Name: Kate W's review of Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Item: Check & Mate
Rating: 5
Author: Kate W

Ali Hazelwood

Check & Mate

In this clever and swoonworthy new novel from the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life's moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart. Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory's focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious 'Kingkiller' Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess. Nolan's loss to an unknown rookie shocks everyone. What's even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory's victory opens the door to sorely needed cash-prizes and despite everything, she can't help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist... As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren't only on the board, the spotlight is brighter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent... and infuriating...) This novel is suitable for both young adult and adult audiences.

From the Bestselling Author of the Love Hypothesis

Check and Mate

Alyssa Weaver

I laugh. And then sober when he pins my hands above my head, in a way that suggests that he might not know what he's doing but he has plans, fantasies, strategies, a rich interior world that will be put to use, and...

In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life’s moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart. Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess. Nolan’s loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory’s victory opens the door to sorely needed cash-prizes and despite everything, she can’t help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist.... As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren’t only on the board, the spotlight is brighter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent…and infuriating…)

Larissa Campos

think we both said some things that we regretted." I swallow. "Things that we knew would hurt." I swallow again. “Mostly me." That's what happens when you fight with someone who gets you." 

And to do that, you're going to have to look into yourself, and be honest about what you want. And yes, I know that's terrifying. But life is too long to be afraid." I snort wetly. "Too short, you mean." "No. Years spent carrying grudges, talking yourself out of things that might make you happy? They go slowly."

"Why would you keep some- thing that makes you think of me?" I feel him shrug. "Because I think of you anyway, Mallory."

hannah 

He's staring at me like I just stole his lunch money and bought myself a feather boa with it. Which, let's be real, I kind of did.

"I'm a motherfucking delight, Greenleaf. And for the record, you and I are equally hot."

"Eat that - or anything else - in my car, and I will chop your hands off and boil them in my urine."

Honestly, I think I am growing on him. "But this is my emotional support sandwich."

Madi Van Houten

Did it happen to you like it happened to me?

Aimee :)

There is a beautiful, indecipherable half smile on his lips.

"If you're a woman, this system tears you down. Makes you doubt yourself and drop out of the chess club to leave room for the ones who are actually talented. Oz, Emil, Nolan ... even the good ones, they don't know how it feels. They don't know what it's like, being told that you're inherently destined to be second best."

"Who doesn't love a good fake dating scheme."

"You usually run away from me. Are you going to?"

He's right. He's also rude. "You usually lose your king to me. Are you going to?"

I was aiming for a sharp, jugular-cutting jab. But Sawyer does something I did not expect: he smiles.

"Hi," I say. I can't tear my gaze from his. Am I out of breath?

And I don't think of him again for a little over two years. That is, until the day we play for the first time.

Sophia

“I don’t know why I did that. I’m just— I’m so so sorry.”

Nolan stares like I’m the center of gravity of the room, like nothing else ever existed but me in all of space and time. It makes my heart beat in my throat, it makes me want to kiss him again, it makes me want to run the hell away.

“Touch- take rule,” he murmurs. He stands, too. Every step back I take is one forward for him.

“You touched me. Can’t stop now. Touch- take rule.”

I pad barefoot across the hardwood floor first thing in the morning, knowing I’ll find him in the breakfast nook, ready to tell him about whatever revelation I had during my sleep; his eyes scan every room he enters, quiet only when they settle on me, and sometimes I have the urge to lean forward to flatten the curls growing on the nape of his neck.

Julia <3

“Mom won't get me a smartphone till Im fourteen.” 

“Mrs. Greenleaf" he tells Mom, who's sitting with me and Defne in the center row, "I will be purchasing a cellular phone for your youngest gremlin."

My twelve-year-old sister, who sleeps with a stuffed fox, just  asked the world's number one chess player if he came over to bang me. 

Catalina

Kate W

In this issue of expanding on my YA romance taste, I buddy read Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood with one of my best friends :)  

A quick tl;dr of the plot is that Mal is a hidden chess prodigy who goes to a charity chess event and happens to play against the #1 chess player in the world, who she goes on to mop the floor with. She then gets invited to join a chess team, shenanigans ensue.  

As far as YA romance goes, this is one of my personal favorite books I’ve picked up this year. I was pleasantly surprised by the writing in Check & Mate, it had that YA accessibility without feeling like the author was holding my hand through the story. The dialogue was cute, the conflicts were justified and realistic without being cheesy, and I didn’t feel like either of the two love interests were complete idiots (this is quite the achievement in this genre).  

The book wasn’t without issues, of course. I’ve especially noticed a cookie cutter plot formula that every YA romance author follows, and this book was no exception. Despite being about entire different things, I found this novel to be remarkably similar to the other YA romance novels I’ve read this year without doing much to break the mold of the other plots. They don’t like each other at first but then circumstances bring them closer, they fight a little bit, have some sort of shared trauma that brings them back together, then they kiss. I had pretty strong opinions about what I personally thought would’ve made the story a lot more complex and interesting, but that’s jumping into spoilers and I try my best not to do that during reviews.

Overall, though, this was a very enjoyable and fun read, and made for a nice break from some of the denser reads in my cr list :)  

smile??

In this issue of expanding on my YA romance taste, I buddy read Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood with one of my best friends :)  

A quick tl;dr of the plot is that Mal is a hidden chess prodigy who goes to a charity chess event and happens to play against the #1 chess player in the world, who she goes on to mop the floor with. She then gets invited to join a chess team, shenanigans ensue.  

As far as YA romance goes, this is one of my personal favorite books I’ve picked up this year. I was pleasantly surprised by the writing in Check & Mate, it had that YA accessibility without feeling like the author was holding my hand through the story. The dialogue was cute, the conflicts were justified and realistic without being cheesy, and I didn’t feel like either of the two love interests were complete idiots (this is quite the achievement in this genre).  

The book wasn’t without issues, of course. I’ve especially noticed a cookie cutter plot formula that every YA romance author follows, and this book was no exception. Despite being about entire different things, I found this novel to be remarkably similar to the other YA romance novels I’ve read this year without doing much to break the mold of the other plots. They don’t like each other at first but then circumstances bring them closer, they fight a little bit, have some sort of shared trauma that brings them back together, then they kiss. I had pretty strong opinions about what I personally thought would’ve made the story a lot more complex and interesting, but that’s jumping into spoilers and I try my best not to do that during reviews.

Overall, though, this was a very enjoyable and fun read, and made for a nice break from some of the denser reads in my cr list :)  

8.5/10

Not as good as Ali's previous work, for me. Probably due to it's cheesey YA nature, but not a bad read.

The banter jokes between the siblings started to give too much. Giving slightly Juno vibes on crack. Other than that, pretty good.

As someone whose learning chess on Duolingo, I was interested yet lost with the chess wordings.

Sarah Campbell

Not as good as Ali's previous work, for me. Probably due to it's cheesey YA nature, but not a bad read.
The banter jokes between the siblings started to give too much. Giving slightly Juno vibes on crack. Other than that, pretty good.
As someone whose learning chess on Duolingo, I was interested yet lost with the chess wordings.

Her writing in this book is spectacular. Love the plot. But i dislike some scenes with the sisters as i cannot imagine how can a preteen and teenager talk like that. Romance is so cute and green-flag to the point that it doesn’t feel real, like i wouldn’t know a single person who could put up with fml like that. 

korfai 

Absolutely loved it. I don’t even know what else to say, I just loved it!!🩷

Salomé Gleusteen 

Sílvia

Leave it to Ali Hazelwood to make me interested in the most random topics (because now I want to look up chess drama???). 

Chloé Dupèré

i love when mc falls first and harder, and chess has been very cool to me so this was fun

debbie <3

thats not how 12 year olds, or 14 year olds, or 18, or 20 talk in this day and age,, but thats ok i can overlook ali hazelwood’s millenial brain

overall, this was really cute and i had a fun time :] i recommend it if youre looking for ya, low stakes books 

Nica

thats not how 12 year olds, or 14 year olds, or 18, or 20 talk in this day and age,, but thats ok i can overlook ali hazelwood’s millenial brain

overall, this was really cute and i had a fun time :] i recommend it if youre looking for ya, low stakes books 

2nd buddy read w/ @jellypoppd ! ♟️

idk what was put in this that made me feel like i was going to war.(it might've been the reading slump that hasn’t let me finish a book in a month) but like this was all love and giggles until it wasn’t. like i'm laughing at a one liner and then see a brick getting thrown at me full speed. It was like if a lynn painter book was nerdier and if all the family undertones were intensified by 1000. But i really liked it i think the dynamic there was really good + the aspect of gender roles in chess but theres some random one liners that weird me out ngl like not enough to fully ick me out but ones that made me stare blankly at it like 😀

melanie

Tiana holt

From the bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis

Annabella

This is the best book I've read from Hazelwood yet. I will be yanking on her house gate and begging for a sequel ,  even though it's not needed . And as a side note , I hope Bob went bankrupt 

jade

Dos livros da Ali foi o que eu menos gostei, acho que ultrapassou os níveis de água com açúcar especialmente quando a promessa era um romance que começava com rivalidade. Não cumpre com o que promete e ainda enrola de maneira desnecessária, dando preguiça do livro ao longo da leitura. Talvez seja minha culpa por ter diferentes expectativas mas definitivamente aproveitei menos do que achei que aproveitaria.

Funny, heartfelt if not teetering on cheesy, and the chess setting was super unique. Solid read. 

Monserrat Navarro 

Scarlett

Un buen libro pero si siento que me falto mas amor o en su caso mas interacciones de los protagonistas, igual ojo que todo lo que Ali escriba es una joya

No fue lo que yo esperaba pero me gusto, sin embargo, me falto mas interacción entre los protagonistas y menos familia ingrata

Madii

3.5/5 It's okay. The story is hooking but I didn't feel the chemistry of the main characters. I like the chemistry of ML's bestfriend and his "it's complicated" ex-gf GF better.

Kirsten Kim

cute til u find out nolan was modeled after magnus carlsen

Carmen Malca

Linara K.S

I whisper-screamed at 2 am for two days straight, and for that reason alone, I'm giving this 4.5 🌟 

This book isn't perfect. Far from it, even. However, the internal turmoil within the main character and the depths given to each interpersonal relationship she has is impressive. I found myself empathic in more ways than one, and not just toward the main character but also her family and friend (yes, singular). 

This book could've been better if Mallory had better judgement. Don't get me wrong, even though her choices are justified by her past and I get the way she thinks, I myself think like her at times (well, more than 'at times'), her decisions come across as immature and unthought. Despite her being in her head a lot, not much comes out of it. The answers to her problems are so evident, and yet she never seems to be able to find them. She just seems daft at times, that's all. 

But all in all, this book made me giggle, shriek, and even gasp. I'm a chess fan and always have been so ofc I might be biased when I say that this book was  ENTERTAINING! Yes, folks, you heard me correctly. This book was SO MUCH FUN. I mean, I can't even remember the last time I had this much fun with a book.

You should read it. :)

Rebecca Hurd

Ali Hazelwood just can’t miss in my personal opinion!! Every single one of her books makes me believe in possibilities. Her characters are complex and genius level smart, and I love that her female characters are usually smarter than the men!! Mallory and Nolan are no different!! I love chess so this book was even more enjoyable!! All in all this is a winner, Checkmate!!!!

this was okay but i really do not care about chess. sorry

matti horckmans

radhika dhawan

"Are you real?" The air between us swells, overflows. "Sometimes I'm scared that I imagined you. Sometimes I think you're only in my head."

any time i see any variation of this quote i start smiling so hard….which i already was this entire book.

Catalina &
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

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Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood