Check & Mate Review

Book Information:

Book Title: Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

Genre: YA, contemporary, romance, enemies to lovers

Published: 2023

Kindle Unlimited: no

Series: no

Synopsis: Mallory Greenleaf is a former chess player. She refuses to go near the game anymore, but really when does she have the time when her focus is on her family and keeping the bills paid. Everything changes when her friend convinces her to play one last chess tournament…where she shocks the world, and herself, with her surprising win against the (very hot) current world reigning champion of chess: Nolan Sawyer. And so, when her win opens so many opportunities for the sport she loves (but tries to pretend she doesn’t), and Nolan starts wanting to play against her again, well, it’s rather hard to say no isn’t it? As Mallory rises up the ranks, she faces different challenges, from the closed society, guilt at her (not so) secret re-entering into chess, and her unexpectedly attractive and intelligent and fierce competition, because this book is an enemies-to-lovers rom com after all :D

My Review of Check & Mate

Rating: ✨3.5/5✨

Review Updated: 6/13/2024

Check & Mate was a pretty cute and fun read by Ali Hazelwood!

Mal is our main character. She's strong, dedicated, and amusing, all qualities I enjoyed! I love her dedication to her family and the way that they are always her priority. While sometimes she used her family as a shield to hide behind, she had a solid growth arc throughout the story, and eventually got over that. Both she and her family added a lot of humor and banter to the story! I also like how Ali Hazelwood highlights women in STEM, or in this case chess, and that even though things aren’t always equal, and everyone isn’t always welcoming, things can improve and are improving.

I really enjoy a good romance, but in this book, it didn't work that well for me. The basis for everything was there - enemies to lovers, slow burn, a little grumpy x sunshine, yet it didn't deliver as much as I wanted it to. On Nolan's side, it felt too insta-love. I never really found out why Nolan was just so suddenly into her and wanting to play against her again and again. One moment he didn’t even pay attention to her, didn’t even look at her when he shook her hand. “Just sets his elbows on the table, keeping his gaze fixed on the pieces, as though my person, my face, my identity, are utterly irrelevant.” And the next (when she won) he wanted to meet her and play against her again. It seemed a little too much and too fast.

Given that both the characters love chess and are insanely good at it, I thought that chess would be a big element in the book. In any game, Mal's thoughts and feelings when playing are always highlighted (which is good) but I would have also liked to see more actual chess and chess playing alongside it. I also don’t understand how someone who hasn’t played chess in years can suddenly get up one day and beat the current world champion…

I can be very picky about what conflicts I'm okay with and which one's I don't like, and the third act conflict in this book...it fell on the don't like side. The twist (Mal finding out that Nolan had sponsored her Zugzwang fellowship) felt so unnecessary, and while I understand why Mal got mad and broke things off, I also feel like she overreacted, and that the whole twist in the first place was completely unnecessary. Although I did not like the third act conflict, the ending was a really nice way to wrap the book up (I wouldn’t have minded a bonus scene though)!

Final Thoughts: While at times, this book did leave some things to be desired, overall, it was a pretty good (and fun) read.