3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars

Ali Hazelwood's previous books have been hit and miss with me. I have liked some and not cared as much for others. But I thought Check & Mate, her first YA book, was cute!

The story is about a girl named Mallory who is a chess prodigy but stopped playing due to family struggles. When she gets pulled back into the game, she meets her greatest competitor in World Champion Nolan Sawyer...the mysterious boy who may also be the love of her life.

I know nothing about chess! Except that I watched the Queen's Gambit and loved it. I enjoyed the chess in this story and enjoyed learning more about the game-- especially the perspective of the life of a professional chess player. I liked Nolan and for the most part I liked Mallory, although she did annoy me a few times. Together they were cute, and I enjoyed reading their story.

I was a little disappointed at the end because it ended too soon. I wanted to see how the final scene played out but instead it jumps to an epilogue. I felt like there was a lot of build up to the ending, and then it just ended without really showing what happened.

For the most part I enjoyed this one. A quick and easy read!

“𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 & 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞” 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

A cute YA romance focused on rival chess players.

𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘴. 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. 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....

This was my first book by Hazelwood, and it was a fun, quick read. I was expecting more of the romance (since I was told she’s one of the queens) but there didn’t seem to be a lot of that, which I’m ok with since it is a YA book. It was more character focused, really following Mallory’s personal journey. I wasn’t the biggest fan of hers; she came across as very whiney and it took away from the story for me. I enjoyed Nolan and the side characters a lot more and wished more of the focus had been on them. Overall it was a fast read that did keep my interest and I absolutely flew through the pages. Recommended for any YA reader looking for a quick, cute read.

Thank you so much to @penguinteen and for my review copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 & 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞 is out November 7th, 2023!

While I thoroughly enjoyed the stage being set in the world of chess, I think this should have been marketed as a coming-of-age novel, rather than a romance. Some could argue the romance was a slow burn but that would require the love interests being around each other enough to build up the slow burn. This is supposed to be rivals-to-lovers but neither “rival” truly cares for the other in the way a rival should? Mallory is fully uninterested in taking her chess career seriously, though she does get exhausted and annoyed by the misogyny she experiences in the industry. On the other hand, it’s very clear that Nolan is enamored with her from the start and does not feel antagonized by her as you would with a rival, so to me, this was more of instalove on Nolan’s end and too-busy-being-the-parent-for-my-family-to-woah-I-think-I’m-in-love for Mallory. I don’t know the trope, maybe pessimist-finds-love!

The past trauma that both of these characters endure is quite devastating, and I recognize that kids absolutely do internalize guilt, shame, and a sense of blame when it comes to their parents’ divorces and deaths, as if they were at fault. However, I am a bit frustrated by the representation of “gosh, my mom is disabled (she has rheumatoid arthritis and it’s implied she does not work) and I *must* be the savior for my family and two younger sisters (aged 14 & 12).” I find it to frame the non-disabled daughter as the unsung hero, and the mother as “incapable” of taking care of her kids. Idk, I just wonder if any ownvoices sensitivity read for that.

Nolan felt like a piece of cardboard, but since we know Ali’s go-to inspiration is Adam Driver, you can just imagine him at 20 years old, reserved, unbothered, quiet, and wholly focused on chess, and that may liven him up for you! He had his bold, swoon-worthy moments, but he mostly fell a bit flat to me. I did appreciate the representation of a 20-year-old young man being a virgin though, and it not being a big deal.

On the other hand, I did appreciate the sex positivity and openness with which Mallory approached sex in this book. I appreciate a young female character who does not have any shame or guilt about her sexual endeavors. She is also bisexual, and her sexuality is brought up a few times, which sometimes felt out of place and seemingly to be like “hey, remember that I’m bisexual, okay?” (which as a bisexual, I do empathize with that sentiment of constantly having to affirm your sexual orientation, but I also felt like, ‘k babe, we get it!’)

The gen z / millennial references to AO3, TikTok, Discord, etc. did not bother me one bit. I find it fun when you can tell when a book was written, and in a few decades, people will be like, ‘ha ha, this was *so* written in the 2020s!’ I think that’s so goofy & I love it!

Overall, not my favorite characters and I was bored from 40-65% but it’s Ali Hazelwood so I don’t see any of her books “flopping” regardless of what I, a mere peasant, have to say.

cw: grief, infidelity, betrayal, abandonment, young adult who feels pressure to take on parental/financial duties for her family, chronically ill parent & grandparent, death of a loved one, tame sexual content (fade-to-black but sex is openly discussed throughout the book), sexism & misogyny in chess & the media

Could. Not. Put. Down. I so enjoyed the dive into the chess world and the will they, won’t they storyline. While I enjoyed the pop culture references, I felt many to be too old for the current generation to appreciate fully. I have greatly enjoyed all of her adult novels and look forward to future YA adventures.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group - Penguin Young Readers Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review 🩷

If y’all don’t know by now I will read anything Ali Hazelwood releases into the world. So you can imagine my reaction when I received this ARC (it involved shocking gasps and jumping and my husband questioning my sanity).

Check & Mate centers on 18 year old Mallory, who used to love the game of Chess and was very, very good at it. 4 years earlier something happened with her chess loving father/coach that forced Mallory to swear off this thing she loves. Now she is a main caretaker for her two younger sisters as dad is gone, and her mom is dealing with debilitating chronic illness. When an opportunity she can’t refuse (though she frustratingly acts like she has to, despite an obvious solution to 💰 problems) comes up to be part of chess again after she accidentally beats the current world number 1, Mallory takes it.

I honestly didn’t think I would care about chess, but Ali somehow wrote in a way that I was interested about the tournaments and the art and knowledge that goes into the game! So if you’re worried about all the chess (because it is very chess heavy) I don’t think you should be. The chess community that builds around Mallory is so cute and comforting, I really loved that aspect of the story.

The one things that did drive me a bit nuts was Mallory herself. She’s a very self sacrificing character. She’s an eldest daughter with a lot on her shoulders (hard relate) but at some points her personality and thought process is so grating. I was very grateful for a grumpy character included in the story that straight up had to put her in her place at one point, because the things I was thinking needed to be said 😂

The romance in this book really shines, it feels very Ali Hazelwood. I don’t read contemporary YA romance usually as I don’t typically find it believable without an outlandish fantasy setting and impossible magical trial going on to push the kids together, but this one worked for me! HOWEVER, it should be mentioned that Mallory is 18, and the MMC is 20. These are older characters, and though there is no on page 🌶️, it’s mentioned and Mallory is experienced, and has been utilizing hookups for stress release and freedom. So I would likely put this in the upper YA category, and it may not be entirely appropriate for the younger end of the YA demographic.

Overall I rated this book more than 4 stars, but less than 4.5, so shout out to StoryGraph that lets me rate things 4.25 stars! It was very enjoyable, I do wish there was a little more time to appreciate the romance between the characters, and I wish Mallory got herself together slightly earlier in the story, but I had fun!

Now, I have my Bride arc… so I will probably need to pick that one up soon 👀

Check and Mate was an enjoyable YA offering from Hazelwood, who is one of my favorite authors. I didn't find it nearly as compelling as her adult titles, but I think this was due to where I am in life and not connecting to the characters because of this. Hazelwood's writing is fantastic, her characters have depth, and the story itself has a good plot. I just personally didn't connect well with it.

4/5 Stars

Thank you so much to G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers for providing me with this arc. I am extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity and all of my opinions are my own.

I, like many people, fell in love with Ali Hazelwood’s books with the release of the Love Hypothesis and I have followed her books very closely since then. I never thought I would get an arc of her books because everything before this was Berkley Romance, who I adore as a publisher but I have never once been approved by so my hopes were very low when I requested this book not knowing it would be similar. To my extreme surprise I got an email saying I was approved for freaking Ali Hazelwood’s YA Debut which was completely unexpected and I remember crying about it. I had no idea what to expect from this book because I was a tiny bit worried Ali’s style wouldn’t transfer well to YA but I think she did an amazing job. I rarely read YA anymore and often when I do I just don’t enjoy them as much as other books but this one was amazing, and it helps that this book is upper ya. One of my favorite parts of this book was that you don’t need to know anything about chess for this book to make sense, I literally know nothing and I understood everything.

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess, she wants to support her family and move on from parts of her past that lead to the destruction of her family years earlier. This is until she agrees to play one last tournament to help a friend out and ends up wiping the board with Nolan Sawyer who is the current world champion and number 1 in the world. Nolan Sawyer is known for not losing so when a complete rookie beats him the world wants to know more. Mallory’s victory opens a door she thought was permanently shut but when she needs the cash that comes with winning she has to toe the water of the chess world before ultimately being pushed fully in.

I loved Mallory and Nolan as characters. I loved the depth that we slowly got from them and how similar they are. Nolan is a “tad” obsessed with Mallory after she beats him and wants to know everything about her. I truly want a bonus chapter of right after Mallory beats him in the first tournament in his POV because I know it has to be hilarious. While this is YA both of them are 18+ which I think is part of the reason I really liked this because while it wasn’t adult it also wasn’t like freshman.

I highly recommend this if you like Ali Hazelwood’s books and want to read some YA and I also think this could be a decent stepping stone from YA to more new adult books.

Checkmate.
♟️
Mallory Greenleaf has been done with chess for a while ever since her father soured the sport for her. Now all she focuses on is working hard to help provide for her ill mother and two younger sisters, but when her best friend, Easton, asks her to play for charity, Mallory agrees. The first game has her wiping the floor with “The Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer, the number one player in the world. Now Mallory is back playing chess for the money to help her family, but a big part of her refuses to admit how much she loves it. Mallory continues to rise up in the world rankings, all while keeping her family in the dark about her taking up the sport again. When she’s asked to play in one of the biggest competitions in the chess world, Mallory realizes it’s not all fun and games and that her heart is more invested than she realized.
♟️
1. @alihazelwood can do no wrong. Homegirl can write for adults and now it’s a PROVEN FACT she can write for young adults & new adults as well.
2. How have I never read a #book about chess before?! I love playing the game, but honestly couldn’t think of one other novel with this at the center of the story.
3. I loved how the female MC was bi/pan, as well as sex positive and the male MC more on the inexperienced side.
4. I was enthralled from page one. The characters, the story arc, the romance ALL of it was amazing. I laughed out loud many times and truly believe Ali is the new romance author for this generation.
This title releases November 7. It’s a 5⭐️ preorder situation here, y’all.

CW: adultery, chronic illness, car accident, death, drunk driving, alcohol, dementia, parental abandonment, hospitalization, bullying, misogyny

ooh, such a good teen romance!! It was great reading a different side of Ali Hazelwoood. I highly enjoy how her main characters have their own form of nerdiness that I can see myself in.

This was a cute, nerdy romance. I loved the character Nolan! He was a little misunderstood at times, but a really great guy. Be prepared for a lot of chess references. I didn't feel that it overwhelmed the story, however. I was a little disappointed with the end as it was written as a news article. I really felt that this was a disservice to the story and it lost a lot of the emotion at the end.

Mallory’s best friend, Easton, asks her to be in a chess tournament as one last hurrah before college. Mallory gave up on chess a long time ago, but begrudgingly goes and ends up not only catching the attention of the #1 chess player in the world, Nolan Sawyer (AKA The Kingkiller), but also beats him.

With that attention, she’s offered a fellowship to play chess for one year. She doesn’t really wat to play, but she just lost her job and needs the money to help take care of her mom and sister, so she decides to take it.

Nolan is impressed by Mallory. He needs her brain and wants them to team up to fight against a greater enemy.

The longer she plays, and the more she starts like feeling she’s part of something, the more she realizes how much she missed it and wants to continue. The big negative is there’s lots of misogyny in the world of chess and she just really wants to prove all the men wrong.

I really loved this. It’s everything you love about an Ali Hazelwood book, only in YA form. Is the FMC nerdy and brilliant? Yes. Is the MMC broody and…also brilliant? Also, yes. I will gobble up anything she writes, it’s addictive. This one made me want to watch Queen’s Gambit (Netflix) all over again. If you loved this and haven’t watched that, I suggest you go do that right now. I can’t wait for Ali’s first PNR book, Bride, out next year.

Thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley. I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

I’ve loved Ali’s STEM-adult novels and wasn’t sure how I’d feel going into her first YA novel, focused on chess, but I couldn’t put this down. If you’re a fan of The Queen’s Gambit, you can appreciate this one.
After years away from chess, family hardships, and loss, Mallory Greenleaf makes an unexpected return to the world of chess, taking down one of the top players Nolan Sawyer in a charity match. When a return to the game allows her to care for her family, she quickly rises up the ranks with all paths leading her back to Sawyer.
While marketed as YA, this is just as enjoyable to read as an adult! Thank you to Penguin Young Readers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is out 11/7!

Check & Mate
by Ali Hazelwood

Ali Hazelwood does it again! I have loved every single book of hers. I wasn't sure how this one would compare to her other ones since this was Young Adult, but I should have never doubted!

If you have loved Ali Hazelwood's other books - you'll love this one. If you are new to reading Ali Hazelwood books - this book is a great, as are all of her books!

Thank you #NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and comments are my own.

I’ve enjoyed all of Ali Hazelwood’s books so far, so it was no surprise that this one was no different, even though I have absolutely no interest in chess. Both main characters were complicated and flawed in the best way. I liked that the mmc was inexperienced with women and romantic relationships. In away he’s probably a lot women’s dream guy in that he’s never been interested in another woman, has only ever even noticed her. 😂 I didn’t necessarily love that the fmc was possibly especially “experienced”, but it does make sense considering her history and issues surrounding her childhood. This book was a bit different from her adult novels in that the sex scenes were not on page, but again that makes sense considering it’s supposed to be YA. As I mentioned, I have no interest in chess, but the way it’s written about here, with just the right amount of detail, was perfect for me and I think will be the same for others who enjoy the author’s work but don’t care about the play by play of lots of chess that’s played in the story.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and continue to look forward to reading more by this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam’s Sons Books for providing me this eARC for my honest opinion!

loved this one! Yay for Ali Hazelwood’s YA debut!

Quick, light (yet thoughtful), easy read that made me laugh out loud, tear up, get butterflies, cheer, gasp, and shout “no!” several times.

Mallory was a quintessential Hazelwood girlie: smart, capable, often too busy taking care of others to put herself first, and found smack dab in the middle of a male-dominated field.

Nolan was confident, independent, and knew what he wanted from the start. I love a He Falls First!!

The epilogue was so presh & the side characters were hilarious! A story about chess had NO RIGHT making me this emotional!

Thank you PRH Audio for the ALC and Penguin Teen for the ARC 🫶🏼

This was a classic Ali book. Loved it from the start to end. I love her way of story telling. She paints a pictures. Why did I notice a random player’s play style? The details she leaves is impeccable. Now moving to the characters, honestly Mal kind of annoyed me at parts. But I think it’s because she was ignorant on how she was acting. Nolan was dreamy as expected. The one thing I expected more out of this book was more of Nolan’s POV. I want to ready why he was hooked onto Mal. I want to know what drives him nuts, what makes him, him? Overall it’s a great read. Finished it one go! I would rate is 4 stars and that one star is for lack of more Nolan in the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

I love Ali Hazelwood's works, and was looking forward to reading her newest book, and first young adult novel. I found the plot interesting and compelling, especially since I have never really been interested in chess before. The characters were well-developed as well. I found Mallory's character to be a bit too woe-is-me, why can no one understand that because of me their lives are so much better which was frustrating at times, but I guess that was the point of her character? Nolan was an interesting foil to her, especially since they are more similar to each other than they may want to admit. Hazelwood definitely tried to make this book relevant for current teens, since there were so many pop culture references (almost too many). Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable, fun read.

I am stupid when it comes to chess and because of that I’ve always found it a little boring, but Ali Hazelwood wrote a chess romance that was exciting and fun. It kept me engaged all the way through and had the best hero!

Mallory Greenleaf would be fine with never playing chess again. She was really, really good but quit playing around 14. Now she’s 18 and supporting her family by working as a mechanic. Her best friend has her join in on a tournament and she not only wins, but beats the number one player in the world (yes, world).

I think this might be Ali’s best book yet. I really, really loved how Ali wrote about the struggles Mallory faced, how she addressed them, pushed through them, got stuck along the way and had to come to terms with acknowledging help and support are okay to accept.

Nolan is one of my favorite love interests in Ali’s books, and I really appreciated the friendship that they built their relationship off of in this book. The only thing I wish we saw more of was a little more closure on their relationship at the end/epilogue.

Thank you so much to @penguinteen and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

I was sooo excited for this one and it was so cute! Check and Mate gave me such The Queen’s Gambit vibes so if you loved that show you’ll definitely like this book. It was interesting reading an Ali Hazelwood that was 1. YA (though I would say it’s definitely more New Adult) and 2. wasn’t STEM focused though I still liked that it was centered around an aspect of the world that I know nothing about lol. The romance between Mallory and Nolan was really cute and I liked the progression of their story. Some of Mallory’s actions and thoughts frustrated me a bit as well as some parts of the plot, but overall I enjoyed this one and it was exactly what I needed to get me out of a reading slump. Rating: 4/5⭐️