If Ali Hazelwood writes it, I'm gonna read it!! The second this book popped up as a @prhaudio ALC, I grabbed it right up and started listening!! Who knew a book about two young chess proteges could be so sexy??? But this one is!!!

A New Adult, slow burn, I fell hard for Mallory and the way she shoulders her family's responsibilities, caring for her two younger sisters and her mother who has chronic rheumatoid arthritis. Deferring her own dreams of playing chess competitively or even going to college, Mallory is working as a mechanic in her small town while all her friends leave.

Enter Nolan, the reigning world champion chess player who Mallory happens to beat at a random chess meet. Unable to walk away, Nolan begs Mallory to come be his 'second' and help him train for the next World Competition. With the lure of cash prizes and the money that could really help with her family's bills, Mallory is unable to say no.

What follows is a slow burn that has Nolan steadily getting under Mallory's skin, so much so that she struggles to focus on the game because she becomes so wrapped up in Nolan. But for someone not used to putting herself first, Mallory has to figure out if she can go for what she wants or keep being the 'responsible one.'

Great on audio narrated by Karissa Vacker. I couldn't put this book down and HIGHLY recommend it for fans of authors like Lynn Painter. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for the complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!!

Thank you Netgalley & Penguin group for this ARC.

This was a cute read. I probably would have finished it faster but I was getting bored with it. I actually found Mallory to be incredibly obnoxious. The history with her dad was a bit predictable as well. I'm guessing I found the love interest (Sawyer????) to be a bit boring too because as I'm typing this out I cannot remember his first name and I literally just finished the book. I think the best part about this book for me were her mom, sisters and best friend. Would I recommend this? Yeah - like I said, it was cute. Do I think people are rating it higher than what it actually should be rated on Goodreads because it's a book by Ali Hazelwood and everyone seems to stan her? Yes. I should add that this is the first book that I have read by her so maybe I'll enjoy her other books better.

3 stars

I can say without hesitation that Ali Hazelwood sprinkled crack into this YA book. I could NOT stop reading this wildly entertaining and hilarious story. And I dare say, this is my new favorite by her!? I thought Love, Theoretically was it for me, but in walks Mallory & Nolan and I am so smitten it’s not even funny.

This is the YA Queens Gambit but funnier. When Netflix came out with that show, everyone and their great aunt Sally were talking about it and I just know this book is going to be the same.

Mallory is our super protective bisexual sister who has taken on the burden of providing for her family after a terrible incident occurs to her family, causing her father to leave and eventually die. Her mother is in chronic pain and has been unable to work to pay the bills and registration fees for her daughter Sabrina’s roller derby or youngest daughter Darcy’s overweight Guinea Pig, Goliath. So, as any overly anxiety ridden brilliant daughter would do, Mallory doesn’t go to college on her scholarships, but takes to working at an auto repair shop picking up as many shifts as possible to pay the bills.

Feeling like she needs to be the one sacrificing for her family, Mallory almost backs out of a charity chess tournament that her best friend Easton asks her to join. Mallory’s father was a Chess GM and she grew up playing the game at a young age but abruptly quick at age 14 after said tragic event occurred. Unable to say no, she enters the charity tournament and without meaning to, she beats the World Champion of Chess, Nolan Sawyer. And the world loses its mind!

Thinking things will just move forward after that, Mallory unexpectedly finds Defne Bubikoglu, a well respected chess club GM, on her doorstep offering her a one year chess fellowship where she will be paid to study and compete in the world of chess. Mallory accepts after losing her job at the mechanic shop but vows to fake it for a year and collect her paycheck for her family.

When I say that side characters of this story gave me life, I literally mean it. Oz was absolutely hysterical with his blunt grumpiness. Tanu & Emil we’re positively the cutest and best friend group. The banter and jokes never stopped but they all were so caring in their own ways.

Nolan Sawyer, child chess prodigy has been playing chess since he was a child as well with a famous world champion grand father who had a bad case of dementia later in life. Being known for his temper tantrums and crude manner, Nolan is the hottie bad boy of the chess world with so many rumors flying around him, it’s hard to keep track.

After losing to Mallory, he shows up at her house asking to play a game of chess against her again in which Mallory refuses.Nolan meets Mallory’s family one night over several helpings on meatloaf. This scene had me literally crying laughing at how ridiculous young people can be with their interrogation questions. But it was all so sweet and really made the start of Mal & Nolan so wonderful.

Mallory finds that she loves chess after all and it consumes her mind day in and day out as she attends her fellowship. Studying old games and entering into tournaments, she finds her confidence again as she has a brilliant mind for chess.

The misogyny of chess is disgusted at length and it was the only part of the book that made me mad after she interacted with the other men of chess. Most notably, Koch, who everyone in the chess world hates. And with good reason. Making him the nemesis and someone we all wanted to crush was perfect. I hated him and also wanted him to fail.

The sweet friendship between Nolan and Mallory was the crux of this story for me. After he asks her to be his second, they go to a house in upstate NY where they hole up and play/talk/breathe chess for weeks on end. It’s clear their chemistry and love for the game of chess was so strong and when they finally give in to their feelings, it was just so perfect.

I loved watching these two interact and learn more about one another. The level of respect and care they shared was perfection. It felt like I was a friend along for the ride.

This book was just so perfect. Thank you to Netgalley, Ali Hazelwood, & Putnam for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars

‘Chess is cool, actually.’

We absolutely LOVED this book! If, like us, you were wowed by the Queens Gambit series, and wanted more chess (and romance), then you will be in HEAVEN with Ali Hazelwood’s YA debut novel, Check & Mate! Not only has she made Chess gobsmackingly interesting, but she also gave us Nolan Sawyer.

Everything we love in an Ali Hazelwood book is here, humour, banter, and chemistry in spades. Plus, Ali Hazelwood turns the table on the virgin/experienced couple whilst highlighting the inequality in women’s sports. This is the author's first YA, and she nailed it! We loved everything about this story.

“You feel it too, don’t you, Mallory?” His tone is pressing. Low.
“When you play, you feel the same thing I feel.”

Twenty-one-year-old Nolan Sawyer aka The Kingkiller, is the #1 chess player in the world, and chess royalty. The golden boy bad boy rock star of the chess world. He’s incredibly swoon-worthy! However, his public persona is quite different from that of the private Nolan. We bloody loved him!
Eighteen-year-old Mallory Greenleaf is a gifted chess player who has sworn off playing for reasons that slowly reveal themselves throughout Check & Mate. Feeling responsible for her Mum and sisters, Mallory is tempted out of her hiatus to attend a Chess Club to earn money for her family. What Mallory didn’t count on was her nemesis Nolan Sawyer inching his way into her heart, and it’s this theme that Ali Hazelwood gets so right. The push-pull, the snarkiness…we adored every second!

“When I’m with you, Mallory, everything is different. When I’m with you, I want to play more than I want to win.”

The pop culture references did become a bit much at times, but it was a small blimp in an otherwise utterly enjoyable read! Right, we’re off to join a Chess Club and find us a Nolan Sawyer!

This was just adorable and phenomenal. I felt like it was so different from her other books and I loved that. This was very YA-feeling (some swearing, but minimal, and fade to black “steam” scenes). While I would have loved a steamy scene between these two nerds I think it was an outstanding book, and so fun. I don’t know chess AT ALL and I thought it was still easy to follow.

One of Ali Hazelwood's BEST books yet! I feel in love with the characters from the start, especially Mallory. I felt seen and heard when reading her POV. The banter and chess terminology within the book made this one a must read!

Mallory Greenleaf has removed chess from her life, once a sport she loved but now wants nothing to do with after the upheaval it caused her family years ago. Nolan, Kingkiller, Sawyer is a chess prodigy, regularly taking down the competition with ease, that is until Mallory defeats him in a stunning upset at a charity event she unhappily agreed to play in. That upset has reopened the door for Mallory to enter the chess world once again. However, re-entering that world means lying to her family, enduring hours of practice, and fighting a growing attraction to the Kingkiller who seems entranced by her.

I have read and loved every book that Hazelwood has released and this one is no different. Hazelwood has shown she can navigate the switch between YA and Adult romance with ease. I love the continued focus to shine a light on women in historically male dominated industries while also focusing on the real challenges women face daily in these roles. The banter between Nolan and Mallory is genuinely fun. I often found myself smiling or laughing through their conversations. I also really loved the new family Mallory made as well as her existing family. The dynamic between sisters was believable and easy to see how it would play out. Defne and Oz were great. I loved how grumpy Oz wasn’t afraid to tell things as they were and give Mallory the wake up calls she desperately needed. As someone who doesn’t play chess, I can speak to the believability from that standpoint, but I felt like the plot flowed well, and the story kept moving without getting bogged down by too many details. This contemporary YA romance had so many elements I loved, and I’m so excited I got the opportunity to read an early copy. I highly recommend this story for anyone who enjoys rivals to lovers, great friend groups, women in STEM, and fun banter.

For a love story centered around chess, it was pretty good. It gave Queen’s Gambit vibes. Although I liked the quick narration, I strongly disliked the main character Mallory. I think my age has a lot to do with my rating on this book. It was geared towards a younger audience and I think those readers will truly like it.

Such a lovely YA take on the Ali Hazelwood magic. I liked that Mal was sex positive, in true AH fashion loved that Nolan fell first and fell hard, and absolutely loved the sister and mom characters. Despite my initial hesitation on the chess plotline I was hooked from start to finish. Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. Out in November!

Chess is, admittedly, quite sexy.

As one of my most anticipated reads of the year, I had high expectations for Ali Hazelwood's young adult debut, as one of my all-time favorite, auto-buy authors. And the expectations were exceeded. I DEVOURED this book. If I hadn't been a sleep deprived slave to the capitalist regime (at my 9-5, the day after HHN) I'm positive I would've read this in one sitting.

This book sparkles. It shines. Check & Mate is, surprisingly, now one of my favorite Hazelwood novels. While her other books have been good, and great, this one is spectacular. I felt like there was so much more story and heart packed into the pages. I felt as if I was living out the months with these characters (in a good way). This story feels so...personal. I laughed (many times). I cried. Admittedly, I didn't really like Mallory Greenleaf...but, she felt so human and real. I couldn't be mad at her. And I loved the entire cast: Mal's sisters, Emil and Tanu, Defne, and the hilariously honest Oz.

Check & Mate is a high 4 stars for me. I adored this book. If you don't normally read YA, I wouldn't shy away from this one, as it felt much more adult or at least new adult to me. Thank you endlessly to Ali Hazelwood for writing my favorite words, and to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for blessedly gifting me an arc in exchange for an honest review, and making my year!

__________

Oh, and I SCREAMED upon seeing both my (McKenzie) and my sister's (Gianna) more unique names featured as side characters, spelled exactly correctly (no "a", capital "K", two "n's") and I am pretty sure that's fate and means this book was made for me exactly, and also if the forces that be (aka Ali and Berkeley and whoever else is involved) sees this and wants to also gift me an arc of BRIDE I think that would be entirely appropriate and I would be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL and I would give my blood and/or my firstborn in exchange, kindly.

Between a 3.75⭐️and 4⭐️. I was so excited when I saw Ali Hazelwood was writing a YA romance and this ended up being so cute!! The the incorporation of chess was so fun and I enjoyed following Mallory as she rekindles her love for chess while also dealing with the hardships going on in her personal life. I will say that yes there is a romance in this, but it focuses a lot on the chess aspect and Mallory’s journey/coming of age story. I still enjoyed the little rivals to lovers romance though! Not going to lie some of the pop culture references were a bit cringey for me but nonetheless I still had fun reading this!! If you like chess or it interests you then I think you would really enjoy this! I will say that it is definitely on the more mature side of YA. Overall, this book was a cute, fun time and I always enjoy Ali Hazelwood’s writing!!

Thank you so much PenguinTeen & NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!!

‘Chess is cool, actually.’

We absolutely LOVED this book! If, like us, you were wowed the Queens Gambit series, and wanted more chess (and romance), then you will be in HEAVEN with Ali Hazelwood’s YA debut novel, Check & Mate! Not only has she made Chess gobsmackingly interesting, but she also gave us Nolan Sawyer.

Everything we love in an Ali Hazelwood book is here, humour, banter, and chemistry in spades. Plus, Ali Hazelwood turns the table on the virgin/experienced couple whilst highlighting the inequality in women’s sport. This is the authors first YA, and she nailed it! We loved everything about this story.

“You feel it too, don’t you, Mallory?” His tone is pressing. Low.
“When you play, you feel the same thing I feel.”

Twenty-One-year-old Nolan Sawyer aka The Kingkiller, is the #1 chess player in the world, and chess royalty. The golden boy bad boy rock star of the chess world. He’s incredibly swoon worthy! Although, his public persona is quite different to that of the private Nolan. We bloody loved him!

Eighteen-year-old Mallory Greenleaf is a gifted chess player who has sworn off playing for reasons that slowly reveal themselves throughout Check & Mate. Feeling responsible for her Mum and sisters, Mallory is tempted out of her hiatus to attend a Chess Club to earn money for her family. What Mallory didn’t count on was her nemesis Nolan Sawyer inching his way into her heart, and it’s this theme that Ali Hazelwood gets so right. The push pull, the snarkiness…we adored every second!

“When I’m with you, Mallory, everything is different. When I’m with you, I want to play more than I want to win.”

The pop culture references did become a bit much at times, but it was a small blimp in an otherwise utterly enjoyable read! Right, we’re off to join a Chess Club and find us a Nolan Sawyer!

Marketed as Ali Hazelwood’s first YA romance, this was compulsively readable and absolutely delightful - my favorite so far by Ali Hazelwood. Mallory is an extremely talented chess player who stopped playing at age 14 to take care of her younger sisters and sick mom in the absence of her father. When she plays one final tournament as a favor to her best friend and winds up unknowingly beating the #1 player in the world, she is thrust into the limelight and has to wrestle with both her complicated history with the game and her new rival, Nolan Sawyer. Unlike other reviewers, I had no issue with the pop culture references and think they are fun ways to center a novel at a particular time, but I am also an elder millennial so maybe I am the problem. I also haven’t read a YA romance since my Sarah Dessen days in the aughts, and I will say there were a lot of F-bombs (like a lot a lot) and mentions of sexual exploits for something labeled as “YA” but hey ACOTAR was YA too I think so what do I know? The main characters are 18 and 20 and this felt more like a closed-door adult romance with very young adults. The characters were not always entirely likeable but that felt authentic to me because how many 18-year-old girls make good choices all the time and are completely logical? I have re-read my journals from that time period of my life so will not be the first to throw stones. I appreciate that the author has written a smart, talented, independent, fiercely loyal main character who also has some flaws. The ancillary characters were also delightful and the chess backdrop was fun. Easy 5 stars for me.

I might as well turn my bookstagram into an Ali Hazelwood fan account at this point because she’s done it again!! I’ve been a huge fan since The Love Hypothesis and have fallen in love with everything she’s written since then. I went into this book with low expectations because it’s being marketed as young adult but omg was I pleasantly surprised.

From Goodreads: “In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life’s loving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart.”

This book reads just like her other novels so don’t let the young adult branding scare you off. The main characters in this book are 18 and 20 but they’re both so mature they could easily be older. I honestly think the only difference between this and her other new adult novels was that the spice factor was dialed down.

This is honestly up there as one of my favorites of her novels (maybe not more than Love Hypothesis, but probs second place). If Love Hypothesis, The Queen’s Gambit (the show, I haven’t read the book 😬), and Carrie Soto is Back had a baby, it would be this book. I loved Mallory, loved Nolan, and loved all of the other characters too 😭 (except for Koch, booo 👎👎) I flew through this book and stayed up so late reading it because I needed to know what happened.

Thank you SO SO much to @PenguinTeen and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This was one of my favorites of the year so far.

This was such a cute YA/NA romance! The characters were so fun, and I loved the aro/ace and bisexual representation in the main characters! I have never been that interested in the professional chess world, but this book made me want to learn to play. I also appreciated how the book addressed predominantly male spaces and how hard it can be for young women to break into them. I do wish that this book had been a dual POV. I would have loved to read Nolan's perspective throughout the story, and it would have added a fun layer to the plot.

I love Ali Hazelwood's books, and this was another excellent and fun story! I can't wait to read her next book and hope she continues to write in the YA/NA space! Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers, and GP Putnam for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this. The writing is sharp and not a word is wasted. I love that Ali has branched out from her steminist roots while maintaining some of the same themes. Even if you don't play chess, the story is still accessible and easy to attach to. The romance is delightful, the side characters are three-dimensional, and the plot moves quickly.
I think the only thing that is keeping it from being a five-star book is that it definitely feels like it was written by a millennial who is trying a little too hard. A lot of the references and humor were millennial-core. Overall, I highly recommend and will be adding a copy to my classroom library.

As a thank you to Netgalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, I write this honest review of Ali Hazelwood’s latest and debut YA novel “Check & Mate.”Originally reading Hazelwood’s debut “The Love Hypothesis”, I did not connect fully with the characters, or content. As other novels came after that centered around the world of STEM, I awaited Hazelwood’s entry outside it. I found Check & Mate as one does on Netgalley and was glad to be approved. I enjoyed this y'all. I read it gradually before bed and found myself reading more chapters till I completed it last week. The novel follows Mallory Greenleaf, and the many roles she holds in her family. She is a daughter, provider, and care-taker. Mallory is shown to assist her mother as she navigates her cancer diagnosis. Mallory’s father had a personal history with chess and taught his daughter the game, often bringing the two together. He passed away prior the beginning of the novel. Forward to the present day where contacts from her father’s chess history present themselves to Mallory with an option to participate in a charity tournament where she may compete for a cash prize. Her choice is to move towards returning to chess once more and compete against “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer or not have the finances to support her family. Mallory’s relationship to chess, her father, family and Nolan add to a full-fledged experience giving the depth needed to explore these areas fully and in a satisfying way.The internal struggle that Mallory experiences as she navigates this is compelling to read especially as romantic elements weave themselves within the story. Ensue tropes such as enemies to lovers, vacationing space holds one bed, and more. I cannot recommend this novel enough for its heartfelt content, compelling storyline and unforgettable characters. On goodreads, I gave this novel a strong four out of five stars.

This is marketed as YA, and I guess it is, but it seems to me like it straddles the line with at least new adult if not just straight up general fiction. I go into YA books written by some of my favorite romance authors with cautious optimism, because the vibe is usually so much different than it is with their adult work. This was definitely a different vibe than Ali Hazelwood's steminist romances, but I still liked it. Our main character Mallory Greenleaf is an 18 year old who is working pretty hard to provide for her mother and two younger sisters by working as an off the books mechanic. Her mom has rheumatoid arthritis and is struggling to stay solvent with her freelance work, so Mallory has kind of taken on the mom role in the family, paying a lot of the bills, driving her sisters where they need to go, making sure there's food on the table, and more. When her best friend Easton talks her into going to a chess tournament in New York, she begrudgingly participates even though she quit competitive chess - and really all chess - after her chess-playing father left the family four years prior. While at this tournament she draws some attention when she beats the world champion, 20-year old Nolan Sawyer. Despite having vowed never to play again, she secretly accepts a chess fellowship and starts commuting from New Jersey to New York every day to day to study and practice chess with a grandmaster. She's a chess genius and soon starts playing in all kinds of major competitions, bringing in money and gaining notoriety. All the while, she's developing feelings for Nolan, which is weird for her since she's mostly into hookups, and their relationship becomes complicated. I was really drawn into the whole world of chess here, and I found Mallory to be a relatable if flawed, kind of martyr-y main character. My biggest quibble was that it seemed so unrealistic that she would even think that she could keep all of this a secret from her family, but I liked how that was resolved in the end.

Look I love an Ali Hazelwood romance - and the romance parts of this book really worked. But the rest??? Not so much. No one is more surprised than I at how much I did not enjoy this book. It was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I love the cover, I love the author... it seemed like a slam dunk, and yet... It was a lot of chess, which I’m not super familiar with (I haven’t played in over a decade and was never really into it) or a fan of but I could have probably gotten past that. (I mean I don’t like soccer & I love TED LASSO.) But there were a lot of other things. One in particular is that it’s pretty clear the author has never been to or spent much time in NJ. Why set a book here if you don’t know what you’re talking about and the setting doesn’t really matter??? It took me out of the story and frustrated me every time something was said that was glaringly, obviously off. Also there were certain lines that felt ace-phobic, which made it hard to root for the romance. (Because although it wasn't explicitly stated, it was implied and who wants to root for a couple where one is saying garbage-y things about the others' orientation?? Allies only in this house.) I’m still super pumped for BRIDE and will absolutely devour whatever adult romance Hazelwood puts out next… as long as there’s no chess.

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood is a ya chess romance and the story of Mallory and Nolan.
 
Mallory is a very intelligent woman who takes care of her family after the death of her father. She is a math and chess genius, but instead of following that she just barely makes ends meet. I really liked her caring personality, and her sisters were so much fun.
 
Nolan is a chess pro, and he is at the top of his game. Until he meets Mallory who defeats him. He is immediately intrigued by her and wants to get to know her. He is such a sweet boy who falls first.
 
I like Ali Hazelwood books for the intelligent characters and their banter. You can also see that in this story, but it was done in such a wholesome way. The book also includes the found family trope and that is always a favorite of mine and I really adored how the characters build a relationship. The romance is very slow burn and sweet and Mallory and Nolan are a lovely couple. The chess aspect was also done really well and even though I don’t know that much about it, it still intrigued me, and I could easily follow along.
 
Overall, Check & Mate is such a wholesome romance with lovely characters. 4 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)