Book Review: Check & Mate
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
My first Ali Hazelwood book! I had high expectations since everyone loves her books, especially The Love Hypothesis, but I think I might have had my expectations a bit too high. I never really was interested in reading The Love Hypothesis but Check & Mate seemed like a cute read and the fact the book focused heavily on chess seemed really interesting. It’s not the best romance I’ve read, but it’s definitely not the worst book either.
Continue reading for more details.
Synopsis:
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...)
Review:
Mallory is an amazing character! She is so gifted at chess that she’s able to beat the top chess player in the world after not playing for years. I did find that quite cliche, but I could look past that. Other than that, I really did like Mallory’s character. She sacrificed everything she loved to help her family and take care of them and their needs. She struggled with regret about her father’s death and felt fear and anxiety about things that I could see myself relating to. I loved how her character developed by the end of the book after letting out her frustrations which ended up allowing for her to strengthen her bonds with her family and best friend as they all were able to clearly communicate with each other. Seeing proper communication happening between characters is so satisfying! Also, I loved reading about Mallory’s thought process while she was playing or analyzing chess. It was really interesting to read about even though I never really found myself interested in chess in real life.
“because when I asked myself if I had the right to those tears, the answer was always no, and it was easy to stop myself.”
Nolan was quite… bland, to be honest. He barely showed any emotions and from far away, he seemed mysterious and I wanted to get to know him better. When Nolan and Mallory actually started talking, I found myself not really as interested in him as I was before. One of my biggest pet peeves about him was how he couldn’t stop obsessing over wanting to play with Mallory again. At first, it was cute and sweet how he wanted to play with her again but he was so stuck and insistent on this that it became more annoying than anything. I really wish the author gave him more layers or depth like maybe exploring his pasts and issues he struggled with more.
Due to the lack of interest in Nolan and him basically not having more than a small spectrum of moods he could be in, I didn’t love Mallory and Nolan’s relationship. I didn’t hate it, there were some scenes between them that were really sweet and I loved how they both were the top chess players. Though, I didn’t feel much chemistry between the two. I feel like an enemies to lovers version of this book where they both actually are competitors and hate each other would have been so amazing. Nolan was too star-struck by Mallory after his first game with her to have any tension or build up to their romance. It was mostly just Mallory not wanting to admit her feelings and Nolan indirectly showing her how much he wants her since she’s such a whiz at chess. The more I think about their relationship, the more iffy I get about it.
“Why would you keep something that makes you think of me?” I feel him shrug. “Because I think of you anyway, Mallory.”
The plot wasn’t bad…but, again, it wasn’t amazing. I liked how the book revolved around chess and I found the different plays and games interesting. Though, it did get boring for me when she wasn’t competing in games because reading about someone learning about chess wasn’t as fun as reading about the tension during matches. Even still, that was quite repetitive too, especially because (MINI SPOILER) Mallory won 99.9% of the time (MINI SPOILER END). I have to say, Darcy, Mallory’s younger sister, kept things much more entertaining as her comments and questions were always so funny. Definitely not things regular 12 year olds go around saying, but, nonetheless, funny.
“‘Way to make me feel excluded, bitches.’ ‘Darcy,’ we all say at once, all in the same disapproving tone. ‘What?’ She shrugs from the door. ‘I thought we now just sprinkled the word generously in conversation. For seasoning.’”
I was happy how the author discussed important issues in our society in the book like sexism in a male dominated sector like chess. Mallory addressed this multiple times throughout the book which I definitely thought was needed as this part of chess isn’t as heard about or overlooked. I never realized this could be an issue for girls even while reading the book until some of the comments other competitors made. Topics like regret and responsibility were also portrayed nicely by the author.
Overall, it was a fine book to pick up if you’re interested in chess but even if you aren’t, you won’t be completely bored or lost (I can confirm). The romance wasn’t the best but other topics and issues were covered well if you’re interested in reading about the things I mentioned above. Definitely more ya for the elder range of ya age group than younger, but still in the ya genre.
“I want to be the thorn in his side that he is in mine. I want him to dream of my stupid eyes.”
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