Mallory is a former chess enthusiast who put her passion aside when her family needed her. Nolan is a child chess prodigy and the current chess champion. Enter the cutest rivals to lovers ever.

I absolutely adored this novel. I have read everything that Ali Hazelwood has published to date, yet this book was more than capable of surprising me. I loved Mallory as our main character and appreciated that her sexuality was not constantly the topic of conversation, nor was it the center of the third act scandal. I enjoyed getting to know her outside of the context of being interested in Nolan and before their interactions. I feel that the intimacy in this novel and the tnesion built between them was absolutely glorious - and I loved that she flat out acknowledged 'the mortifying ordeal of being known.' While Miss Hazelwood tends to follow the same (albeit compelling and devourable) formula for her STEMmy romances, it was refreshing to see her break her own mold and venture into this space of new adult romances.

Ali's first jump in to YA did not disappoint. While I have not been an enormous fan of her previous work, (just not my cup of tea trope wise), I thoroughly enjoyed this. I am always a fan of authors expanding their comfort zones and making attempts to reach new audiences. Now while this has a similar STEM feel to her previous books, it is much more appropriate for a younger audience. I do love that she is very inclusive in her representation and was overall a very fun read. 4/5 stars.

The cover and idea of this book was so sweet. There were so many pros, like how Ali just knows how to write a man we all want…. One that wants you to succeed and be there when you need, but fully knowing you’re capable all on your own. Nolan Sawyer is no exception. Ali Hazelwood is an auto buy author, and will continue to be even with my one negative remark.

My only complaint was trying to be overly trendy, especially in the aspect of talking about, forcing the topic of sex. Like the amount of times I read that word was a little too much for me, and having the FMC overly experienced in this made it take away some of that YA innocence I think I was expecting? I feel like it all was just trying to force being trendy.

All that to say, the story flows so well once it gets going and you really are rooting for Mallory. She’s got a ton of pressure on her, but she overcomes and ultimately hits a win for not only being an empowering character, but grows in learning to communicate and I think at her age, that’s the biggest thing to overcome!

I went into this book expecting more of the same from Ali Hazelwood, but was very happily surprised by a whole new side of her! I never thought I'd be so enthralled by the world of chess and honestly it's even so refreshing reading about a whole new topic like this in general.
It's really easy to relate with Mallory, who feels the responsibility of the whole world: take care of your sisters, take care of your mother, decline scholarships for college to work full-time and take care of bills, give up chess because its tied to your POS father and his failings. We've all felt we owed the world more than we did or that things were our fault, when really it was just way out of our hands.
I love that though Nolan is the main love interest, he isn't the absolute star of the show. The whole story doesn't revolve around him. Mallory isn't ONLY thinking about him. She is actually focusing on chess, her family, her stresses, and eventually he does fit in a puzzle piece but he's never tied in as the only theme of the story. Not to mention that as much as I love spicy adult books, YA does the build up and the slow burn SO. WELL.
I think Ali Hazelwood has officially proven she is so much more than just STEM and I will officially read anything written by her.

what i thought was going to be a romance with a little chess side plot ending up being a millennial, pop culture filled extravaganza which was very ick inducing

Incredibly captivating and help me turning the page and wanting more. I hate I have to wait so long to shout this book from the rooftops and have friends buy, because everyone needs to read it.

3.5/5: ⭐
1/5 : 🌶

(NOTE: I received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for providing an honest review).

I was incredibly lucky to get an advanced copy of Ali Hazelwood's debut YA novel, Check & Mate. Like her adult novels, this is STEM romance.

Mallory Greenleaf and Nolan Sawyer are chess prodigies who unexpectedly cross paths. Mallory struggles not only to accept Nolan, but the entire chess world—and herself.

Check & Mate has great charm, humor, and a hint of enemies-to-lovers. I really enjoyed that Mallory is a three-dimensional woman with a lot more going on than just romance/sex.

This is a great example of a YA novel with enough substance (and a hint of spice) to appeal to adult readers. If you are a Hazelwood fan, I would definitely recommend (just adjust your spice level expectations).

Put this on your TBR list now; publication date is November 7, 2023.

This was such a cute book! This was the first book I've read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The story was different from anything I've read recently and really captured my attention. It was so well written and the characters were fantastic.

This NA (or older young adult) story by Ali Hazelwood takes the reader into a world of chess and romance. Mallory is an 18 year old who spent a lot of her youth playing chess and being trained by her GM father, until a loss causes her to take on more of a parental role to her younger sisters. When a opportunity arises to continue to support her family and play chess again is introduced, Mallory needs to make some difficult choices. She finds herself thrust into the world of competition again and into the orbit of current #1 player, Nolan Sawyer. I enjoyed this story but would definitely say it is for more of the older young adult readers due to some of the content. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was so cute! I was hopeful going in to this book since I enjoy Ali Hazelwood, but wanted to see what she did outside of the STEM space. I am very happy to say that I might have liked this more than some of the STEM books!

Nolan was absolutely the best part of Check & Mate. I love the grumpy type and to see him also form such a close relationship with Mallory's sisters is adorable. The way he pushes Mallory to be the best she can is absolutely incredible. As far as Mallory goes, I really liked her. She was so different from the rest of Hazelwood's female main characters and the change was welcome. She's so sassy and I love watching her stick it to all the stuck up men in Chess!

I'll be honest, Check & Mate didn't feel super YA to me. I do feel like some of the relationship themes may be bordering too closely on adult for me to say a 12 or 13 yr preteen should be reading it. Having an absurd number of gen z references doesn't make a book more suited for young teenagers. For that reason, I had to take half a star away.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed the newest addition to my Ali Hazelwood shelf and I will be telling every person I know to read it and become as obsessed with the idea of Chess as I now am.

ALI HAZELWOOD WRITING YA IS EVERYTHING I DID NOT REALISE I NEEDED.

I love Ali’s adult romances. Love them.

But there was something about this book that hit just right. It hit SO GOOD.

YA without being cringey and like an adult trying too hard to be relatable and writing characters who just happen to be teens.

This was another fun read from Ali Hazelwood! I read the entire book while on a layover and am glad I had it to pass the time. A few complaints are that I wish that there were less references to pop culture, more discussions on how to deal as an older sibling taking on the parent role (guilt/anger), and how the main character has trauma from her father's actions. Even Nolan's grandfather is glossed over. While I understand that this book is meant for YA, I think YA readers are capable of understanding these heavier topics. I look forward to the author's next book.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for providing me with a copy.

Guess who finally read her first Ali Hazelwood book??

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect going into this one, but I ended up loving is SO MUCH. At first I had a hard time getting into it, but somewhere around the 30% mark something clicked and I was addicted. All I wanted to do was read and everyday when I got home from work the first thing I did was dive back into this story. Check & Mate is an addicting and fun story full of chess and romantic tension (in the best possible way).

Needless to say, I am most definitely going to be picking up more from this author now. This book is haunting me and I know I'm not going to stop thinking about it for ages. The way Nolan loves her???? The way I have never played chess before but I feel 300% more intelligent after finishing this??? It has the trope where one of them is sick and the other takes care of them!!!!!!!!!! I am screaming and crying and throwing up this book was SUCH a joy to read.

Thank you so much PenguinTeen for providing me with an e-ARC of Check & Mate!

Having loved Ali Hazelwood’s adult fiction (and her existence in general), I was cautiously optimistic about her debut YA novel. I’m happy to say that I loved this book!

Whether or not you’ve binged The Queen’s Gambit (honestly, do it!), this story has a lot to offer. Mallory and Nolan are dynamic (smart!) main characters but this is a great example of a book that is perfectly balanced between character- and story-focused.

To me, YA means teenager-focused. I enjoyed knowing these characters were actually young adults for most of the story. Perhaps I need to revisit my presumptions about this genre!

Enjoy!

LOVED!! I think some of the talk about sex and orgasms may have led me to wanting this to be rated New Adult instead of YA but I loved it nonetheless. Ali Hazelwoods writing and characters are so freaking fabulous.

This was such a fun and cute read! It was incredibly unique and refreshing to read. Loved getting to see Ali Hazelwood’s first foray into young/new adult fiction!

After being forced to return to chess after a four year hiatus, Mallory Greenleaf surprises the world by beating the number one chess champion (and teenage heartthrob), Nolan Sawyer. After making headlines, Mallory takes the very generous offer of a year long residency to focus on learning and playing chess, mostly to keep the lights on and help support her family. As she participates in more tournaments, she keeps running into the charming and enigmatic Nolan, and starts to fall - for him and the sport she once loved, despite complex feelings for both.

I really enjoyed this book! I did not know a whole lot about chess before going into it - beyond what I learned from The Queen’s Gambit - but I seriously couldn’t put this down. I loved Mallory and Nolan’s story, which was cute beyond measure. Definitely a slow burn, but still I couldn’t help but love Nolan by the end (wish the ending hadn’t felt so rushed!). Though, my favorite part of this book was Mallory’s character development. Her complex relationship with her family was a huge part of this as you could see the internal pressures to constantly provide for them as the eldest that made it feel super real. Though, I felt like Sabrina’s character was a bit much and her relationship with Easton was a bit far reaching.

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this. While this is technically a YA debut, it is still written in the same adult voice with plenty of discussion around sex, so this is better left to the older teen set. The only thing that really differentiates this from Hazelwood's other books is the sex is mostly off page.

I know little about chess, and while there is A LOT of chess in this book it's written in a compelling manner. The love interest has reasons to be interested in the main character (something that Hazelwood's other books sometimes fail to really explain), and it moves along at a quick clip. While there are still some elements of Reylo here, I'm more than happy that they're still present in Hazelwood's work since I've come to expect this little inside joke we all have with her.

Honestly, this was my favorite book of hers to date.

A winner arrives from Ali Hazelwood! I have read all of Hazelwood's past novels and perhaps it's the nerd in me, but I've wanted more science and less unrealistic romance. Check & Mate delivers, substituting science for chess (which is a science in and of itself). Mallory's complexity as a character rings true, Nolan's emancipation storyline tugged on my heartstrings and my own childhood, and the depictions of Darcy and Sabrina made for multiple real laugh-out-loud moments. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

Genre: YA Romance
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
Recommended: Yes!

Wow! I am a huge Ali Hazelwood fan and her books just feel "right." I know what I'm getting with each book, but I also know it's going to be amazing. I can't wait to have this book on my shelves. This book felt more New Adult than Young Adult, but as someone who doesn't read a lot of young adult, I don't mind at all.

Ok, so this was amazing! I was supposed to wait until closer to the release date to read this, but I honestly couldn't. Everything about this book was chef's kiss!

I loved the characters, I loved the premise, the plot, the writing and just every little thing. I was giggling and swooning all the way through. This had me properly hooked and I finished it within one sitting.

I'll definitely be rereading this again at least once more before the official release!

I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley. As always, my opinions are entirely my own.