRIEND! Anyways, this was adorable. 

I loved the TV series ‘The Queens Gambit’ and promptly taught myself how to play chess. There was a long period of time when I would wake up each morning and demand to play on my family's super cool Marvel chess set against my brother. Side note, I was never good. I almost always lost. But it was fun pretending I was smart for a moment. All that to say, this book is perfect for people who love the series. I think Mal is a lot like Beth Harmon, less psychedelic drugs though, like a lot less. 
I admire Ali Hazelwood so much as an author and a person. I thought this story was a lot of fun. The characters were interesting and complex. Even though I knew a third-act breakup was coming, I still wanted to put those two in a room and force them to work it out. If I were Mal, I would have been so embarrassed after coming to terms with the words coming out of my mouth that I would have either disappeared off the edge of the planet to never be seen again or thrown rocks at his window holding up a boombox begging on my knees. Basically, I get it girl, you are going through so much, but why did you do him like that? For me to feel bad for a man takes a lot so this is crazy. 

Also, Mal totally thinks her moms a complete idiot and I couldn't help but giggle about how dumb she was being. Homegirl was on Good Morning America and didn’t even think twice about how she was lying to her entire family about where she is. My sweet Mal, I know there's a lot going on in that brain of yours, but what? What were you thinking? No no, that's the thing, the real question is why weren't you thinking. Anywho, that was a silly plot bit. 

Overall I had fun, I wanted to keep reading and reading. It was cute and fluffy and angsty and everything a romance novel should be. 
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