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!!

Check & Mate is full of swoon worthy moments, witty banter, and nerdy charm. Mallory and Nolan had some great chemistry, and I loved when they interacted with eachother!

I think that mentioning that Mallory quit chess way too many times and not revealing why until the end kinda felt frustrating like a miscommunication trope for me, hence the lower rating. Like we get it. No need to repeat it constantly.

Over cute and I love Ali Hazelwood so I'll definitely still read her books!

Ali is without a doubt, one of my all time favorite authors. I will read anything she writes and love it, and Check and Mate is no exception.

As someone who has never played chess, I found it absolutely thrilling in this book. Check and Mate ran along the same vein as Ali’s adult steminist novels, but changed the stakes to be a lot more personal. Mallory Greenleaf has a broken relationship with her family, chess, and herself. We follow along on a journey of her leaning to love again and be able to accept help. I thought Mallory was one of Ali’s most real FMCs. Her problems were ground level and relatable. Mal is strong and I felt like she could overcome anything if she allowed herself to achieve it. Nolan was a great MMC with a mysterious vibe that kept me intrigued. I think their journey’s were really great and I loved watching the two of them grow. Overall, I thought this was a really cute and fun read, I personally didn’t want to put it down.

I know a lot of people probably didn’t love all the references and quirkiness, but I thought it was hilarious and I was laughing A LOT. My one gripe is that I felt like Mal was owed a bit more of an apology from her best friend who ALSO next texted her but I can let it go because I still loved Easton.

If Ali writes it, I will read it! :)

As someone who isn't usually a romance reader, this book got me all the way on the Ali Hazelwood train. I get it now, team. I'm hooked. I'll be reading them all from here on out, and also I want to learn so much more about chess.

Check & Mate is easily my favorite Ali Hazelwood book. The characters are great, the romance is perfect and there's no cringey smut. This is a YA title about a girl who swore of chess but gets back on the competitive scene in order to make money for her struggling family. She crosses paths with the chess world champ, who is meant to be her rival but quickly becomes something more. There is more talk about sex than in your typical YA work, but there's no explicit scenes and nothing real teens haven't heard before. Our MC is bi, which is cool. She is flawed and relatable and towards the end of the book when she gets a stern talking to, I did cheer, because even though I liked her, she needed to hear some things. The romance itself is pretty slow burn, and you can tell the love interest cares for her so deeply. He helps our MC realize how many people she has in corner and realize her true potential, and she helps learn to take care of himself. They are truly a great pair.

Ultimately, any teen who loves romance would love this. A seventeen year old non-reader who loves The Summer I Turned Pretty show or really anything like it would probably devour this. It's kind of perfect.

This book was a great YA read! Ali Hazelwood has written a beautiful world and also had me super interested in chess for the first time ever... I loved these characters and also getting to know them was so fun. Definitely a recommend..

I'm on the fence with this book. I read it quickly - mainly because Ali Hazelwood's writing is so easy to read - but I feel like I was not invested in the romance at all, which is such a big part of this book, and much of the plot felt a little too easy.

Mallory has left the world of chess when she was fourteen. We meet her when she's a jaded 18, trying to support her family - her mother, who has rheumatoid arthritis, and her two younger sisters, Sabrina and Darcy - with her meagre beginner mechanic salary. When she's offered a chess fellowship after a surprising win at a charity chess tournament, she is hesitant to go back to the sport she left behind, but what other option does she have when the money is good?

I related a lot to Mallory's elder sister mentality - taking on too much of the reality of the family and the burdens of knowing that your family is struggling, while hoping your siblings can be spared the thoughts. I loved her side of things. Despite her flaws, I loved her as a character and related to her a lot. She had a lot to contend with and I appreciate that we get to see so much of her family life and dynamics throughout the story.

Enter the LI, Nolan Sawyer. 20, world champion, and ranked number 1 in chess, he's a god within the chess community. However, I found him as interesting as a cardboard cutout. He's thoughtful and I did feel like he was able to parse Mallory's BS pretty well to get her to see reality, but outside of Mallory's orbit, he was just... there. We never really get to know him that well and anything he does or say is related to chess or Mallory. There's nothing that's just HIM and maybe it's because he's given so much to the sport, but I felt like his best friends, who are tertiary characters, secondary at times, had more personality to them than he did.

Then there was the chess side of things. Yes, Mallory puts in the work to learn and study, plus she has the advantage of being a prodigy of sorts, but it all felt so easy. I saw the twist coming from a mile away, and while I loved how it worked out, it did feel like an idealized, rosy, fairytale end that was wholly unrealistic. The message was heartwarming, but I wish it had been a bit more realistic.

All in all, it's a good and easy read, but I wanted a bit more from it. I'm curious to see what else Hazelwood has up her sleeve, but I do wish she'd leave the broody, unknowable LI behind and start working to develop them more.

Rep: MC's mother has rheumatoid arthritis

TW: sexism, misogyny, financial trouble, chronic illness; mentions sexual content, infidelity, death of a parent, death of a grandparent, institutionalization, dementia, ableism, car accident, alcoholism

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
World Building: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Pacing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5

eARC gifted via NetGalley by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers via PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group in exchange for an honest review.

This was cute, but there was a lot of chess. And listen, I know this book was about chess😂 but omg.

I also found Mallory and her relationship with her sisters so annoying. And I wanted more of the actual romance.

I try to give YA romance a shot every once in a while and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. This one was in the middle.

I tried so very hard to get into this book unfortunately it was just not for me. I wish the author much success with this book.

Thank you so much NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book I have read by Ali, and I must say I was not disappointed. I heard so much about this book, so when I finally got to read it, I can see why. It is a YA book, and the characters being on the teen side - Mallory was acting her age in more ways then one, to the point it did drive me bonkers from time to time. But we all were sort of annoying teens at that age so Ali to me wrote that right. And I mean, how many secrets do we keep from family for them to already know? That is how it felt with the whole chess thing. I did appreciate Nolan for being real. Not the quick romance and flirt, but being truthful and blunt - well when he was there. It was cute for YA. It was far from my normal romantasy but I do want to read the other books from Ali.

Absolutely loved this book! I’m not a chess fan, but this book was still captivating and not confusing at all. I loved Mallory and Nolan’s relationship as well. I wish we could’ve gotten more at the end.

This romance novel is a delightful escape filled with laughter and love. The characters are relatable, and their chemistry is undeniable. As they face challenges together, their bond deepens, making the journey to love feel genuine and heartfelt. With charming dialogue and a feel-good ending, it’s perfect for anyone looking for a sweet love story!

This is a very low three star for me. I'm actually shocked I didn't love this book because I absolutely love Ali Hazelwood. Before I get into my disappointments, I want to mention a few of the things I actually enjoyed. My favorite thing about this book was actually the chess. This is surprising to me because I know absolutely nothing about chess. However, during this book I started talking to my dad more about the sport (he plays), and I even looked up where the next World Championship will be. One other thing I loved about this book was Nolan. He was truly my favorite character, and everyone else was the complete opposite for me.

One of my main gripes about this book was the characters. I really did not care for Mallory, and I also did not like her family. I wanted to skip every scene with her family in it. I don't like Mallory and Nolan together because I just don't think she's good enough for him. A lot of her arguments were really uncalled for, and I just couldn't forgive her for some of the things she said. I also don't like when a YA book has sex in it. This book mentioned sex on about every other page, you could say Mallory was a bit too obsessed with it. I just don't think sex should be in YA. I also really didn't like some of the comments that were made about virginity.

Overall, I definitely prefer Ali Hazelwood adult books. I will be more trepidatious about her YA books in the future.