This book was such an emotional roller coaster. I expect that from books set in this time period, but this was one that built you up and tore you down, only to build you up again. My heart ached for the entire read. I ached for the characters and the pain they endured. I ached for the innocent lives that were lost. I ached because though the story is fictional, the horrors of the holocaust are a very real part of our history.
Though the story is fictional, Gabriella did an enormous amount of research and played her story out on a fairly accurate time line. There were creative liberties taken, but there was so much actual history, much of which I didn't realize until the end of the book. There are multiple pages dedicated to explaining and talking about certain characters who were actually there.
Gabriella's story was good, heart breaking, but it is one that will stay with me for a very long time.

I really appreciate Gabriella taking the time to write up her own trigger warnings on her website.
Trigger Warnings:
Language, Violence and Gore, Physical and Psychological torture, Ableism, Ageism, Sexism, Antisemitism and Anti-Polonism, Pro-Nazi rhetoric, Burns from torture, Beatings and floggings that resulted in severe scarring, Concentration and Extermination camps, Forced nudity, Mention of rape/sexual assault/prostitution, Attempted rape of a minor situation that is not carried out, Dehumanization, Multiple murders by beating/gun shot/injection/freezing to death, Gas Chambers mentioned, Smoking and Drinking, Depression with Suicidal thoughts and actions, Severe PTSD

Maria is working for the resistance during World War Two, when she is captured and sent to Auschwitz at age 14. Maria’s ability to play chess helps keep her alive through the horrors she witnesses in the camp.

The alternating timelines were well done and easy to follow (this is not always the case). I enjoy historical fiction and including chess as part of the story is something I haven’t read before among books about this time period.

It is obvious from the author’s notes that the characters and story were thoroughly researched.

Highly recommend for fans of historical fiction or those interested in World War Two.

Maria, a young Polish girl who works for the resistance, is captured and sent to Auschwitz during the second world war. Maria loves chess and uses it to survive during her time in the concentration camp. Will she make it out alive? Will her chess save her?

I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, especially books about the second world war, but I’m so glad that I picked up this ARC. While it has a slow start, I found myself surprised with how invested I became about half way through. It was an emotional book, as all books about the holocaust are, but there was also such realness, which I think helped to make the reader connect with the characters. The characters were interesting and relatable, and it was a unique storyline. The back and forth time jump of a few years increased the suspense, especially near the end. Overall, even though it took me awhile to get through this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you listed the Queen’s Gambit, I think you will enjoy this story.

Thank you @netgalley and Harper Collins Canada and William Morrow for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a rollercoaster of emotions you get when reading this book, sadness, horror, suffering, but also courage, resilience, valor, friendship and love.

Gabriella Saab did a magnificent work in describing the horrors of Auschwitz, the resourceful ways the prisoners developed to survive and the subsequent trauma that accompany them throughout all their lives.

Even if this is a fictional account nothing prevents it from mirroring reality, prisoner in the concentration camps were forced to use their special skills, and in some cases took advantage of them, in order to survive. In the case of this book Maria, a teenager working for the Polish resistance who is an exceptional chess player and is used by the camp commandant for his amusement and "love of the game".

Maria is caught during one of her runs working for the resistance in Warsaw and as a consequence her whole family is detained and sent to Auschwitz, only she survives.

The book is extremely well researched incorporating actual personages and events from the period, making it feel when reading it that you are inside the story, which leaves you at times raw and trembling, especially in the torture scenes.

You are so ruling at the end of the book for Maria to find peace and justice, will she be able to get it with the last match?

Be sure to read the Author's Notes at the end of the book, with explanations of the actual events and people used in the book, and where she took literary liberties. You will learn a lot with this information provided, these notes are as interesting and valuable as the book per se.

I truly recommend this book.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for my e-arc copy of THE LAST CHECKMATE in exchange for an honest review! This book published October 19!

This book was amazing for a debut author. I loved it. Never would I have imagined attributing the game of chess to being a means of survival in Auschwitz. Maria goes through so much loss, pain, grief throughout this book, like so many others. But she also shakes incredible strength, courage, bravery, and so much skill! (Not just with playing chess, but how she comes up with such clever plans)

The friendships she forms with Hania and Irene were my favourite. It was what enabled them to survive the death camps. What each of them did to aid each other, is truly heroic.

I love how this book touches on two key issues. One being the lack of mental health aid for survivors post war. This is shown dramatically through Maria, and how she acted upon coming face to face with the guy who killed her family the first day they arrived in Auschwitz. Secondly, this book shows that despite many SS officers being brutal and cruel and inhuman, there were also some who were brainwashed into being there, and didn’t actually agree with what was going on, but feared for their own lives.

If you are a fan of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, you will enjoy this book! I highly recommend this one!

It's complicated to share my thoughts on this books because it was so heartwrenching and insightful. I felt my heart on my throat throughout it all.

Maria Florkowska was such a strong character. She taught me about perseverance, war, friendship, survival. Mostly, of course, she taught me about chess. Her story was horrifying yet so fascinating it motivated me to keep reading.

Highly recommend The Last Checkmate. It's that one of a kind book that exceeds 5 stars!

Such a beautifully written novel. The author did her research on this one and it definitely shows.
Maria, a resistance worker and the game of chess that keeps her alive. A must read for any historical fiction reader,
Thank you NetGalley!

Lovely debut novel from Gabriella Saab! Thank you William Morrow and Netgallery for the advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review. This book was published on October 19th.

Brief Synopsis:
Maria, a young Polish resistance worker, is sent to Auschwitz with her family for political crimes. When it’s discovered that she can play chess, she is used in the camp as a chess opponent. To the guards, she’s entertainment but for Maria, she’s playing in exchange for her life.

My thoughts/opinions:
This book brings you some Queen’s Gambit vibes while reading! Every time I read a book where a character plays chess, I immediately want to learn how to as well (Spoiler alert…I never do).
Maria was a strong character who would not give up & was always looking out for everyone else. However there were many other strong supporting characters in this novel and I love how it focused on Maria’s friendships with them.

Whenever I read about WW2 books with scenes set in the camps, it just makes me sick. I still can’t fathom how cruel people can be. These books would be very hard to write and research for. Be prepared to feel many emotions in this book!

A fantastic gripping read that keeps you engaged the entire time. The writing is done in such a way to take you on the journey with the characters. You feel all of their emotions and it made it even more heart wrenching to know the book is based on real events and real people. A young Polish resistance fighter who is sent to Auschwitz where she must play chess at the whim of her German captors to survive. Details of prisoner's daily struggle and will to survive will make you pause. I felt myself continuing to wonder how they could have continued and how these atrocities were stomached by captors and captives alike.
A must-read for historical fiction readers and those interesting in learning more about WW2. I thoroughly enjoyed that one of my favorite saints is in the novel and his story will be shared with audiences as well.

The Last Checkmate is an intense and enveloping book that is filled with action. It’s exceptionally well-written, well-plotted, and believable characters. The subject matter, however, is difficult to read, more so than other books with similar settings. This book pulls no punches when it comes to the horrific treatment of prisoners at Auschweitz. The hunger – no, the starvation, the beatings, the constant deprivation of connection, and the never ending uncertainty about survival. This book is an incredibly powerful and poignant debut novel. I’ll be watching for other books to come from this author.

This book, which follows two women prisoners at Auschwitz, Maria, a Polish Catholic, and Hania, a Polish Jew, highlights the cruelty prisoners, Polish or Jewish, Catholic or anything else, suffered from Nazi (SS) guards. It dwells on the prisoners tenacity and will to live under such conditions. How they managed to survive in the face of hatred and evil.

While there are many references to the game of chess in this book, it's not necessary to know the game to enjoy the book. It is used as a device to join the various parts of the story together. Maria, taught the game by her father, is exceptional at chess. She had hoped, before incarceration, to become a chess champion. She sees the world in terms of a chess board, and often uses the same strategies from the game to guide her life. It's handled well within the story.

If there’s one shortfall in this book, and it’s a small one, it’s that sometimes there’s a lack of true emotion in Maria. At times, the reader is more told what Maria is feeling than shown. I wanted more from Maria when bad things happened, but usually, she just offered a sob and maybe a tremble, then moved on. It’s possible that’s what was necessary to maintain her mental health, but I’d have liked to see it developed a bit more. As I said, this was a very small weakness in an otherwise exceptional book.

Despite the horrid conditions and treatment experienced under the Nazi regime, this is a book filled with love; friendship; trust when everything screams at you not to trust; hate, and family, both the one you’re born into and the one you create for yourself. It’s definitely tough to read at times, but it’s so worth it.

While all of the main characters are beautifully developed, the one who stands out for me is Father Kolbe, a Catholic friar. If there was no other reason to read this book, I'd want to have done so to learn about him. I'd never hear of him before, but I want to learn more about him now. Such an amazing person, so willing to make sacrifices for others, such a loss to humanity.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. I thank all involved for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

Definitely one of my 5 star reads of 2021, and a complete tear jerker.

The Last Checkmate by Gabriella Saab features Maria, a 14 year old Polish Resistance member, who is sent to Auschwitz after being arrested for her activities. Her skills at chess draw the attention of one of the officers and help her struggle to survive. Throughout her time at her camp, the friendships she develops, with a fellow female prisoner, a Catholic priest, and others keep her going, in the hopes of one day confronting the guard who took it all from her.

This book truly did a number on me. I read a ton of WW2 historical fiction anyhow, and nothing quite prepared me for the emotions in Maria's story. The book is heart wrenching and the reader spends much of it on the edge of their seat, wondering what will happen to Maria and the people that become her friends at the camp.

This debut novel by Gabriella Saab was an amazing portrayal what life might have been like for a young, female resistance fighter during World War II. At just fourteen years old Maria Florkowska finds out that her parents are members of the Polish underground resistance in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. She bravely decides to join the resistance to also help save children's lives. After being caught and tortured her entire family is sent to Auschwitz. When she learns that her family has been murdered by the guards Maria has to use her wit and chess knowledge to keep herself alive. This book brought me to tears several times and I couldn't put it down. Throughout reading it I kept thinking about all of the people I wanted to share this book with especially my teenaged daughters.

Many thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I like the title of the book it was very interesting how how chess played important part in this book. Maria like to play chess and this This helped her survive the concentration poin Camp. And how she was trying to help the resistance was more important but this backfired and she was taken along with her family to the camp. And the chest piece saved her life.. She made friends with a priest A woman called H ANI a These people helped her cope and survive in the camps because she felt very upset about her family Being killed. How she kept the priest rosary's After he was killed I'm being tortured about food or water. And sure how she found happiness even after she left the camps.. It's a really interesting book mission hidden twist in the book as well...

The author’s use of a chess game was cleaver. At times I thought the narrative a bit wordy; however, the theme was well threaded throughout the novel.

A riveting, final game of chess between the vicious commander of Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Karl Fritzch, and his victimized prisoner, Maria, is the backdrop for this debut historical novel from Gabriella Saab. As the two players match skills and wit during the chess game, the story of Maria's work with the Polish Resistance in Warsaw during WWII, her capture and ultimate imprisonment at Auschwitz unfold, detailing the interworkings of the camp under the reign of Fritzch. No longer a prisoner, Maria seeks out the man who tormented her and murdered her family in cold blood and challenges him to a final game of chess, knowing there will be deadly consequences. Will Maria survive the deadly game that she initiated? Based on the true story of Fritzch's reign over the infamous concentration camp, Saab does an amazing job of weaving the true facts of Auschwitz into Maria's fictionalized story. Astonishing historical novel. A must read!

Gabriella Saab, in her debut novel, has captured what life might have been like for a fourteen-year-old girl, Maria Florkowaska, to work in the Resistance in Warsaw, Poland, at the beginning of the war, sent to Auschwitz with her family with a new name 16671, suffered under Fritzsack who tormented her by having her play chess with him, and managed to survive. The book alternates between time periods throughout from the end of the war playing a final chess game with Fritsack, to days in the Resistance, to the time in Auschwitz, to the end of the war, to Maria returning with her family thirty-seven years later.
I really appreciated the author notes at the end of the book and the history of the many real people in the book with little bios about them. I look forward to reading future books by Saab. My thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for the ARC! What an incredible story. Enjoyed reading about Maria. An incredibly brave and intelligent young lady. Felt as if I were in the story along side the characters. Will recommend

The last checkmate is a heartwrenching novel about a young girl who was sent to Auschwitz along with her entire family. She is a talented chess player, and ends up playing chess for her life with the evil deputy of the camp.

This is a sad but well researched read.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley. My review is voluntary.

"Maybe we aren't meant to leave the past behind. Maybe we're meant to bring it with us so we can join others weighed down by the same burdens, and we can carry them together. Maybe that's how we find peace." - The Last Checkmate by Gabriella Saab

This novel is intense. More than any Holocaust novel I recall, Gabriella Saab's debut The Last Checkmate immersed me in the cruelty hundreds of thousands of Jews and Resistance members endured at the hands of Nazis. It was difficult to read at times, but I continued because so many actually experienced this horror.

The story features Maria Florkowska, a young teen member of the Polish Resistance whose capture by the Gestapo leads to her and her family's imprisonment in Auschwitz. Her skill at chess catches the attention of a savage camp guard and enables her to act strategically to survive the inhumane conditions. Maria's friendship with Father Kolbe was a glimmer of hope in an otherwise cold, dark, and dirty existence.

The plot is inspired by historic events and people as explained in an extensive author's note.

At times, it felt Maria was savvy beyond her age, but prisoners likely matured rapidly in such conditions. The ending was slightly too 'happily ever after" for my taste, but after enduring so much horror and grief, these characters deserve all the happiness they can get.

Thank you to William Morrow, Book Club Girl, and NetGalley for the review copy of this outstanding novel.

The Last Checkmate by Gabriella Saab is the story of Maria and her friends, mostly prisoners at Auschwitz. Early in the war, Maria and her mother were resistance workers in Warsaw. Her mother helped get Jewish youngsters to safety. One day she was caught. They also went after her family. She successfully lied her way, she thought, even after the torture. As a closing, the questioner installed fie cigarette burns into her arm. One of each member of her family, she thought, but at least they'd be free. She was wrong. Shortly after she was returned to their cell, they were put on a truck and then a train, which would carry them to their deaths. As they left the train, Maria got separated from the rest of them. At the same time she became the toy of a sadistic guard, who discovered she like chess and kept her playing for many of the years she was in the camp. She made friends, some of whom lived, and she lived to see the camp liberated, although she was not longer there, but nearby.

This was, of course, a heartbreaking read. It was different than many of this ilk in that Maria and her friends
seemed to have more freedom within the walls of the camp many others. She worked too hard, never got enough to eat, and was tortured in front of all. She had a plan though, and that was to live. Live she did, largely through strength of character. She had no blood family but she had good friends, and she made that work. She also had the rosary that her friend, Father Kolbe had given her and touching the beads got her through many trials. It is difficult to put into words the impact of this book and books like it. May we never forget.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Last Checkmate by Harper Collins, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #harpercollins #thelastcheckmate #gabriellasaab