Release date: November 7th
My rating: 3.5⭐️/5
Spice level: 🌶️

Tropes:
* Chess ♟️
* Rivals to lover
* Family dynamic
* Slow burn

The book is YA, but the characters are on the older side 18 & 20 years old. But the dialogs felt youngish to me. I honestly was struggling through the first 20 pages. But as I pushed a little further the story was actually very cute and I cared about the characters. I loved that it was not only a romance story, but as it goes with Ali Hazelwood it’s also a story about a badass woman and you diving deep into the chess world.
Overall I enjoyed this book and sure that if you love cute romances you will enjoy this book too!

Thank you so much @PenguinTeen for providing me with e-ARC and this gifted physical copy of the book.

#PenguinTeenPartner #CheckandMate

Okay so I’m behind on the Ali Hazelwood trend.. don’t judge 🙈. I have her adult romances but have yet to read them. But having finished her first YA, I’m tempted to dive back into that brain of hers.

Mallory is a chess player, but she’s fed up. She can’t focus on the numbers to save her life, not with her family falling apart behind the scenes. She’s busy taking care of her mother and sisters and working. But a chance of a lifetime falls into her lap… playing in a charity tournament against the “Kingkiller” himself, Nolan aka the bad boy of chess. But when he looses he decides it won’t be the last time their paths will cross. And Mallory is back to loving the game.. and getting the cash!

I use to play chess with my dad when I was young. He always said it was good game to clear your mind and think of a way to attack something that’s bothering you. As I got older I stop playing it, but this book was like a refresher. Also you never really read stories with chess as the game of choice. Mallory has her demons but keeps on trying. Nolan on the other hand was a character I actually liked. He didn’t come off harsh or a big shot, but was rather a calming force.

This was a very fun, light romance that was enjoyable!

One of the things I love most about Hazelwood's writing is that it always pulls me in immediately and gives me those 5-star vibes right away, which is how I knew this one was going to be different. It's VERY focused on the chess, and the romance is secondary. Not necessarily a bad thing, but this romance reader was disappointed to discover that the hero is largely absent from the first half of the book. The romance definitely picks up in the second half, but I’d already started zoning out at all of the chess talk by that point, so I can’t bump up my rating. It’s Hazelwood’s first book geared towards a younger audience, and it’s easy to see the subtle differences in vibes (more on than in a minute). It still feels like a “Hazelwood” romance in a lot of ways - the focus on women in STEM, the single perspective, the boy obsessed, the kinda broody/kinda awkward hero, the playfulness and rivals to lovers scenario. Considering this is the first full-length book of hers that I haven’t given a very enthusiastic 5 stars to, those are all great things. If you’re up for learning more about chess and don’t mind your romance as a subplot, then chances are this will be a more successful read for you.

The story follows Mallory (18), a young woman who shoulders a lot of responsibility. Her dad passed away, her mom is chronically ill, and her two younger sisters need someone to help support them in all ways. She’s doing the best she can, but it’s taking a toll on her. So when Mallory unexpectedly re-enters the world of competitive chess, she does so with a huge amount of hesitation. The game has become a little toxic for her since the death of her father, but it’s a way to make the money she needs to support her family. Mallory is aware that she’s got a natural talent for the sport though, which becomes exceedingly clear when she beats the reigning World Champion, Nolan (20). Mallory has followed Nolan’s career for years, and the former child prodigy has developed quite the reputation. But Nolan doesn’t seem to be the angry, broody heartthrob that the chess community considers him to be, and it’s not long before Mallory is seeing an entirely different side of him.

This is Hazelwood’s YA debut, though I’d only recommend it for readers near the top of that demographic. Mallory uses casual sex as a crutch, so there is a lot of discussion about her hookups (including one after meeting Nolan), swearing, and quite a few mentions of sex in general. Though I liked that there was a variety of queer representation in this, I didn’t love that Mallory was bisexual and seemed willing to hook up with anyone who showed interest in the past, which perpetuates some troubling stereotypes. In terms of the heat level, we know what the characters were up to, but the descriptions stop when the pants come off. And there is also a focus on Mallory’s messy family situation, with heavy elements in both characters’ pasts, as well as some misogynistic conversations. So this really rides the line between YA and New Adult romance, especially given the characters’ ages.

I loved some of the topics at play, and I liked that Hazelwood made the sport of chess sound so interesting. We’re immersed in the competitive nature of the game, and I feel like I learned a lot (even if it got to be too much at times). I also loved Nolan, and I probably would’ve eaten up this book with more of him from the start. We get these quick moments with him that shape the relationship, and I loved when we started to spend more time with his character. It was also so adorable that he fell for Mallory’s brain first, and it was easy to see that he genuinely just wanted her to shine. I loved that he wasn’t threatened by her skill or talent, and actively encouraged her to grow it. He was such a sweetheart who was clearly gone for his girl, which is why I wanted more from the romance. In the end, this had a ton of great elements, and I think it would’ve been stronger with less technical talk and more time spent with this couple.

Wow, wow, wow! Check & Mate is exciting and emotional and funny and overall wonderful. This book gave me modern-day The Queen’s Gambit vibes and I absolutely adored it.

Mallory gives all of herself to her family, sacrificing her dreams to ensure they keep their heads above water. When she gets a once-in-a-lifetime, year-long fellowship opportunity to play chess full-time, she reluctantly takes it and rockets to the top of the chess world.

Mal has enough going on in her life and doesn’t want a relationship, but she finds she can’t stay away from Nolan, currently #1 in the chess world. They run into each other often and, each time, they find themselves getting a little closer…

Thoughts:
♟️ Ali Hazelwood’s humor is woven in every one of her books and I love it. I actually LOL.
♟️ I enjoyed the real feelings that came out in this storyline. Things like friends moving away/losing touch, familial drama, and deep-seated & life-altering guilt come across the page and hit you right in the gut.
♟️ These characters were wonderful! They were supportive and real and funny and you can’t help but fall in love with them (even Oz).
♟️ Chess, when done by a smart, relatable, gifted main character, can be quick and fun to consume for the masses.
♟️ The romance in this book was a sweet slow burn. You can’t help but fall for Nolan alongside Mal!

You do not have to be a chess grandmaster to enjoy Mal’s story. I couldn’t put this book down and all I can say is GO BUY THIS NOW!

Thanks so much to Ali Hazelwood, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Check & Mate is a delightfully witty and intelligent YA Rom Com that fully invested me from page one. I didn’t stand a chance as Mallory Greenleaf wormed her way into my heart, as did her biggest chess competitor - Nolan. At times, I wanted to hug each of them, and other times, they frustrated me beyond belief. They are two halves of the same chessboard, and I would follow them anywhere.

I did have a few little issues with the story, but they were very minor and only worked to irritate me in small blips. I thought the sexuality aspect felt contrived rather than flowing naturally and authentically. It seemed to come up out of nowhere and leave just as quickly time and time again.

I did love the family themes and the grief/guilt themes. Though done repeatedly, it resonates and makes me empathize with Mallory and her family. The resolution of that plot thread was perhaps a bit too tidy, but still, it’s what I wanted for the family.

Nolan is also an excellent book boyfriend. He empowers women in life and chess, a notoriously male-dominated competition, even though women can compete on equal footing. I loved watching him, and Mallory fight that mindset competition by competition.

Check & Mate is a romcom on the surface but is profoundly empowering and moving underneath all the entertainment.

This book is about two chess players who are falling in love. I love Hazelwood’s books and was excited to see her bring a YA book to the world. This book was cute with a great storyline. The storyline was greatly done and I loved the setting and conflicts. I was never bored with this book as so much was happening and I just wanted more of the characters. I do have to say that the one thing I didn’t enjoy about the writing was that real-life things were used like TikTok and some actors’ names. I feel these topics in the book make me want to put it down because I love seeing a different world being created. As much as the story felt YA, I do have to say that I was confused with how the characters are older than 18. The characters Mallory and Nolan were greatly written but the aging for this book didn’t make sense. The characters developed well and I loved how they were written. Their chemistry was amazing and I just wanted more of them. This book is not steamy but the romance is superb with enemies to lovers trope. This book was great and I totally recommend checking it out.

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

The one thing I love the most about Ali Hazelwood’s books is learning something new about physics, biology, or now with this book, chess. I now have a minor obsession to learn how to play chess and watch The Queens Gambit on Netflix. Now Ali does admit she took a lot of poetic licenses to move this story along so the MC’s fast rise to chess fame is pretty unrealistic but other than that a pretty fun story to read!

Let me start by saying this is the most fun I've had reading a book in a very long time. The chemistry between characters, the emotional roller coaster, the growing pains, all of it is expertly done and I loved every single page of it.

Reading this book transports you into the world of chess, the mood swings of teenagers, and the canals of Italy while seeming real and endearing. I can not count the number of times I said awww or smiled a little smile reading this book.

If you have the opportunity to get your hands on this book grab it, it's fantastic, I read it in a single sitting, I just couldn't wait to see what happened with Mal and Nolan, Mal's sisters. heck all of them, they all found a way into my heart.

This is in my opinion the perfect example of a YA rom-com and I for one want more, much much more of this type of book from Ali Hazelwood.

Thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this E-Book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Be still my freaking heart.

You have to understand something: I loved the Netflix limited series “The Queen’s Gambit” (no, I haven’t read the book). I’ve watched that entire series from start to finish so many times. You know what this book reads like to me? Like YA Queen’s Gambit but funnier, less serious, and with less substance and child abuse. I’m not saying that to be insulting because if you delved any deeper than this shallow comparison it’d be like comparing apples and oranges. I really just mean that they’re both brilliant, both filled me with joy, both made me swoon, and both made me want to go back and do it all again.

First off: Dude, I have a fierce adoration for rivals-to-lovers. I also have a serious book crush on the book boyfriends who are the ones to fall first. Don’t even get me started on the fact that Hazelwood didn’t fall back on trying to make Mallory and Nolan some sort of opposites-attract trope. This book was the best kind of catnip: A fiercely independent, intelligent, bisexual, sex-positive FMC (praise be to Cheesus) and a strong, independent, intelligent, gives-no-effs MMC who acknowledges he is white and a trust fund baby (yes, it does cause problems but SPOILERS).

Do I want to go into the plot of this book much? Not really. It’s a romance. A dramedy, if you will. It’s closer to that mixed bag of genre than a straight-up romantic comedy. I have a love affair with the logic and strategy behind chess, as well as the aesthetic of it all. Do I know how to play? Heck no. But I love watching.

The supporting players in this book are absolutely vital and so endearing. Mallory’s sisters are exactly what little sisters end up being: pains in the butt but you would die for them in the blink of an eye. Her mother? Both a tragic and loving presence in Mallory’s life. Mallory’s bestie, Easton, is what we all wish we had in our life-long besties. Then there are all the chess players, big, small, misogynistic, kind, female, and more who make up the tapestry of Mallory and Nolan’s chess world. Some you want to castrate and others you want to just hug.

I just can’t with this book. It was too adorable for words and I gobbled it up.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review was written without recompense. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Reads/Contemporary Romance/LGBTQ Fiction/Rom Com/Sports Romance/Standalone Romance/YA Fiction/YA Rom Com/YA Romance

I don't know much about chess, other than what I learned watching The Queen's Gambit. Even though I was a little apprehensive reading a book about chess, it's Ali Hazelwood, so sign me up. I was pleasantly surprised by this one! I found myself rooting for Mallory to rediscover her love of chess and win each tournament. I admired her dedication to her family and there was a lot of emotional growth throughout the book for her character. Nolan was a good match for her and I enjoyed the development of their relationship. I would definitely say this is more of a new adult book than a YA with the spice, and at times the character's maturity felt all over the map. Cute and easy read with a quick, single POV audiobook.

This was so incredibly fun and heartwarming.

I had my doubts as I love Ali Hazelwood as a romance author, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect from her with a YA title.

Well, clearly she can write anything because this was excellent. The characters are all interesting, per usual it has great pacing, and it truly is just wonderful. A must read book.

Read if you like:
♟️ The Queen’s Gambit
🤺 Rivals to Lovers
💪🏻 Female Empowement in Make Spaces
🔥 Tension & Banter
❤️ YA Romances (closed door obviously)
🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQIA+ Characters

Oh man, I love, love, loved this so much and took me back to the magic I felt when I read The Love Hypothesis that I haven’t quite had with Ali’s other books until now.

I truly can’t and won’t accept criticism of this story because it was just perfect, it gave me the feels, it had me laughing and had great main characters and side characters that just made me love it so, so, so much!

The banter between Mallory and her mentor Oslo was perfect and loved his grumpy man character but protectiveness of Mallory at the same time against the rude master chess players that were being sexist AF.

The connection between Mallory and the King Killer Nolan Sawyer was perfection and I just melted like a puddle of goo for the way he looked at and admired Mallory and how she brought him back to life by beating him and shocking the chess community and then continued to thrive off of her powerful playing and want to be stimulated by her playing and ugh the way he answered “everything” made me melt!!!!

Thank you so much to the publisher for my ARC this is truly my favorite YA romance I’ve ever read!

Thank you NetGalley, Ali Hazelwood and Penguin Group for this e-ARC copy of Check and Mate; in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

I absolutely adore Ali Hazelwood and her work! The general STEM theme that is reflected in her work is refreshing, and inspiring. Something I feel has been much needed in the romance genre for some time!

Check and Mate is Ali's debut YA novel. I will be honest, I did not know this going in. I saw this available for request, and could not click to do so fast enough! Although I enjoyed this one overall, as many, many of you will... there was a certain level of cringe that was felt during my time reading this one. For that reason I couldn't give it the raving 5 stars that I was hoping to.

There is an obscene amount of pop culture references that definitely will make this a dated read in years to come. This was 100% geared towards Gen Z (which again... this is a YA novel), but for those wanting to simply enjoy another fun and quirky Ali classic - this just felt like it fell short for this reader. (jungkook(?), cringe Tinder hook up references, Timothee Chalet, Riverdale, Tumblr, ao3, Paris Hilton, Thanos, The Hunger Games, Lilo and Stitch, other various social media platforms, ASMR trends, etc.) - We get it. Something I have loved about her other works is the more sophisticated and fierce character contrasts that I simply didn't feel in this one. This is something that others will clearly love, don't get me wrong - this is simply a personal preference I couldn't get over and felt the need to mention! I know this was all in effort to connect with her targeted demographic of readers - again, this simply didn't work for myself.

Now for our main characters: Mallory and Nolan. I ADORED Nolan! He is the ideal book boyfriend many YA readers will adore too. He is well rounded as a character, and very straightforward. For a generation that is too much into playing games with each other's hearts (like Mal) - this will be a refreshing hero for anyone reading to experience. I love the bantering and tension between the pair, and you will too! The depth of his development including his past and family made him stand out even more.

Now for Mallory... I just simply couldn't connect with her. She was quite unbearable as a character, and I have a hard time understanding how Nolan became so enamored with her! Her sisters were also awful, and I overall just couldn't get into her side of things in the same way I was able to connect with Nolan's character.

I did love the sparks flying between the pair in the initial meet cute scene, and appreciated the Taylor Swift reference in Ali's playlist for this book! (Hidden gem references are fun don't get me wrong - the overwhelming amount displayed throughout as a whole is what bothered me with my above opinion).

The side characters were really fun. Nolan kept good company, and I loved seeing things come together as the story went on! The rivalry between the main characters was compelling enough to make me want to finish!

Overall, I do recommend this book. It wasn't my favorite - but this is for personal reasons. I still adore this author, and cannot wait to see what else she has in store for us in the future!

"Check & Mate" by Ali Hazelwood is Hazelwood's debut YA novel -- and someone should've put that in bold for me.

Mallory Greenleaf is a new high school graduate who is brilliant...yet refuses to go to college and would rather work as a car mechanic. Nolan is a chess playing prodigy who ranks number one in the world. How do their paths cross? Read it and find out.

Despite being a coming-of-age book first, closed door romance second, I didn't mind this book. BUT, and it's a big ole but, you have to be willing to read an entire book about a teenage girl that plays competitive chess. If you're not? Don't pick this up.

But if you have an open mind -- it's actually pretty funny and cute. Now, I will still say, it's not my fave...especially for a Hazelwood. The characters were cute, but the relationship was very much a teenage random romance. The storyline was decent, but I guess I was just bored. I won't remember this one a& that's saying something because "The Love Hypothesis" still lives in my mind rent-free.

#alihazelwood #checkandmate #netgalley

I know nothing about chess, but I was still all in with Mallory and Nolan’s story. The enemy to lovers romance was cute, and seeing Mallory’s journey to accept herself for who she is, was amazing.

Mallory Greenleaf is a former child chess star who gave it all up years ago when her world was turned upside down. Mallory has a lot on her shoulders. Between being the main caregiver to her sisters and caring for her sick mom, she's also managing to make ends meet working at the mechanic shop that her uncle use to own.

Mallory lost her father a while ago and life has been tough for the Greenleaf family. They don't talk about their dad or the complicated relationship that Mallory had with chess. When Mallory's best friend tells her to sign up for a chess match and Mallory beats Nolan Sawyer. Nolan is the current world champion of chess and known as the "King killer." Mallory doesn't know what to think about it.

Soon Mallory finds herself forced back in the chess world to make ends meet for her family. Can she manage to keep her chess playing a secret from her family while keeping a safe distance from the game she used to love and the #1 ranked chess player she might be falling for?

I have read many Ali Hazelwood books, and I think that this one ranks up there near the top. I completely enjoyed this book. The coming of age, the building of each character and how Mallory comes to love herself for who she truly is. Looking for a Meet-Cute book? Here it is!

This is my favorite Ali Hazelwood book! Her books have been repetitive and cookie cutter (which I love don't get me wrong) this one was different in all the right ways!
For a YA romance this book had depth and character development of both main characters. Since the characters are older they struggled with more "grown-up" issues which made this more relatable to me. This book was also STEAMY for YA! I was equally as invested in the chess aspect and Mal's personal growth and development as I was the relationship. The chess part was really front and center more so then in Hazelwood's past books.
I also loved the main characters! Mal was complex and showed tons of growth and development. She was fighting tons of demons and I was invested in her journey. Nolan similar to Hazelwood's past male leads but I felt he was more complex. I also thought he was much less alpha male which was very refreshing to read. I loved the side group of friends and family that added richness to the story and depth to the main character's lives.
Overall this was an amazing YA romance and I definitely recommend it! I really hope this author keeps writing stories similar to this!

Than you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the early chance to read “Check & Mate.” I really loved this story of chess champion Nolan falling for prodigy Mallory. I enjoyed all of the supporting characters and felt Mallory’s growth arc was believable and poignant. I did wish that Mallory was aged up a bit and at times this seemed a bit more New Adultish in tone than other YA novels. But that did not dampen my enjoyment of this one and I enthusiastically recommend this to readers of contemporary romance and YA romance.

4.5 stars

I've been eagerly awaiting this book for months, and I am delighted to say that it managed to be everything that I hoped it would.

Ali Hazelwood just has a way of writing books and writing characters that just have me giggling and kicking my feet and overall having the best time. I definitely think Mallory is one of the strongest FMCs that AH has written so far. There wasn't an over-reliance on making her super quirky in order to make her personality stand out, but rather, she was given some real baggage and real flaws that made her feel like a complex character.

I also just loved the way chess took center stage in this book — to the point where I think it was potentially a bigger focus than the romance itself was. The Queen's Gambit has been arguably my favorite TV show since its release, but it was reading this book that made me realize how much I'm just fascinated with chess as a general concept. Even though this book didn't go into quite as much technical detail about chess as it could have, I found myself just eating up every match and every discussion of strategy, and I would have happily read another 100 pages of characters just studying and playing chess.

If I could find any fault in this book, it would mainly be that I didn't think the romance was as strong as it could have been. As much as I loved the focus the chess plotline got in this book, it almost felt like the romance took too much of a backseat as a result. I found myself comparing this book a lot to how I felt when reading The Love Hypothesis, and this book just didn't have as many moments that made me invested in the main couple the way that book did. I partially blame this on the fact that, despite the MMC being coded as demisexual, the romance largely relied on sapiosexual instalove. The way that Nolan was immediately fixated on her after one chess game in which they didn't even speak just made the relationship feel one-sided, and the book didn't quite do a good enough job convincing me there was a foundation for their relationship beyond that.

On the whole, though, I had the best time reading this book. I probably could have binged this in one day, but I had to force myself to put it down because I didn't want it to be over. While this book is technically considered YA, I personally didn't think that it felt any younger than her other adult books besides it being a closed-door romance. If you are a fan of Ali Hazelwood books, I promise that you're going to love this, and I think that even those who have criticized her work for being self-derivative will find a lot of things about this one that feel fresh enough to be distinguished from her other works.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to rate thus ARC. Ali Hazelwood is one of my 1-Click authors. Unfortunately I feel that she was trying to be too hip and cool in this book. Aside from all the chess references, which were informative, and the fact that the guy fell before the girl it was all a kind of mumbbo jumbo.
If it was not for Ali, this woulda been a 3. That being said, you wanna beg I’ll be just as quick to read the next one as I did this one.

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc.

Tropes :
Rivals to lovers
Reluctant Heroine
Miscommunication
opposites attract

Ali Hazelwood is a must read rom com author for me. This story is adorable and i love the inside look that it gives into the competitive chess world ( even if it is not exactly truthful). Ali's main characters are flawed and funny and this will be another buy so that i can reread it for the warm hug of a rom com.