As a newcomer to Ali Hazelwood's work, Check & Mate proved to be a delightful and engaging read! This charming story effortlessly blends the worlds of competitive chess and swoon-worthy romance, creating a narrative that kept me turning pages. The characters were well-developed and relatable, particularly Mallory, whose passion and determination shone through. I appreciated the author's ability to weave in humor and genuine emotional connection, making the central relationship feel both believable and utterly charming.
While the chess elements were intriguing and added a unique flavor to the story, I did find myself occasionally wishing for a bit more depth in the strategic aspects. However, this didn't detract significantly from my overall enjoyment of the book.
As a woman in STEM myself, I was particularly drawn to Hazelwood's portrayal of intelligent and driven female characters navigating their passions. Check & Mate has definitely piqued my interest, and I'm already looking forward to picking up more of Ali Hazelwood's books in the near future. This one is a solid recommendation for anyone looking for a lighthearted, smart, and utterly enjoyable romance!

Absolutely loved this book. I have to say Ali did so well with this YA book. So much different than her other books but surprisingly my favourite!

When you haven’t played chess in years, agree to step in for a friend at a tournament, accidentally defeat the world’s number one champion… and now he’s completely obsessed with you? Say less.

I don’t even like chess, but now I want to learn—purely for the chance to fall in love with a tall, dark, and emotionally complicated rival.

Mallory and Nolan feel cosmically bound. Their connection is so intense, it’s like their souls are destined to find each other in every universe, no matter the odds. You don’t just read about their relationship—you feel it.

If you’re the burnt-out older sibling who always keeps it together for everyone else, this book will hit hard. Mallory is painfully relatable. At times, I honestly wondered if the author had been spying on my life. It felt that personal.

And Nolan? He is the definition of romance. He’s quietly, completely gone for Mallory from the start. He wants to know her, protect her, build a world with her. He would do anything for her—even before she knew she could trust him. He’s the kind of love interest who proves that yearning is still alive and well in fiction.

One of my favorite scenes is when Mallory takes care of him while he’s sick. He’s so out of it, he’s convinced it’s a dream—because in his mind, there’s no way the girl of his dreams would actually be there, nursing him back to health. It’s tender, sweet, and so achingly romantic.

This book was everything I didn’t know I needed. Quietly intense, emotionally rich, and impossible to put down.

This was my first novel by Ali and it will never be the last!

I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about her books and I’m so glad I absolutely loved my first one. One thing that has caught my attention, aside from the colorful covers, is how each one has a STEM/sport aspect to it and I absolutely love that.

This one is centered around chess and while I know absolutely nothing about it, I didn’t think I needed to. Yes a lot of moves are discussed, or a lot of popular chess players, but it was easy to look those up. The drama I felt like wasn’t that big of a deal but I wasn’t in Mallory’s shoes so not sure how I’d feel if that was done to me. I thought the romance of this one was super cute and it wasn’t overly mushy at all. Which while I am an over the top door wide open girl, sometimes those are appreciated.

Was not a huge fan of this book. I was expecting something totally different. I have a love-hate relationship with Ali Hazelwoods writing.

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood is an absolute gem! I didn’t expect to be so hooked, but this book kept me turning the pages from start to finish. It’s got all the tropes I love: he fell first, opposites attract, and a good old slow-burn romance that will have you rooting for them from the very beginning.

Mallory and Nolan are such an interesting pair. Mallory is trying to stay out of the chess world after her family’s history with it, but when she accidentally wins against Nolan at a charity tournament, things take a turn. Nolan is competitive, a little cocky, and he definitely doesn’t expect to be drawn to Mallory, but the more time they spend together, the more their connection grows.

I loved how Nolan was the one to fall first. There’s something about a guy realizing his feelings before the girl does that gets me every time! Their chemistry is so palpable, and I loved watching their relationship develop, especially since they both had to deal with their own personal challenges. Mallory’s journey back to the world of chess was filled with emotional depth, and Nolan’s genuine care for her as she navigated that made my heart melt.

The pacing was perfect, and while the romance was slow-burn, the tension between them kept things exciting. I was also really impressed with the way Hazelwood handled Mallory’s personal growth and the challenges she faced in a competitive environment.

If you love sweet romances with a bit of slow-burn tension, a touch of competition, and great character development, Check & Mate is a must-read!

Fantastic book! Enjoyable read! Ali never disappoints! Her writing is intriguing and always pulls me in.

This is the fastest I ever read a book. 24ish hours. I couldn't put it down so I read it instead of sleeping. I read it while eating. While doing a lot of things, really.

This story is as adorable than it is captivating. It was my first book by this author, and it won't be my last. I'm curious to compare with her other books!

What I know about chess, I learned it watching The Queen's Gambit on Netflix.... So not much! I loved to immersed myself in this world once again.

Loved the character development, love the growth they both did.

And can we talk about this pining, and how atrociously-good was that slow burn?

Loved loved loved that one.

I was just not a huge fan of this one unfortunately. I just found it to be pretty boring. It’s probably one of my least favorite Ali hazelwood books

Check & Mate is now my favorite Ali Hazelwood book. I really loved the characters in this story and how well Hazelwood described chess for those who do not play the game. As someone who does play though, I ate up this book and desperately need more New Adult fiction from Hazelwood. This was such a fresh and fun addition to her backlist and I cannot wait to see what she does next!

Normally, I am an avid Ali Hazelwood reader. I have read all of her books and love them, but this one missed the mark for me. I know that is is probably just a me thing, since I primarily read adult romance, but the YA facet of this was just not appealing. I think that if there was a little more chemistry, nothing super crazy, I would have loved it more!

Okay I love Ali Hazelwood, and will read anything she writes. This one, was cute but definitely not my favorite. Check & Mate gives us the same magical humor, and fun to follow plot, and lovable MC's that she constantly blesses readers with. However, for me personally I felt like we didn't get to spend enough time with Mallory and Nolan, I needed this book to be like a Queen's Gambit-esque mini series. And maybe that's the problem since there is already such a strong precedent? It could quite honestly be that I have been consuming fewer and fewer YA novels per annum, and it just feels like the genre in general tells stories that are too "brief."

So in all, my three stars here could be jaded because I am no longer of the target YA reading population and crave more of the emotional grit, and expanded dialogue, and gray areas of the plot that come from adult-appropriate fiction. HOWEVER, this is an absolutely fine fine fine Hazelwood work and is worthy of any and all recommendations. I'm also glad that younger peoples get to experience the Hazelwood magic too.

I think I read a much MUCH different book than everyone else.
I LOVE Ali Hazelwood and have read a lot of her previous works and while I know this is YA (I have read and loved other YA books so NO that isn't a reason as to why I didn't like this book), Check & Mate, fell FLAT!
Mallory and her responsibilities just made me want to check out SO fast and NOT in a good way. Her sister's were just too ungrateful and I honestly disliked them.
BUT what took the cake for me, was alllll the pop culture references. Like while it's ok to have them sprinkled in, it just felt forced and cringy in some areas. Anyway I love Ali but I disliked Check and Mate.

Thank you to netgalley for the free review copy! This book is already out.

First of all, this was really stinking cute.

I love love loved the slow burn romance while Mallory worked out her feelings. It was so cute. Nolan was the perfect book boyfriend

I also loved the chess setting and learning about that world, it was so different from this author’s usual setting that I really enjoyed it and it felt like a breath of fresh air.

This whole thing almost felt like it had no reason being YA though other than the fact that compared to Hazelwoods other novels, this had off page sec scenes vs on page. The main characters are 18 and 20, and tbh she acts more like she’s in her early 20s than fresh out of high school. It could’ve easily been adult with very little change to the plot.

I love Ali Hazelwood, and I will probably read anything she writes. However, when I first picked this book up, I was slightly put-off by the little sister character. Her annoying behaviors were... a lot. I did pick the book back up, and I ended up loving it. The annoyingness of the little sister made sense in the context of the story.
It was a swoonworthy story with great characters which is what I expect from Hazelwood. YA readers will love this, and I expect many of her adult fans will as well.

Mallory annoyed me, and Nolan didn’t seem to have much personality beyond being a really nice guy, but as I told a friend of mine, Ali Hazelwood could probably create chemistry between two grocery bags, so the romance itself was a delight. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to read it.

Yesssss……Ali Hazelwood is back!! This book was such a great read! Literally made me want to go buy a chess set and learn how to play the game!!
Mallory, chess prodigy and Nolan, chess champion face off in this sweet yet competitive young adult contemporary romance! I really enjoyed the characters, even the side characters!
It’s a rivals to lovers meets overcoming the past.
Highly recommend this one, it was a quick easy read!

Ali Hazelwood knows good chemistry, and writes romances that keep you turning pages. I thought it took a little longer than usual to get to the banter and charm that she does so well, but it seemed to work for the character building of Mallory's family, and to understand her skill level and some of the chess references.

This is a fantastic YA option by a great author. I recommend this for teen libraries!

I never thought I’d romanticize chess, but this book makes me wish I knew how to play, even though my brother has tried telling me the rules a million times to no avail. This book might be my new favorite of Ali Hazelwoods (Albeit, I’ve only finished the love hypothesis LOL from her). It was such a fun and light summer read, I hope she writes more YA in the future!

Ali Hazelwood did it again. My go to author for romance books. The way she portrays her female characters is so empowering. Wow. I can’t wait to reread this book!!