I was excited to read this arc as I was a huge fan of Love, Theoretically and Ali’s previous books. But this one didn’t work for me. It’s very well written like all of Ali’s previous books and I don’t mind the pop culture references. I wasn’t a fan of the chess and found myself skimming those parts. I have nothing to do with STEM aswell but still found it easy to read about in previous books. I also wasn’t a fan of Mallory, she was just a bit dramatic and determined to be a martyr.

Title: Check & Mate
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Rating: 5⭐️

Review:
I was not expecting to receive this as an ARC when I applied but I am soo grateful that I was! I absolutely loveddddd this book💞 it’s 1000% my fave Ali Hazelwood book to date!!

This book focuses on Mallory who played chess until the age of 14 and then stopped & this is about Mallory coming back to chess at the age of 18 when she plays against rival Nolan! The aspect of chess in this book really made me feel that I was actually watching the chess games because of the descriptions!! The chess was not dominated by just romance which is what I really enjoyed about this book!🫶🏼

Mallory entering a male dominated sport and pushing past all of the comments other chess players were making and proving that anyone can do this regardless!

Nolan & Mallory’s relationship was lovely about how they were pushing each other with Chess! Honestly would recommend this book!

Release date: 7th November 2023

I love Ali Hazelwood so definitely wanted to read this one. There was plenty of suspense and drama that it kept me hooked.

📖: Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
🌟: 4.75/5

Possibly my favourite Ali Hazelwood book yet??? I absolutely devoured this book!

As someone with (very) limited knowledge of chess who calls the knight piece a horse and the rook piece a castle… I thought I might struggle with the technical side of this book. But I found it super easy and engaging to follow along with.

There was drama, tension, angst and so much more in this book. I loved the discussions of gender differences in the sport of chess.

Every time Koch came up I wanted the throw the book across the room! What an awful man!!!!

I thought the concept of the book was great, and unique! There was depth to the characters. I found myself turning page after page quickly wanting to learn the mysterious back story of why Mallory gave up chess in the first place. I wanted to know all about the aloof Nolan Sawyer and why he is that way in the media.

Such a good book and I would definitely recommend it 🤩

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mallory Greenleaf has one job in the whole world: to take care of her family where her sick mother can’t. For her, that means a job as an unlicensed mechanic instead of college. Scholarships might pay tuition but they don’t but food on her families table. And Mal is fine with this. She will miss her best friend, Easton, however, so when Easton asks her to play on her Team for a Chess Tournament, she lets herself be convinced. She swore she’d never touch a board again but it’s not for her, it’s for Easton, so it’s fine, right? When she ends up facing the current world champion and “Gen Z Sex Symbol” Nolan Sawyer, Mal calls it a fluke and decides to put it all behind her. But the Chess world has other ideas, and when Mallory is faced with the opportunity to feed her family doing Chess as a Job for a year, the idea won’t really let her go…

Hazelwood’s YA debut has all the marks of her classic writing style: it’s sweet and hilarious and nerdy. It talks about the prejudices women still face in STEM/Chess spaces. Also the love interest is tall, dark and handsome. (But we love it!) The characters were so much fun to read about, especially Mallorys little sister Darcy, who loves her Hamster and Timothee Chamalet. I loved the side storylines a lot, about growing up, taking on responsibility (how much is too much?), the way friendships change after high school.
The romance was swoony too, even though it wasn’t much of a romance in the beginning at all (The Denial was strong in this one) and I loved how they built each other up without giving up competition. The third act fight was a bit much honestly but I guess the point being that people say really stupid and mean shit when they’re hurt but that we still need to apaologise is a very appropriate lesson for the audience. And it’s honestly something a ton of adults need to learn too.
I can’t speak on the accuracy of the chess but the authors note mentions artistic freedom so there’s probably some changes made to build drama. However, if it’s anything like when Hazelwoods writes science, it’s minor.
There was amazing lgbt rep: the main character is bi and does actually talk about her attraction to women so that was cool and Easton is a lesbian, so it’s not just some irrelevant characters either.
The mother has rheumatoid arthritis which I thought was cool to read because my sister has the same thing. The book isn’t about that specifically, but it does play a big role and her symptoms and the way it effects both her ability to work and things like energy levels were well written. I also liked how it subtly commented on how hard the road to the right medication and diagnosis can be, and how much of a drain on finances it is if insurance won’t cover certain things or isn’t there at all.
Over all: a well written and enjoyable book I definitely recommend!

While this is categorised as YA, I want to note that the difference to Ali Hazelwood's other books is quite small. The characters might be slightly younger, but are no children - Mallory herself is 18. There are no explicit scenes, but that doesn't mean there is no talk of intimacy at all. There is also quite a bit more swearing in this book than readers might be used to from other YA novels.

Check & Mate is (surprise) about chess. It's been years since I've played and I've never been particularly good at it, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this book. While there is a lot of chess talk, this is no manual on how to play chess. You could probably look up all the moves and it might be more fun if you know exactly what they're talking about, but it's very much not necessary.
The descriptions are so lively that they make chess sound like the best and most exciting thing ever. I actually played a couple of games against the computer while reading this, so there's that.
Once again I also enjoyed the feminist aspect of the book. The criticism of sexism in this male dominated sport was well done.

The romance was sweet. Nolan is amazing and while he's not perfect, I appreciated how calm and relaxed he always was. He seemed very grown up and was a great contrast to stressed out, panicky Mal. Once in a while her reactions did seem exaggerated, but were in total still realistic. Let's be real - some people simply have stronger reactions than others.

The backstories of Mal and Nolan were... slightly over the top. I would've expected unspoken horrors from all the drama about it, but the resolutions were disappointingly common. It's not that tragic.

I did enjoy Mal's relationships with her family and Easton. Defne was also pretty great. However, I do wish we had seen more of Nolan's manager. Oz also disappeared at some point and I would've liked to see Tamil once more at the end.

I did like the overall ending. I wonder, if I might've liked it even better without the epilogue, but I get why it exists. I'll let it slide.

Ali's writing style is the same as always. Easy going, fun. I know many people criticise her use of pop cultural references in this book and to be fair - there are a lot of them. But I honestly didn't mind. Will all of it still be relevant in ten years? No. However, I'm reading this book now and all of it is relevant now, so why not write about it? It was fun and (at least in this aspect) realistic. Teens talk about pop culture.
So many books seem scared to mention a single thing that would put a date on the plot, or mention any kind of brand at all. This book doesn't and it stands for it. I definitely wouldn't want every single book to be this way, but once in a while I certainly don't mind it.
This is a light hearted YA romance. It's not that deep.

Overall - Ali's YA debut was pretty great!

Thank you, NetGalley and the Little Brown Book Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Check & Mate was such a cute read! I loved the storyline and appreciate Ali's girl power themes she has in all her books. Always inspiring!

I can't say I've ever read a book about chess before so that was certainly new. I did, however, start to skip some of the chess talk. I had no clue what they were talking about! Some of those scenes were also quite long, perhaps too long for my liking.

I'd also suggest Ali tones down the pop culture references, I usually don't mind but this book was very heavy on that

The pacing was a little slow too but it could be down to me being in a slump, certainly doesn't help. I would have liked a bit more romance in the book but I still enjoyed what we got!

Speaking of - absolutely loved cinnamon roll Nolan, he was my favourite character. Followed by Defne who is a powerhouse woman and someone who could easily have her own book.

I wasn't a huge fan of Mallory unfortunately, she did grate on me at times with her decisions and actions towards others. I grew tired of her complaining and disregarding her gift for chess and making it more dramatic then it should be. Although, she is a teenager so I should cut her some slack. I won't go into how annoying her sisters were.

I think Ali fans are definitely going to enjoy this, I just think the chess talk may be a bit much for noobs like me and I had some issues with pacing and the references, but it has a cute romance, fun side characters, unique story (to me!) with such charm woven throughout.

Another addictive read from Ali Hazelwood!! I found the beginning very slightly slow, but once I got into it I could not stop - literally read the rest late into the night. Loved it! So cheesy, so tropey but so fun!! And absolutely loved learning more about the toxic world of chess through this lighthearted romantic comedy!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sweet romance. I struggled a bit with Mallory because she has a huge chip on her shoulder and wasn’t overly likable in places. However, I did feel for her and it was so nice to see her fall back in love with chess. The chess was more interesting than expected and I enjoyed seeing the drama of the competitions. I do wish we got to actually see the world championship as we got so much build up for it. There are so many lovable side characters, especially Mallorys family. Her sisters are adorable. As for the romance, it’s a slow burn and cute. This is a YA read so it’s closed door and written well so you can still feel the chemistry. Although it wasn’t my favourite it was still an enjoyable read and I can see this being popular with younger readers.

3.5 rounded up to 4

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

If Ali writes it, I’ll read it.

This was such an adorably unique kind-of YA romance and I’m utterly obsessed

As an ex-chess kid (meaning I would play chess in the library with my friends and pretend we were pros💀), this was the perfect blend of nerd-iness and romance that I love and that Ali does so well!

Mallory sacrifices a lot to keep her family afloat and a charity chess tournament leads to her beating the world no. 1 chess champion, Nolan Sawyer, after a 4 year hiatus. Of course, Nolan becomes obsessed, infatuated and enthralled by Mal and so the cuteness ensues

I absolutely ADORED this book but I really don’t think it belongs in YA? I mean, Mal (the bisexual queen that she is) is very sex-positive and mentions her high school hookups and her love of orgasms. There weren’t any explicit scenes but i definitely don’t feel like this is strictly YA like it’s being marketed as but it’s also not adult so I’m confused (but here for it nonetheless)

This is such a quick and immaculate read and I have a feeling I’m going to watch the Queens Gambit now!

I can’t stop playing chess after reading this book (and losing). I was worried that this might end up being a little like Louis Sachar’s ‘The Cardturner’ in which if you don’t understand the rules of the game the book is based on, you won’t understand half of the story. I liked that Ali didn’t really get into the nitty gritty of all of the chess technical terms because it really wasn’t necessary for the story being told.

Ultimately it’s about a young woman making her own untraditional way into the chess world and the romance. I’m glad that this didn’t feel childish as I was worried it would do since it’s Ali’s first YA, I didn’t know what to expect but the main character is very mature and responsible. The only thing that I found different to the NA books are that this one had fade to black sex which normally I’d be devastated about but somehow Ali had me so invested in the chess, I didn’t really care.

I loved the complexity of the main characters’ backstories. The characters were all so individual and fleshed out. Everyone is on their own paths.

Thank you NetGalley and Sphere for the arc copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Mallory had to give up a lot for her family. Her mother is bedridden, and she has two younger sisters, so she's the breadwinner of the family. When Mallory's best friend convinces her to participate in a chess tournament, she ends up defeating the reigning chess champion—Nolan. Mallory gave up chess years ago as it tore her family apart, but when the chance to join a chess club brings much needed money and the unexpected and maybe not so unwelcome opportunity to spend more time with Nolan, Mallory goes back into the chess world.

I love how strong Mallory is. She knows she's good at chess although she gave it up, but even when she's back into that world she doesn't let the male-dominated industry stop her ascension. She's good and people will soon realise it. I love the chemistry between her and Nolan. Nolan appears to be a reclusive a-hole but he's not. He had to be tough growing up and most people can't even think to compare to him. He certainly didn't expect Mallory, nor how she turns his world upside down¬–willingly or not. They are a relationship goal.

I really enjoyed Ali Hazelwood’s move into YA romance. Her writing style works well for YA material and although communication issues are a driver for some of the plots points, I find that much more believable of young adults still learning to navigate their relationships.

Chess being the backdrop for this story was really fun. I don’t know much about chess but that part of the story really entertaining and engaging.

I liked the romance a lot. I’d say it leans slightly towards NA than YA just with the age of the characters but it’s sweet and a bit steamy.

I have found Ali Hazelwood’s adult romance books a bit repetitive but this book felt like she has broken out of that mould a bit and was all the more enjoyable for that.

What can I say other than Ali Hazelwood did it again. I absolutely loved everything about this book; the main characters, the side characters, the relationships with/between said characters, the plot, the chess aspect ... ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! When I received the notification that my request was approved I couldn't and didn't wait, which resulted in me binging this book in a day. It's the perfect little ya romcom to read when you are in a slump or if you just want a romcom with all the feels.

This book is so cute! I can't wait for my finished copy to arrive.
Mallory has given up chess, but the game isn't done with her. When she beats the current world champion in a charity tournament, she's thrust into a world of competition, secrets and strategising - and money that her family desperately needs. So despite her determination to never play again, Mallory finds herself accepting an exclusive scholarship and lying to her mum and sisters about where their new financial security is coming from. And at every tournament, she finds herself face to face with Nolan, who is desperate for a rematch, and her determination not to give her heart to chess, or anyone linked to it, becomes harder to stick to.
Check & Mate was sweet and romantic and everything you'd expect from an Ali Hazelwood novel (but suitable for a YA audience). I also really liked Mallory's family dynamic, and the way it progressed over the course of the novel, as well as her struggles with friendships and college.

Well Ali Hazelwood has done it again!!!!! Such a good read that tore at my heart strings. She is quickly becoming my favourite author whose books will always have a place on my shelf.

Prepared to be swept away into the exciting world that is chess! You will learn more than you ever thought you might want to, and maybe even grab the closest board and give it a try!

But lets not let chess take us away from the story of the girl who was a chess prodigy, who could have been at the top of her game if it had not been for what happened when she was young. When she swore she would never, ever play again. Mallory Greenleaf is so bust taking care of her family she forgets to have dreams for herself. To even know how she really feels about anything.
Or the current world champion, who seems a little aloof, conceited and maybe, if all the rumors are true, is a major playboy. Nolan Sawyer as so much more than those things, if they are true!

Together these to are combustible. When they play, really prepare yourself, it is intense. The tension between them is palpable. I will say that this is a very slow burn. You might want to tear you hair out like me a few times! But Nolan and Mallory are worth the effort. I could not put them down!
I truly hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did!

My favourite Hazelwood novel to date. I did not dislike Love on the brain, but I feel that this story, while keeping a bit of spice, was much more focused on the characters and their emotional connection. I particularly liked how straightforward the main characters were. Yes, there is a bit of miscommunication at some points, but instead of being used as an excuse for gratuitous drama, it's actually applied to the characters considering their history.

I loved the romantic dynamic, the fact that the male main character was so clear and unapologetic about his feelings and did not try to pretend to be anything else than what he is, while showing respect at all moments to the female main character, her boundaries and wishes.

She, on the other hand, had an emotional background that seem very relatable to me and I could understand her feelings and decisions, even if I did not agree with her or I would have liked for her to do something different.

My main complain would be the main friendship of the book and how it's treated. Now, there's a miscommunication that did not seem very realistic.

ALI HAZELWOOD CAN DO NO WRONG

This book, omggg this book, basically I read this 368 pages in one sitting, I was so enthralled by it I forgot to eat or drink, THE TENSION OMG HAD ME BLUSHING ALMOST ALL THE TIME, I was reading this book red-faced, I felt so many emotions, idk what she put in this, but it was amazing, the ending was perfect, NOW I WANT TO PLAY CHESS SO BADLY

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

Once again, Ali Hazelwood sucks me in at the 40% mark and I speedread the rest of it in a couple of hours!
I have to admit I was apprehensive going into this, as I often struggle with YA books written by my favourite romance authors, but I loved this almost as much as her adult novels. The romance here was just so genuinely pure and lovely, which I really should have expected given Hazelwood's history in writing men.
I will say that the pop culture references did often feel very forced and cliche, though at this point this is not a surprise in the genre. I more want to stress that as a Gen Z, I can promise that a good YA novel does not need pop culture references to relate to that audience. In fact most of us would prefer that they didn't have them at all.
These weren't nearly as jarring as I had feared though, and I still absolutely adored the novel. It really did not feel all that different from her romances (only with toned down romance), and I really think that's why it truly works as well as it does.