I struggled to find traction with the first quarter of the book. I adore Ali’s adult FMCs because they are smart and driven but Mallory’s inability to see how attending Zugzwang could benefit her family financially left me frustrated. I also found her lack of knowledge about the world of chess, considering how involved she was before quitting, not quite believable. It felt a bit like the “chosen one syndrome” where we learn through Mallory as she learns after being dropped into the world of chess and surprisingly being one of the best without having practised for years. She was only 14 when she quit playing. I doubt she was oblivious to what the professional chess route entailed and considering how much of the book involves practise (even Nolan as the current best chess player needs to practise) seems unlikely that she could be that good out of seemingly nowhere.

At the first open we really get to meet Nolan. This is when the book really turned around for me. This is when I remembered why I love Ali Hazelwood’s writing. I really enjoy the way her MMCs feel like actual other characters and not just people who’s roles it are to progress the FMCs along. I can imagine Nolan being the main character in his own book off doing his own things. He has his own strengths and own weaknesses and own feelings. Though he does not explicitly state if he’s aromatic, it is heavily implied. This representation for more unfamiliar queer identities shows Ali’s attempt to normalize these kinds of conversations and feelings. It felt organic the way Nolan shares his feelings with Mallory and she did not chastise him or try to out him. She accepted him for who he is and her opinion of him did not change.

I also loved Emil and his energy when we see him at the olympics. He’s the ultimate hype man for Nolan. I equally like Tanu but later in the book, especially once they were referred to as Tanil, they started to feel like one person. Conversations usually happened with one or the other on behalf of both of them and it felt like they lost their charm along the way.

I found myself looking up chess moves online. I could have simply continued reading and my understanding of what was happening story wise would not have been changed. But looking up these moves opened my eyes to the complexity of chess. Ali mentions she took a lot of poetic license with the chess moves in the book and that’s OK with me. One would think after writing a book based in biology, then neuroscience, then physics and now chess Ali’s brain must be close to bursting. I truly believe any subject Ali chooses to write about would be equally as amazing.

As a STEM girlie the 2008 Maass et al. paper, I promptly read after finishing the book, was very eye opening. I never thought of all of the required cognitive abilities required to play chess (long term memory, short term memory, spatial-visual memory- mental rotation and memory for location) and the fact that women score mostly the same as men in these areas. I was baffled when reading the article how salient the stereotypes were especially when one male participant described the female opponent he played as “easy to beat” yet when told the same female opponent was allegedly male the next game that they were “a tougher opponent”. This study shows how important Defne’s want to create an environment where women feel empowered to play really is. The more comfortable women are to enhance their abilities regardless of their gender will lessen the gender gap and stereotypes. This is why I love Ali’s writing. She takes complex research papers and theories and ideas and molds them into something the general public can easily consume. She bridges the gap between academic writing and creative writing. I once took a creative writing biology class and this is what it strived to teach us. Writing in science does not have to be so full of scientific jargon that it requires a degree to read but rather through the creative ability of the author can be transformed into something everyone can learn from.

I hope all of Ali’s writing empowers women to step out of the box and strive for equal footing in whatever they do whether it be in sports or STEM or any setting. The target audience for this message is right on point. Young adults will no doubt feel the gender gap Ali paints and at such a critical age can make the decisions to do something about it.

Ali Hazelwood continues to amaze me with how much she can make me feel. She has cemented herself as one of my favourite authors. I’m sure there is nothing she can write that I would not love. Only glowing recommendations for Check & Mate.

This was my first Ali Hazelwood book. While I own her other I haven't gotten to them yet.
I'm going to be honest I wasn't sure how I would feel about book involving Chess. I fell in love with Mallory and Nolan from the very beginning. I love forwards to reading the authors other books.

If Ali Hazlewood wrote the dictionary I think I would read it at this point. Jumping from her new Adult into her YA did not make any difference at all. This had me smiling, little giggles with the banter and of course swooning for the HEA. This is a one click author for me! Another ringer for sure

WOW!! To be honest, I put off reading this book for a while because I was unsure as to whether I would like reading a YA romance about chess of all things but boy was I surprised! This was genuinely such a delightful book. The attention to detail about the chess games was captivating and made me really want to get better at playing. I LOVED Nolan and the boy-falls-first trope worked really well here. My genuine only critique is that I think Mallory's reluctance to tell her family about Chess was a bit stupid because it seemed obvious to me that they would have supported her. I was also excited to see the final World Championship game but alas, it did not happen. Overall a great read! 4/5 stars :)

I wasn't sure how Ali Hazelwood was going to manage to write a YA, as her adult books are STEEEAMY. However, she did it! This book, instead of on page spice, had SO MUCH TENSION. I loved the characters, and of course, the romance! However, something I really really love about Ali Hazelwood that I think separates her from other authors in the romance genre and helps her writing stand out is that she uses her romance books as a vessel to talk about a modern societal issue. In this book, she obviously talked about how the patriarchy affects chess. I, knowing nothing about chess, was drawn to this story, and couldn't put it down! I demolished this book in one sitting, definitely recommend to YA readers AND Ali Hazelwood's adult romance fans. Even as someone who can't even play chess, I loved this novel.

I was SO excited to be granted an eARC for this book since Hazelwood is one of my must read authors. I was interested to see how her writing would translate to the young adult genre.

Honestly, this is a hard book to rate! On the one hand, it's really funny and I laughed aloud more than a few times. But on the other hand, there are a bajillion pop culture references and miscommunication/misunderstanding as a trope is overplayed here. I know many teens will be entranced by this novel and want to get into chess as a result but readers will have to suspend their disbelief about Mallory's chess skills and climb up the national rankings.

Overall, a solid book that I would recommend to older teens and adults.

I absolutely loved this book.

Mallory is taking care of her mom and sisters by being in a dead-end job. She did not go to college and stopped pursuing chess because of a major life event. However, she plays one more tournament, in which she wipes the table with the currently reigning World Champion of chess. When she finds out who he is, she runs and vows never to return. When there is an offer she cannot resist moneywise, she decides to take a chess internship. Bad boy and chess World Champion Nolan searches for an opportunity for her to play with him again. Mallory does everything she can to not play with him. Will she be able to finish her one year internship, or will it prove too much for her?

As mentioned, I absolutely LOVE the book. I really like chess and it is genius how the author has woven chess into a story this magnificent. The characters were great and lovable and there was a great storyline. It reads easy and really takes you in. Another thing that I really appreciated, was the fact that the smut was not so bad as the other books. It is a personal opinion, but I feel like this amount was okay and did not distract from the storyline.

No negative things!

This is Ali Hazelwood’s first YA novel and it was so much fun! Mallory (Mal) Greenleaf has not played chess in years until her best friend asks her to play in a charity tournament and she ends up in a match against Nolan Sawyer, the number one chess player in the world and she beats him! I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next and I didn’t want to put the book down.

Mal was a chess prodigy when she was fourteen, but quit after a tragedy in her family. She just graduated from high school and has been working as a mechanic to help support her family. Her mom struggles with rheumatoid arthritis and needs better medicine. Mal helps out by giving her two younger sisters, rides and money for school activities. After she beats Nolan she is excited when she is offered a chess fellowship and soon she is swept back into the world of chess. She studies strategies, competes and even wins some cash prizes. I love the action at the chess matches - there is just enough detail to keep me engaged without being overwhelming. This had wonderful Queen’s Gambit vibes.

Nolan Sawyer is the bad boy of chess and top player in the world! He is intrigued by Mal and eager to play chess with her again. He comes to her home and ends up staying for dinner, devours her mom’s meatloaf, and meets Mal’s feisty sisters. Over the meal, her sisters are quick to share that Mal is bi and we later find out that Nolan hasn’t really dated much (maybe demi?). I love the flirty banter between Mal and Nolan and my favorite parts of the story are when they are together.

There are often only a few women competing at the tournaments and this reminded me of Hazelwood's Stem books where there are mostly men and a few are disrespectful and even hostile towards Mal because she is a woman. I loved that Mal is competitive and not ashamed of it and Nolan is so supportive and sweet. Nolan suffered a tragedy when he was a teen and he and Mal help each other deal with their grief and guilt.

There are wonderful secondary characters like Nolan’s friends, Mal’s sisters and Oz and Defne, Mal’s chess mentors. There are tons of gen z references, like Morphy Game, Riverdale, Timothée Chalamet, Nolan as a gen z sex symbol on the cover of Time and even some references I had to look up😊

I thought the story felt more like a New Adult than a YA. It fades to black so we don’t see explicit scenes but there’s a lot of touching and talk about sex in the book, also Mal is eighteen and Nolan is twenty. Mal waited a long time to talk to her family about her competing in chess again but it did add humor to the story and sometimes she could be a bit of a drama queen but I admired her brilliance and her loyalty to her family and friends. This story has a great plot, sweet romance, complex family relationships, and fun, nerdy and diverse characters. I highly recommend it! Thank you to the Ali Hazelwood, NetGalley and GP Putnum's Sons for this ARC.

Considering I know nothing about chess, I enjoyed Check & Mate an absurd amount.

I have to be honest; I feared that the chess element would come across as set dressing, something that would fade into the background when faced with the romance only to be whipped out again when needed for Plot Purposes. Fortunately, my fears were unfounded. Chess is so deeply entwined with and crucial to the story. And even though I really know even less than nothing about chess, that didn’t stop me from reading this book in two sittings. Plus, now I want to rewatch The Queen’s Gambit.

There were a few minor things that irked me the teeniest tiniest bit: the instalove, all the modern day references (Timothée Chalamet, Riverdale, etc.), and an anticlimactic ending. But! I really had a great time reading. There are lots of cute moments, and the story explores other relationships beyond the romance. And after the final page, I was left with a warm feeling in my chest.

If you love Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit and Ali Hazelwood, preorder your copy now! Because let me tell you, I could play chess I soooo would.

This upper YA romance read delivers all the things you’d love from an Ali Hazelwood book: the humour, the banter, the pop culture references, the chemistry and the powerful and smart women!

The only reason I didn’t give this 5 stars was due to Mallory and also her family dynamic. It was challenging at times to get past some of things being done/said. As well as her mom not taking accountability for her role in things (she’s not to blame but you’ll see when you read this!)

That aside, this was great! It was fun to see Ali Hazelwood create a totally different environment for her readers, while also educating us on the matters addressed here as well! (This is me trying to no spoil anything).

I am so appreciative of my copy, thank you so much Penguin Teen! 💜

4/5⭐️

Ali Hazelwood did it again. I love Ali's style and her writing translated perfectly to a YA story. Chess has never been cool until I read this book. Mallory and Nolan are so lovable. The enemies to lovers plays out so well for these two! Mal has the most stressful family life. It is so relatable to so many students, and I see teens really connecting with this story because of that. Her family is low key the worst, and I found myself getting so annoyed by them at points, but it really helped to provide insight to Mal's life.

The chess storyline is so cool! I loved learning about the sport (and I did say sport!). It never felt too informative/ preachy to understanding but provided enough for me to figure out the game. Honestly, it made me start caring about the sport and wanting to see people playing. I loved that it was a backdrop to the story and the romance.

This is billed as a YA romance, but like most of Ali's work, this story is really a work of self-discovery. It gives an outlet and a place to see life happening. While the two characters fell in love with each other in this story, they also really fell in love with themselves. I will never stop being obsessed with Ali. Her books give people a place to see themselves not only being cool, but becoming bad*ss too.

I personally feel like this book was more of a closed door adult romance and less of a YA romance. Regardless, I LOVED EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF IT.

I ate this book up in one sitting. It was supposed to be a buddy read and I absolutely left her in the dust.

This book follows Mallory after she agrees to play in a chess tournament as a favor to one of her friends. She ends up beating the world champion (NOLAN) and gets sucked back into the chess world (which she left earlier on in life on bad terms) in order to help out her family. Mallory and Nolan are rivals but they come to truly care about each other outside of the chess world and IT WAS PERFECTION.

Dare I say this is my favorite Ali Hazelwood yet...?! If you love romance - read. this. book. I knew nothing about chess before this, never got bored, and tbh still know nothing about chess and still loved the heck out of this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Teen and Ali Hazelwood for allowing me to be an early reader!!

As a hardcore lover of Ali Hazelwood's adult romances, I was very intrigued to read a young/new adult story written with her distinct style. I am pleased to say that Check & Mate was everything I wanted it to be and more. If you've ever wanted to read a sweet, YA/NA romance featuring two chess prodigies dueling it out for the championship, this is the book for you!

Insert Mallory: a female chess underdog who gave up the game years ago after a traumatic family incident. After getting a job offer to get paid to play chess, she meets Nolan: a broody (but maybe not?) male lead who is growing bored with the usual competition and is slowly losing his love for the game. The feelings and tension grow exponentially between these two as they spend more and more time together working the chess circuit.

I loved the two main characters in this book. Mallory is such a sweet and caring person. She feels responsible for her family's current situation and takes it upon herself to fix it, possibly at her own detriment. I felt so bad seeing how guilty she felt, how closed off she had become from her family, and how she wasn't dealing with her trauma. I adored her character growth throughout the book and the rekindling of her familial relationships.

Additionally, Nolan may be the best male character Ali has written so far: dark, broody, and intimidating on the outside, sweet, intelligent, and a little bit awkward on the inside. I loved seeing so much emphasis put into the building of their relationship: watching Nolan slowly get Mallory to open up throughout the novel as Mallory resparks Nolan's love for chess.

Check & Mate wouldn't be an Ali Hazelwood novel without the side characters, and these ones did not disappoint. Between Mallory's sisters, her mom, Nolan's friends, and Mallory's two advisors, we've got an entire cast of wonderful, fully fleshed-out characters.

While this book is primarily a romance, it does also contain a lot of depth, including: the discussion of sexism in male dominated areas (like chess), the stigma around mental health, the realities of living with chronic pain, and the ways in which trauma can affect ourselves and our relationships with the people we love. All in all, I absolutely adored this book and am already ready for Ali Hazelwood's next YA story!

Read if you like:
- guy falls first
- fade to black
- rivals to lovers
- healthy communication
- secret cinnamon rolls

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for providing an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Reasons why I was excited to read this book:
a) Ali
b) the tropes
c) it’s ALI (I’d read her grocery list).

The best things about this book:
a) Nolan (easily a 5 star love interest. Everything about him was perfect. I just don’t know why he was so whipped for the fmc😭. He’s not a bad boy, he’s a softie which I love🫶)
b) BTS (my weakness)
c) the cover.

I love Ali Hazelwood. I had super high expectations for this book. I know many people wanted her to change it up and try something different and she definitely did. I also know it’s impossible for me to connect to every character and story she writes. I think I personally prefer her writing about more mature characters (although Nolan slayed and carried the whole thing🫡) and I truly look forward to Ali's other books in the future🩷.

Full review on Goodreads.

Personally I know absolutely nothing about chess, however this book had me pulled in so deep that I almost wanted to learn.

This is story of Nolan and Mallory is captivating and nail biting, leaving you guessing what will happen next at every turn of the page.

Ali Hazelwood has done it again and this is a great read! If you love a good romance and rivalry, this is the book for you.

Ali Hazelwood, being the STEM girlie she is, has a formula that she applies to every book.

The boy who falls first.
The girl is glaringly oblivious to the boy's feelings.
The third-act breakup could be solved using a few words combined into simple sentences.

All of this equals an Ali Hazelwood novel that is predictable, but still a good time.

Mallory walked away from chess and never looked back. Between taking care of her sick mom and two younger sisters, Mal has managed to bury the painful past of losing her dad and chess all in one swoop. Four years later, at a charity chess game, she defeats Nolan Sawyer, a champion chess player. Mal is suddenly swept into the world of chess again but is determined to do it only for the money. As she finds herself falling in love with the game again, Mal struggles with finding out where her priorities lie.

My favorite part was the discussion on sexism in chess and male-dominated sports. Mal is more often than not the only woman in the tournaments. She faces men who treat her as lesser because of her gender. When playing, she doesn’t let this deter her from doing her best, even when the guys are sore losers. Her competitive streak is insane, and I loved her for being non-apologetic about it, despite the hate she got. Heaven forbid women want to win.

The chess nerd in me is currently in therapy. Girl power is great, but Mal casually coming back into the chess world and destroying all her opponents is ludicrous. Chess is HARD. It takes years of intense work and dedication to be a skilled player, and you never stop learning. Mal didn’t lose once in the whole book which is not feasible. I’m sorry, that doesn’t happen. For the girlies who are reading this solely for the chess, go find another book and save yourself.

Mallory is getting hate, and I will not stand for this. She is a chronic overthinker desperate to take care of loved ones. She is terrified of commitment after what happened with her dad, and it shows. She is far from perfect, but she was endearing, and just doing her best. Truly messy characters need to be portrayed more often. No eighteen-year-old has it all together, and Mallory is the epitome of that. At her core, she is fiercely loyal and is afraid that people will take advantage of her. I loved exploring her character growth and watching her step into who she wants to be, as opposed to what she thinks everyone needs her to be.

I liked Nolan in the way one likes a puppy. He plays one chess game with Mal, gets demolished, and is practically proposing the next day. Mal was so oblivious, and ignoring his affections, that I almost crumbled my Kindle into a ball. As the queen of "can't catch a signal" even I could tell Nolan was flirting. If there is something Ali writes well, it's her guys falling first. He was super sweet and it was nice to not read about a player for once. This book would have benefitted from his point of view because he is head over heels in the span of a few pages. It’s cute, but I needed a better explanation of why he fell so hard.

The pop culture references took DECADES off of my life. Hazelwood is more in tune with Gen Z's culture than me. The problem with so much pop culture in it is that it's not going to age well. We have Riverdale, AO3, Percy Jackson, TikTok, and even Goodreads make an appearance. No self-respecting teenager has a poster of Timothy Chalamet. I mean, how are you going to sleep at night with him staring into your soul? For the sake of my sanity, I hope some of it is removed before this goes to print.

Ali Hazelwood knows her audience. I went in expecting a light and fluffy rom-com full of tropes, which is exactly what I got. This is for the Better Than the Movies die-hards and religious 2010 rom-com watchers.

NOTE: This book is meant for older teens. There is sex on the page, and while it isn't descriptive, it's not a fade-to-black either. Our main character openly discusses her sex life; condoms among other things are mentioned.

Thank you, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP for the advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

amazing YA debut by ali! she can simply write anything and ill read it.

this hits all the points you look for a YA and more - the coming of age, the found family, the cute love interest the main character is trying to work out feelings for. on top of all of that, its centers the game of chess and mallory's journey rekindling her passion for it.

i really adored mallory. she's wise beyond her years, trying her best to take care of her sick mom and two sisters. when she signs up for a tournament as a favor to her best friend, she meets and plays against nolan sawyer, the best player in the world, and very casually beats him. after making news in the chess world with her win, she gets offered the opportunity of a lifetime to earn money while playing and decides to take it for the sake of her family.

mallory and nolan are just adorable. nolan is a man of few words and very straight to the point. everything he says he means, especially to mallory and its very endearing to see how much he supports and roots for her despite being his competition. i do appreciate that mallory is 18 at the time of this book and nolan is 21. made their intimate scenes better to read. i do really wish this was an adult novel because i just wanted moreeee out of their relationship i could read another novella on them alone because it was just that cute.

cannot wait for ali's next release, bride! looking forward to seeing how she writes romance in a paranormal setting as this makes me hopeful that she can write across genres!

1.5 - 2 stars

Extremely disjointed and difficult to read with it's constant inclusion of what the author thinks is "gen-z" references. Cringey and constant these references just became to much to look past.

The male lead was the only saving grace here, with the friends and family of the main character being just as hard to root for as the female lead herself.

A slew of conveniently timed plot points, weird time jumps, difficult to follow timeline, and a lead up to a big event that we only get in the form of a fade to black and time jump.

As an Ali Hazelwood fan this was a disappointing one.

I've loved all of Ali Hazelwood's books, and this was no exception. Unlike her previous books, the characters in this are younger (fresh out of HS). Mallory used to play chess, but after her family blew up she blamed the game and vowed never to play again. Fresh out of HS, she is working to support her family and trying to convince her mother that she's okay with not going to college like her best friend. When said friend convinces her to join a charity chess tournament, Mallory unexpectedly beats the world chess champion and is thrust into the spotlight. Said chess champion, our male MC, Nolan Sawyer, is the Bad Boy of chess. He's determined to have a rematch, intrigued by the unknown who bested him. Mallory has to weigh her promise to never play chess again against her desire to support her family, and deal with the world chess champion who keeps popping up around her.

As I said above, I loved this book. The family struggles, Mallory's little sisters, and the romance between Mallory and Nolan was awesome. I read this book in nearly one sitting, eager to find out who was going to win it all. The ONLY reason I voted four stars instead of five is because I thought the ending was very rushed. I finished the last chapter and was surprised to find that was the end (there is an epilogue, which is cute). Will definitely re-read once the book releases!

✨Book Review✨
Check and Mate by Ali Hazelwood
3-3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Pub Date: November 7 2023

Thank you to @netgalley for my gifted eARC copy of this book for my honest review.

I wanted to love love this book, but it fell a little short in the romance dept for me. I know it’s for the YA audience, so I can see why it’s a bit dry but I felt as though it was more of self growth for the main female character than anything else.

I adored Nolan as a character. Very sweet.. And the talk about chess. Gave me Queen Gambit vibes. This is probably my least fave out of all the others Ali Hazelwood books.

Will still continue to read more of her books for sure though. And as always, happy reading! 💕