As someone who has read past Ali Hazelwood books, it only made sense for me to try and get my hands on a copy of her young adult debut. I know I'm not the only one who, after reading Love on the Brain, felt like it was just too similar to the Love Hypothesis. While still a similar premise about a girl fighting against the stereotypes in her workplace, the chess dynamic made this book different than the rest and I appreciated that.
Main character Mallory Greenleaf is the daughter of a former grandmaster. Though she grew up playing chess with her dad into her early teens, the game left her life the same time that he did. Now, at eighteen, she is working a job at an automotive garage to support her family after her mother's medical struggles make her the sole breadwinnner. Mallory tells herself that taking on a paid fellowship for a prestigious chess club is just another one of the sacrifices she is making to help those she cares about. But as much as she tries to block out her past and keep the game from worming its way into her heart, she begins to find love for the sport again. Tackling rising fame and expectations while working to conceal the truth from her family members, Mallory realizes that she has to let go of the pressure she puts on herself to be there for others and begin to embrace the things she wants for herself.
I really appreciated the inspiration Ali Hazelwood drew from scientific studies when first deciding to write about the topic. To briefly summarize, researchers found that when women played online chess, they performed the same without knowing the gender of their opponent and when they were told that they were playing against another woman. When they were told that they were playing against a man, they performed significantly worse even though the opponents were actually the exact same. Hazelwood uses the book to tackle the issue of women being discredited in chess and how the societal expectation that they should perform worse than men leads to added pressure that can actually contribute to that being the case. 
Given that this is Ali Hazelwood's first young adult novel, the characters were slightly younger than those in her past books. Mallory is eighteen and her love interest, world chess champion Nolan Sawyer, is twenty. Naturally, it was also less spicy than her other books. While this book is a romance, I think it focused a little less on the romantic aspects at all times, which I appreciated. The storyline revolved around Mallory discovering the truth about her own tendencies and learning to do what is the best for herself. Of course, she does end up in a relationship along the way but the focus on that did not detract from her personal character development which is something that I often find frustrating in romances.
While I did find that Mallory changed for the better over the course of the book, I felt like the characters were still a little bit one dimensional. Maybe it was the lack of basic character descriptions throughout the story so that I could actually imagine what they were supposed to look like. Or the fact that Nolan was pretty much a copy and pasted version of the giant, dark haired, brooding main man that you find in all of the other Ali Hazelwood romances. Either way, if there was something for me to change about this book it would probably be giving the love interest a little bit more depth, and the same with Mallory who really didn't get too much development until the end of the story.
I think this is a great book if you're looking for a quick and easy read. The entire storyline was rather predictable, but as someone who just finished a 700 page fantasy novel I know it was pretty much what I needed. I read it in two days. If you are a fan of light romance and the Ali Hazelwood steminist vibes I would definitely recommend giving it a try. I think it makes a great choice for young adults as well as older audiences. 
That's it for my review, and of course thank you to Penguin for providing the digital arc of this book!

If you're a fan of chess, obviously read this book. If you're a fan of YA reads with cute characters and a hilarious family feud in the last half, read this one.

Mallory has REFUSED to play chess since things went south with her father. As a last hurrah with her friend Easton before E goes away to college, Mallory plays in a chess tournament and beats world number one Nolan Sawyer.

With an offer to study and play chess with a Grandmaster, Mallory cannot resist the money. Soon she's studying chess and coming closer to Nolan. But will her past make her say Check Mate before seeing who's she's truly meant to be?

Check & Mate was realllly cute but at times the pacing felt a little messy. It was obvious from the 20% mark that Nolan had MAJOR feelings and I enjoyed the push/pull of their relationship. May we see other characters pop up in future books?! Hopefully 🤞

Thank you Penguin Young Readers Group and Netgalley for my earc in exchange for my honest review!!

I love Ali Hazelwood, and a YA Ali Hazelwood is a dream! This was perfectly executed for teens and young adults everywhere. Mallory and Nolan’s tension was desirable. I definitely loved Queen’s Gambit and this was the perfect young adult version to read!

I really enjoy Ali's books. I love the representation and nerdiness of them! There were definitely some elements of this book I felt fell flat, but enough to keep me captivated and want to finish it.

This one reminded me a lot of Carrie Soto is Back in that I don't know or candidly have much interest in the sport but I was totally hooked.

Ali Hazelwood has that style of writing that just completely sucks you in and makes it impossible to focus on anything else. I always fly through her books and then am sad when they're over, and Check & Mate was no different. I was afraid that writing YA was going to change some of the elements I love about her writing, but I actually found this book has been my favorite of hers so far, partly because it was so different from her other plot-lines and she so naturally sucked me into a world I know nothing about and made me feel at home instantly. Despite a minor womp closed-door moment, I was totally invested in the relationship between Sawyer and Mallory and their relationship felt very adult despite their young ages.

The tension between these two made chess hot in a way that I never would have imagined! A really excellent blend of the sport, the budding friendship/relationship, and some growing pains for both characters.

Old & new fans of Hazelwood will really enjoy her first foray into YA! It is excellent.

Cute and very chess filled. There are lots of chess terms that I had to look up which was kind a fun. It definitely has a different feel that the authors previous books and was a great read. The characters could be annoying at some point and a little self centered but it made sense for the story and didn't affect my feeling on the overall rating of the book.

I’m not even a fan of chess and I loved this whole story! Sos won’t and the perfect bit of humor and romance with a touch of spice. Loved the ya aspect of the book and felt she took a new twist to ya!

Oh my word! Loved it! Most definitely a checkmate - great characters, perfectly executed plot, progresses just how it should and ends how you’d want it to! This is my favorite of Ali’s books; hands down. Can’t wait to see it bloom once it’s released.

4/5
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

I enjoyed reading Check & Mate by Ali, this book is about Mal. She is a chess player when she was 13 and something happened to her family which led her to give up playing chess. Not until she was forced to play in an event, she told herself that it will be the last time that she will play. There in that event she didn't know that she would play against Nolan. The world champion chess player and she won which shocked everyone. Her victory led one thing to another as well as her social circle and things with Nolan.

This book is Ali's YA debut. I enjoyed reading it as this is a very light and fast read. I love Mal's relationship with her sisters, her sisters are really funny. I also love how Nolan looks so innocent. I recommend this book to those who enjoys reading sports romance. This book will be out on November 7, 2023.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher and author for giving me a copy of this arc for me to read and review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced eARC in exchange for an honest review.

After having read Love, Theoretically in a day last week, I was too excited to get ahold of this one - and, not surprisingly, also finished this one in a day.

Nolan is now my new favorite character of Hazelwood. This book is perfect for fans of The Queen's Gambit, and who maybe want a bit less spice than Hazelwood's other novels. The chemistry between the characters is still fantastic and I really enjoyed Mallory's character development, especially given the novel's intended audience.

As always, I appreciate Hazelwood's calling out issues in STEM and other male-dominated industries where women face unfair treatment.

A book about chess nerds, uh, ok. But it’s Ali Hazelwood so of course I ended up loving it. Now I know she does YA romance as good, if not better, than adult romance. Sure, I wish the younger sisters weren’t such brats. But having been a young girl myself, a million years ago, I sorta have to say they were believable, to me at least. Nolan’s character made this one hard to put down and I do wish we had his POV in alternating chapters. Still, it was interesting to see Mallory’s personal growth and their slow-burn romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Mallory Greenleaf holds the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her mother has a debilitating disease, so Mallory has to act as caretaker of the house and her two sisters. Everything she does is for them. Working at a stupid garage job with a horrible boss to help pay the bills is for them. Not going to college with her best friend so that she can be around to help her family is for them. Pretending like she is not the most incredible chess prodigy of her generation is for them. Until one day, she cannot pretend any longer when a video of her playing chess goes viral on tik tok and she is recruited to join the major leagues! Her life changes forever as she learns new skills, keeps secrets from her family, and finds herself continuously matched against me tall, dark, and brooding Nolan Sawyer.

This felt more NA than YA to me! I am not a huge fan of YA books, but I LOVED this one!! The main character was incredibly relatable and then enemies to friends to lovers relationship is top notch. The references in this book to modern society were so hilarious and I felt like I was talking with a friend while reading this book.

As a woman in a field mainly dominated by men, Hazelwood’s books make me feel inspired to keep going on the few days that I question myself. I love that she has branched out of having her main characters as scientists and into a completely different field but still found a way to continue that always present theme of feminism and breaking barriers in her books!!

Read this book!!! 5/5 ⭐️

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Teen for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 3.40

Does Ali Hazelwood always end up writing the same characters and same stories with different names? Yes. That said, this one was slightly different than her usual fare. It was fun, but also dealt with deeper subjects, such as the heroine Mallory assuming the enormous responsibility of taking care of her family at the expense of her own future and happiness. So it's not all fun and games like we're used to given the more mature issues in it.
It was a cute, enjoyable read, and it was good to see that Ali can leave her comfort zone aka the world of STEM and Academia. I wish she'd dare to go beyond that realm more often.
Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend it for fans of Ali Hazelwood and YA in general.

FIVE STARS!

And my favorite Hazelwood book. I said it.

This was absolutely amazing. I learned so much while reading and fell in love with every single character introduced throughout.

I had no idea the game of chess was so intense and it was seriously a learning experience I enjoyed.

The angst, the banter, the found family, THE family, the game, just... everything was perfectly structured and executed.

He falls first. Yes. Another one. We LOVE when the guy falls first. I also loved the women empowerment that was represented in this.

No more spoilers. Add to your TBR and enjoy every single delicious page.

Okay, I liked this way more than I thought I would. For someone who is not a chess player, I thought the whole book would be over my head and not interesting at all, but I really got into it, especially at the end.

Mallory Greenleaf is a whiz at chess, but has been away from the game for years. She swears she’ll never return to the game that ruined her family, but when her best friend convinces her to participate in charity game and she beats the unbeatable world champion, everything in Mallory’s life changes. Now Mallory has to decide between playing the game she inwardly loves and protecting her family.

Entertaining and exciting, you will be hooked until the very last match.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Check & Mate" by Ali Hazelwood is an adorable romantic comedy that will make your heart swoon. With witty banter and lovable characters, it's a perfect feel-good read. I loooooved this book!!

This was a very sweet YA romance.

You have Mallory who is not thinking about chess and is totally focused on her mom, her sister's and a job she hates that helps to keep her family afloat.

She reluctantly agrees to play one last charity game and she absolutely destroys the raining champion chess player. Noah. Noah is intrigued by her. A nobody absolutely destroying him. The reigning champion of chess.

Mallory wants to walk away but is tempted by the victor getting a cash prize that her family very much needs.

The more time she spends playing chess the harder it is for her to keep her life separate from the game. And the more intrigued and drawn she is to Noah.

I didn't know what I was going to think of this book going in, because she hasn't done YA before, but I absolutely enjoyed reading every minute of this book.

The heart and soul Ali puts into her adult books is also in this one as well. It is definitely not as steamy as her other books, and it shouldn't be being YA. But the romance is beautifully written.

I love that this book was so full of self-discovery and learning to trust yourself and be open to others. I think it would send such a great message to young adult readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Since the release of The Love Hypothesis in 2021, Ali Hazelwood has quickly become one of my favorite authors. When she announced her YA debut novel, Check & Mate, I knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible and it absolutely did not disappoint.

I know absolutely nothing about Chess and this book was still so much fun to read. My absolute favorite thing about this book was getting to know Mallory's character outside of the romance between her and Nolan. I really enjoyed how the first half of this book really focused on Mallory and her relationship with Chess and that the relationship between her and Nolan didn't really begin until the second half. Getting to know characters outside of their relationships is so important because while Romance is SO fun, it's also really fun getting to know the ins and outs of a character as themselves.

Without a doubt, this has become my favorite Ali Hazelwood novel and I am so excited to everyone to get to read this later this year.

Thank you so so much to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an arc copy of this book to read and review. All of these thoughts and comments are my own.

Before reading this I knew nothing about chess and now after reading it; I still know nothing about chess lol. But what I do know if that this was such a cute book. I really enjoy any book written by Ali Hazelwood. She has a way with romance novels and I’m here for it.

I think the characters were great and the plot was fun. I really love Mallory. She was such a strong led character. Nolan was just adorable. Bless his heart. I think my favorite character though, was Oz. He was so unlikely likable.

I recommend this book to literally anyone. It was funny, cute, and had some sweetly sad moments too. One of my favorite reads so far this year for sure!

5 stars.

Okay, I loved this. At this point, I just trust anything that has Ali Hazelwood's name on it, because I know I'm in for a good time. Check & Mate is a departure from her usual adult contemporary romances, but I think she made the transition smoothly here. As a millennial, I might not be the best person to ask to fact-check what Gen Z is interested in, but hey they like some of the things we liked too! But now it's vintage... yikes. Hopefully, another generation can indeed appreciate Veronica Mars.

Check & Mate is about Mallory, a girl who has sworn off chess after the death of her father, a former Chess Guy (I've literally already forgotten the titles for things, I don't know a lot about the chess world). One day she is roped into a tournament for charity and beats the current World Champion, who happens to be a broody, mysterious, tall, looks-like-he-works-out kind of chess nerd. Sparks fly, and chess and shenanigans ensue.

I really enjoyed this one. It had all the charm found in her other books but with a slightly younger set of characters. It also has a bisexual female main character and a pretty sex-positive message. Definitely recommend this one!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.