Check & Mate is only my second Ali Hazelwood book. (I know, I've been living under a rock.) But Check & Mate is definitely my favorite Ali Hazelwood book to date. From what I understand, this book shifted a bit from her typical adult novel to YA novel. (And at 50+ I'm not the target audience, but I thought it was perfect.) I know that I missed many, many YA references, but it really didn't bother me.

Mallory has been avoiding chess for several years; her best friend is getting ready to go away to college and this upcoming tournament is for a good cause. So Mallory agrees to join the team.

I've maybe played a partial game of chess in my life (not my thing), but that really didn't dampen my appreciation for Check & Mate.

Thank you to NetGalley Ali Hazelwood and Penguin Young Readers for approving my request to review the advance review copy of Check & Mate in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 7 Nov 2023.

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
This book was an amazing YA debut. Although the writing style felt more NA, the books contents didn’t divulge from a YA novel’s expectations. Which arguable made it better.
Reading about chess made me interested in it as a whole, although I won’t go and learn chess I do want to read and watch ‘The Queens Gambit’. I really enjoyed reading from Mallory’s point of view, even though she is a bit older than a YA protagonist usually is (definitely added to the NA feel).
I also really enjoyed the sassy lines and the tropes added in this book, especially the slow burn and he likes her first tropes.
Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Books for an eARC of this book.

Mallory Greenleaf quit chess 4 years ago and there was no going back until her best friend convinced her to play for a charity tournament and ends up beating the world champion, Nolan Sawyer. When it catches wind on every chess news site, Mallory is invited to be a fellow and train with one of the best chess groups in NYC. Struggling to make ends meet, helping her family financially, this may be the best opportunity she can snag. When she comes face to face with Nolan Sawyer again though, things change the slightest bit. Does her love for chess return or is it simply a means to an end to help her family?

Hazelwood packed this story in with a ton of chess speak! Loved the characters, the whole chess world, how it was set in NJ/NY, and the classic Hazelwood charm sprinkled in even though it was at a YA level. There was bisexuality rep, female rep in chess, and of course a beloved grumpy hero. I definitely enjoyed it, but would’ve wanted just a bit more romance between Mallory and Nolan.

I had enjoyed The Love Hypothesis but it had too much sexual content and language for me so I wanted to try this YA book to see if it'd be more my speed. It has all of the author's trademarks - brooding, brilliant, handsome hero and beautiful, equally brilliant, insecure heroine in a fascinatingly complex world dominated by men (this time in the world of pro chess). There are secrets, angst, boy falling for girl first, and sweet memorable romantic scenes that are also the author's trademarks. I enjoyed getting to know Mallory and absolutely loved Nolan. His steadfast unwavering devotion to Mallory, even in her confusion and misunderstanding and stubbornness and irrational anger, totally melted my heart. I was surprised by the amount of language and sexual content in this YA book, and perhaps I am naive in the genre of general market YA, but these aspects of the book became stumbling blocks for me. The characters also felt older than their young adult ages. Despite my hang ups, the author drew me into the world of pro chess and how the players train for their games and I will never see another chess match the same way again.

If you enjoy fun, engaging romcom and don't mind the language and sexual content, you will really enjoy this book. I received the book from the publisher via NetGalley and was under no obligation to post a positive comment. All opinions are my own.

Thought the book was a great fun read. Always love Ali Hazelwood’s main characters and the supporting characters of Tanu and Emil. I found the descriptions of the sisters extremely annoying and basically disliked most of the interactions with them. I wish they had been written as being less ungrateful immature and bratty. The amount of pop culture references was also a bit much and made the book seem less than and will make it harder for it to keep its timely relevance.

Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong! Not only has she slayed the romance genre for adults but her dive into the YA genre has proven that she is a strong and capable writer! I loved this enemies-to-lovers and the chess themes! While I may not be very familiar with chess it didn't hamper my reading or love for this novel!

Its an ya novel. Its cute and fun. Its nice change from her adult books. The sory writi g is similar to her other books and her character building is similar to her other characters. I did like the relationship and the characters. The plot was fun.

Cute, breezy, and fun. A quick and charming read! Loads of pop culture references - sometimes distractingly so. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in advance.

Check & Mate - Ali Hazelwood

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙉𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 7, 2023

4/5⭐️

✨✨✨✨✨✨
Mallory Greenleaf, a young women who has choosen to give up a lot of things she loves to help care for her mom and sisters. As a teen, Mallory saw some things and dealt with some hard things. This caused her to give up her love and talent for chess. That’s until she decides to help a friend and play one game. Beating the one person none can. Nolan Sawyer. Mallory constantly being hard on herself when an opportunity arises she doesn’t know what to do and lies. With lots of bumps along the road and many instances of Nolan pushing her. She plays the best games qualifying for huge tournaments and championships.

𝓦𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓝𝓸𝓵𝓪𝓷 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮? 𝓓𝓸𝓮𝓼 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓾𝓹 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓸𝓻 𝓷𝓸𝓽?

📚📚📚
If you like to read:
~ Chess
~ Strong-willed MMC
~ Talented FMC
~ Drama
~ Situationships
~ Competitions
~ Scandals
~ Guinea Pigs
… You should definitely check this out

📚📚📚
I truly loved this book! Mallory I felt drawn to so much and my heart hurt for her. Nolan I honestly adored to. Even though everyone made him go seem like an a$$, he was truly a sweetheart! Mallory had such grow throughout this book, it was amazing to see it play out.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you @Netgalley and @PenguinTeen

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For all Ali's books, I have inhaled them within a day or two. I was surprised that after 4 days with this one, I had only made 18%, I wasn't being drawn back to it, and when I picked up my kindle, I barely remembered what I was reading. Usually I DNF when this is the case, but I just couldn't quit on an Ali book. Last night, I started reading, and somewhere around the 30% mark, a switch flipped. It actually DID start to feel like an Ali book. I am almost left wondering if she wrote the first 30% years ago and that's why it felt different? Anyway, the last 70% was great. Unputdownable. I ended up liking Mallory and Nolan a lot, and I found myself rooting for them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

I'm in love. Can I common-law marry this book? Because I want to grow old with these fantastic, amazing, stupendous characters. I want us to get in trouble at the senior center for having wheelchair races and sword fights with our canes. I want to watch Nolan and Mallory destroy the senior citizen chess bracket...right after Mallory pockets all the pudding and Nolan wacks Koch on the head with a cane.

In case you couldn't tell, I love this book. I've read all of Ali's adult romances, and I was SO THRILLED when I saw she was working on a YA chess story. I literally screamed when I got approved for an ARC. I promise you guys, this book is just as glorious as the blurb sounds (actually, it's better). The book description makes Nolan sound like an uptight chess GM with the emotional range of a gargoyle, but he's actually super sweet. There's also an adorable guinea pig that I'm definitely not plotting to kidnap and raise as my own *smiles nervously*.

Nolan and Mal are my favorite couple yet. I was kinda worried this would be TLH 4.0, but it's honestly even better. Nolan makes it clear early on that he's into Mal, and after a certain incident involving chicken noodle soup, emotional support Snickers bars, and cuddles on the couch (no, I will not elaborate, you'll have to wait in suspense until November 7th), Mallory starts admitting she likes him, too. Ali Hazelwood ignored the miscommunication trope in favor of healthy dialogue, and I am here for it. It's so refreshing and HOT!

Speaking of spice, Ali knows how to turn up the heat between Nolan and Mal. There's only one implied sex scene, and it fades to black. Their kisses are more descriptive, and they are so cute! If anything ever happens to Mal (God forbid), I'll happily steal Nolan for myself.

Did I mention that Mallory is bisexual (or maybe pansexual?!) and Nolan is almost the textbook definition of asexual? We need more representation in YA books. Keep it coming, Ms. Hazelwood. I'm here for it!

AHHHHH, this book is so addicting. I have fuzzy memories of my friend saying, "Seriously, you need to put the book down and eat." But I couldn't because this book is so good! I hope you have a clear schedule because you WILL skip meals, ignore work, and stay up way later than it should be humanly possible to finish reading this.

A+, 12/10 stars, 1,000 percent recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ali Hazelwood, and G.P. Putnam's Sons for an advanced reader’s copy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found Check + Mate by Ali Hazelwood to be a decent read, deserving a three-star rating. The romance elements were engaging and well-written, keeping me hooked throughout the book. However, I felt that the excessive focus on chess became a bit overwhelming at times. While it added an interesting backdrop to the story, it overshadowed the development of some characters and their relationships. If you're a chess enthusiast, you might appreciate it more, but I would have preferred a better balance between the two aspects.

Check & Mate is Ali Hazelwood’s latest romance. This one felt a little different from a few aspects. For starters, the main character, Mallory Greenleaf, is a young adult, 18, and her love interest is only 20. With the number of adults who enjoy young adult books, and the number of teens reading adult books, this gives Hazelwood an opportunity to appeal to both markets. Another unique trend lately is the focus on chess, and that is the main subject of interest with the characters in Check & Mate. Even though I’m not a chess player, I was able to follow the storyline pretty easily. This is a good summer read, not too heavy or analytical. I wish I was able to be drawn into the story of the male protagonist, Nolan Sawyer, a little more, but he just did not feel very relatable to me. Other than that, it was a quick enjoyable read.

Such a cute book and a topic I don't know much about (chess) but it kept me engaged! I love Ali Hazelwood books and how smart and strong the main female characters are. This was a good one!

Thank you NetGalley and Ali Hazelwood!

This was so good! YA Chess romance, love it!!! Iadore Ali Hazelwoods writing, story lines and characters. This is a great book. I loved hoe I got lost in the story.
I just reviewed Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood. #CheckMate #NetGalley
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Check & Mate

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Publishing for this ARC of Check & Mate!

This book was not my jam at first, but somewhere along the way I became invested in Mallory and Nolan’s story. All the chess talk was lost on me, and boy was there a lot of it! Even though I didn’t understand what was happening in the chess games I couldn’t put this book down once Mallory starts playing again. Ali Hazelwood writes nerdy love stories really well and on that front this book was great. This book is YA, so slightly less spicy than her other novels. And as you can tell from my bookshelf I have collected a few of her books.

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Ali Hazelwood has one specific formula she writes, she does not deviate from it, and I love this for her. If you've already read any of her books, this will read very similar, but with chess instead of science, and no explicit sex scenes (if you're curious about the YA rating, it does have swearing and mentions of sex). If you haven't read any of her books, though, you're in for: a brooding MMC who falls immediately and intensely in love with the FMC, a FMC who is amazingly talented in her STEM field but has family/emotional baggage and thinks the MMC hates her because he's always looking at her so intensely, whacky and supportive female side characters, and then various plot hijinks forcing the two into delightful proximity.

If you can't tell, I adore Ali Hazelwood and will read a million of her books with this exact setup, but if you're waiting for her to write something new, this isn't it.

I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group for the arc of Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood. Let’s take a second and realize that I got to read an arc from Hazelwood. I really enjoy her books because of the science and specific topics that she writes about. This one is no exception. I do not know a lot about chess but was able to follow the story and understand the parts of chess. I connected with Mallory and rooted for Nolan. This is a cute YA novel that is easy to read and that has a fun romance aspect to it. I would advise reading this if you like her other books.

4 stars!!

This is the first book I've ever read by this author and I really enjoyed it! It was almost like a breath of fresh air after all the fantasy books I've been reading lately. I think her writing style and all the Gen-Z references were not for me but I will definitely be recommending this at our library!


Full review will be posted on goodreads closer to release date.

This is a really cute Chess Romance. It's about finding love but also finding yourself and not letting the past define your future. Really fluffy but also talks about hardships. Really enjoyed it