I was given an ARC by Netgalley and Penguin Teen in exchange for an honest review.

Ali Hazlewood has done it again! This was one of my most anticipated reads and it didn’t disappoint! This book also surprisingly got done difficult topics as well such as having a parent with a medical disorder.

I loved all the chess scenes and all the banter with chess terms! This book was hilarious and I really enjoyed both our main characters. I’m a sucker for fake dating so this YA was my cup of tea!!

Be sure to pick this up November 7,23! So excited for my physical copy to arrive!!

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!

Mallory used to love chess but then real life changed everything. After being devastated by her father and his untimely death, she decides to leave chess behind forever and take care of her Mom and sisters. After 4 years, Mallory is strapped for cash and opportunities when an offer to play chess professionally lands in her lap. She begrudgingly steps back into the world of chess. After beating notorious sore loser and #1 in the world, Nolan, she is the talk of the town. But Nolan isn't who he has been reported to be. They feel a gravitational pull toward each other that scares Mallory.

I loved this book! I know almost nothing about chess and I still felt a ton of interest in the game play and tournaments. I also enjoyed Mallory's path back to chess and seeing her finally allow herself her passion. Mallory and Nolan's relationship was easy to cheer for. I love that he fell first and was patient for Mallory to figure out some of her bigger issues before they (presumably) end up together. This is a YA novel but was not saccharine like many others in the genre. I have read all of Ali Hazelwood's other published books and loved them! This has the same feel, just with younger main characters and less descriptive/closed door 🌶️ scenes.

Although Check & Mate is technically YA/New Adult, it doesn’t feel like it. I, admittedly, do not like chess but I love Ali Hazelwood so much that I would read anything she writes. This was exciting and fun, and I loved Mallory! As someone who recently had a falling out with a best friend, I felt sad at parts of this. I loved the competition between Mal and Nolan!!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own!

This was a fun and interesting book. It's YA/New Adult Romance genre. I love the chess theme. It was quirky and different. The characters were very modern Gen Zers. I would have loved a dual POV. I would have been interested in Nolan's perspective. However, I love Ali Hazelwood's work. Nolan and Mallory were a great addition.

Mallory has given up her dreams of college in order to provide for her sisters and help her chronically ill mother. Although she gave up playing chess years ago, she finds herself with an opportunity for a prestigious chess fellowship that she can’t say no to. After playing Nolan Sawyer, the world champion, he seems inexplicably drawn to her and their paths continue to cross in the chess world.

This book is Ali Hazelwood’s YA debut, and cements the fact that I will continue to read anything she writes. I’m not typically a fan of YA books (and I know nothing about chess) but I really enjoyed this one! Her writing style is so addicting, and I’m continuously impressed at the way that she is able to address important topics within the pages. This novel discusses the gender disparity that exists among high level chess players. Mallory is an empowering main character who is inspiring in the way that she cares for her family. The supporting characters (Mallory’s family, best friend, and chess friends) are all charismatic and fun to read about. This book is perfect for the YA audience but lends itself to enjoyment by everyone.

Read this if you enjoy:
The Queen’s Gambit
Chess
High stakes competition
New adult character finding herself
Stories that empower women
He falls first

Thank you to Ali Hazelwood, GP Putnam’s Sons, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.5/5 stars. I loved this book until about 80% through and I’m really bummed about that. This was endlessly funny with the most lovable characters. Ali Hazelwood was absolutely meant for YA. It keeps you on your toes and wanting what’s next…until both Mal’s ungrateful sisters AND her best friend convince her that everything going wrong is actually her own fault and we’re meant to just roll with that. Unwavering and kind, Nolan really carries the team here and I’m grateful for that (otherwise I might have DNF’d). Their relationship was never complicated it was simply always meant to be and I think I liked that more than any he said she said nonsense that you get from most YA romance. All in all a wonderful debut into the young adult world.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Teen, and Ali Hazelwood for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! This is such a cute and unique romance. It follows Mallory as she agrees to play in a chess tournament and beats the world champion, Nolan Sawyer. She knows a lot about chess but stopped playing to focus on her family and providing for them, but gets sucked back into the world. Her relationship with Nolan is complicated and I’ve honestly never read one like it before! They’re rivals but truly care about one another and enjoying playing, not winning. Their relationship is so cute and pure as well, it’s one of my favorites by Ali Hazelwood (I always say that when she releases a new one though). She’s one of my favorite authors for a reason and continues to keep me hooked! If you like romance, pick this one up! I knew nothing about chess before reading, and honestly still don’t, but it was a great read. 5 stars!

I really hate doing this, but Check & Mate was an absolute DNF for me. After making around 50% through, I just couldn't push through anymore. I really don't think Ali's writing style is for me. Thank you for letting me read!

I have enjoyed all of the past books and novellas by Ali Hazelwood and even though this book is geared YA, I was still excited to read it. With that being said, I will probably stick to get adult novels in the future. This book just felt cringey to me. It felt like the author was just trying to insert as many pop culture references as she could to round out all of the chess talk. I also really struggled with the family dynamic in this book…like how is this mom just letting her 18 year old support a family and who actually allows 12 and 14 year olds to act like her sisters did. It just felt off to me. I also did not understand the relationship that the boom revolved around and never felt any chemistry/relationship building between them. The conflict was also lacking for me. This book was a quick read, but just wasn’t for me…but I am also not a young adult so maybe that was the problem. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Did I ever imagine I’d deem a book about chess as cute? Maybe not, but I’m here to report that this was another super cute story from our nerdy romance queen! I know nothing about chess, but was excited to dive into this world of strategy and competition.

The romance was a delightful slow burn and I enjoyed how the tension between Mallory and Nolan steadily increased during training before and after the tournaments - the push and pull between Mallory and Nolan over the span of several months helped in making their chemistry and connection more realistic.

One thing I really love about Hazelwood’s books is the thread of social commentary she includes. How she consistently calls out and brings attention to the overt sexism and discriminatory policies that exist within historically male dominated spaces. In Check & Mate, she discusses gender, the concept of stereotype threat, and how these stereotypes are used to exclude certain social groups from spaces after labeling them as “inferior.” While the story of Mallory may be fictional, the discrimination she and other women faced by being intentionally excluded from competition for being “inferior” and “not as worthy a competitor” is very real and a reminder to keep fighting for equity in these spaces.

While the story is a romance, Hazelwood also focuses on family, grief, loss, terminal illness, and friendship. Super cute and a fun escape, Check & Mate is sure to delight all readers!

*This is marketed as YA, but I would say it’s more for the upper end of YA readers, possibly NA.

Mallory reluctantly joins a charity chess competition as a favor for a friend after giving up competitive playing for several years. Mallory is there to put in the time and figures that she will be out early since she is out of practice. When Mallory ultimately wins the whole competition by defeating Nolan Sawyer, who is ranked first overall, she soon finds herself thrust back into the world of competitive chess.

The premise of this book sounded intriguing despite by lack of knowledge surrounding chess, but I liked the rivals to lovers storyline. Both Mallory and Nolan have some family related issues around them playing chess and they each have to find a way to work through those issues. Mallory has a lot on her shoulders and she feels that she has to take care of her Mom and her sisters, she constantly puts herself last and has a lot of doing something for herself or asking for help. I liked seeing her grow and learn that she can't control everything around her. Nolan has a hard time letting people in and is a bit closed off. I enjoyed seeing Nolan grow closer with Mallory and liked how much he admired her chess playing and helped fight for her to be able to compete in tournaments.

There is a lot of chess matches described throughout the book and while I have no knowledge of chess, it was still fun to read about the matches.

This was a fun, quick, and cute read.

This is a guilty pleasure of a book. I love Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit series, so the premise of Check & Mate caught my attention. I was hooked from the first pages as I followed Mal’s journey, reading late into the night to see what would happen between Nolan and her.

Mal is also a manic pixie dream girl/not like the other girls. She hasn’t played chess in years, but she’s able to beat the top chess player in the world. She wears boho dresses and sleeps around with boys and girls. She works on cars at an autoshop. She’s so different! She’s so special! (Also, Mal references Dragon Age. I’m a big Dragon Age fan, but she’s a lot younger than I am. Are kids into Dragon Age these days? I don’t really think so. And Mal’s Team Solas, I’m Team Cullen, so that could explain things.)

I’ve never read an Ali Hazelwood book before (I prefer non-fiction STEM to themed rom-coms), but I do read a lot of YA. I’m not sure if the writing in Check & Mate matches the author’s adult work, but I found it to be… a little on the annoying side. All of the characters’ dialogue is juvenile, even the adults’. Everyone speaks in pop culture-filled banter, and there’s a slew of Gen Z stereotypes. I haven’t encountered many intelligent adults who speak like junior high students in real life.

My preference would have been to have the story more grounded, more substantial, more rooted in reality, with fewer fart jokes. However, I can’t deny that I enjoyed it, especially Nolan’s character. There's no doubt Check & Mate will be a success.

This was a bit of a different vibe for Ali Hazelwood, but I still enjoyed it! I thought the chess player aspect was so cute! An issue I've had with her books is that while they're enjoyable, they always feel copy and pasted. This one was similar but different and it was refreshing!

Hazelwood's first YA novel! I enjoyed this cute story about chess players. The characters were easy to like and the story was entertaining. I don't always read YA but when I saw it was Ali's first I had to give it a try. Four stars! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This one unfortunately didn’t do it for me. I found the characters to be likable and the plot easy to follow, but it was tough to stay engaged and feel like everything was believable. I’d recommend to a specific audience only.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙔𝘼 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩, 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚’𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩.

📍 Read if you like:
• YA Romances
• Public Rivalries
• The Queen’s Gambit
• Chess

This was a super fun YA romance. I’m not very big on Chess - more of a Checkers guy - but I still really enjoyed the aspect being added to this story.

I’m used to adult and STEM-related stories from Ali Hazelwood, so it was nice getting a change of story for once. I’m glad this was different and entertaining still!

While this is a romance between young adults, there was so much detail that went into the actual game of Chess: decision-making of your next move, the tension of the match, and the idea of a competitive environment.

Mallory was such a fun character to read about. I liked her character very early on and how intelligent she was when it came to competitive Chess. She gave me the same vibes Olive gave from TLH.

Also, we have Nolan as our love interest and I absolutely adored his character. The tension between him and Mal was so good.

I found myself laughing so often at how adorable they were together. The banter was there for sure! Yes, there’s a rivalry between the two, but they are the absolute sweetest together.

There’s also a family dynamic aspect to the book. I really liked Mal’s sister, Darcy. There was so much to love about her family, and I adored it when Nolan met them.

My only issue with the book itself was the pop culture references. There were so many mentions of Tiktok and “gen z” slang that I didn’t really care for. It sort of took away from the story.

This is Ali’s YA debut and it definitely did not disappoint. There’s so much thought going into writing this book and it clearly shows. I loved the intelligent side of the story with Chess. It was a tad bit different than her adult novels, but I adored this book for the most part.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Misogyny, sexism, chronic illness, sexual content, death of parent

"Check & Mate" by @alihazelwood
4/5 📖

I'm forever grateful every single time I receive an ARC, and this one is no exception!

Reading this book had me wanting to hug both Mallory and Nolan. Mallory hasn't played chess for a couple of years, focused on taking care of her mom and her sisters. Everything changed when her best friend signed her up to play a charity tournament and ended up winning against Nolan "Kingkiller" Sawyer: current world champion. Mallory is set on not playing again and leaving that win against Nolan in the past, but when doors open up for her to financially provide for her family, will she be able to keep them and chess separate, while not thinking about Nolan?

I loved the story. Both Nolan and Mal have chess marking their lives in some way since they were young, and even with good people surrounding them, they both feel lonely. I really like Nolan 💕 and him being ten steps ahead of Mal, knowing how they would end up? 🥰 too cute!

This book will be released in November, and I will buy a physical copy because this is my favorite book of Ali so far!

📚 Rival Players
📚 Upper Young Adult
📚 Forced Proximity
📚 Bi FMC

Setting: New Jersey/New York
Rep: queer protagonist; lesbian best friend

I don't know about chess; Mallory could be an Olympic long jumper the way she leaps to conclusions with no evidence. She is SO. FUCKING. ANNOYING. This is a trend with Hazelwood - solid plots and side characters being ruined by insufferable female leads. Also, yes, the author's obvious size kink is present in this book too: not as bad as the first two, but Mallory is often mentioning that Nolan is "so tall," that his hands dwarf hers, that one of his hands is the same size as her entire abdomen. It's annoying. I liked Nolan actually, and I liked the chess, but I hated Mallory.

4.5⭐️s

- Young/New Adult
- Bi FMC
- Woman triumphing in a male dominated world/sport
- Competitive chess–each other's biggest competitor but also each other's best Second.

Okay, I absolutely devoured this book. I started it thinking it would be my weekend read, but I got sucked into it so deep that I didn't sleep until I finished it. At 2 am.

This was such a riveting, and surprisingly complex story! Who knew chess was so exciting?!

I loved that we got so much more than the romance. Being a YA book, it was great that we got to see so much of Mallory's (it's her POV) life outside their romance, and just her relationship with Nolan in general. Her individual relationships with each of the side characters–mom, sisters, best friend, mentors, etc.–were all explored and developed too. Loved that.

And now our cinnamon roll hero, Nolan. What a sweet, sweet boy!

I enjoyed this book a lot despite the frustrating moments that usually come with YA that make you wanna throw your kindle/book against the wall. Par for the course and all. The A+ character arc more than made up for it!

Thank you, Penguin Teen, for the ARC!

3.5 rounded down. Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for the arc!

Overall, this book was a good read and I think fans of Hazelwood will enjoy it at least as much as I did. It’s an upper YA level book: the FMC, Mallory is 18 and has already graduated high school. The MMC, Nolan, is 20. We don’t have a school or college setting. So it doesn’t feel too young - which I’m sure some Hazelwood fans might be worried about. It’s also fade to black; there are no explicit sex scenes.

Nolan is very much like Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. He’s blunt and straightforward with everything but sometimes hides his emotions behind the hand flex 😂 And will fight to make Mal reach her potential. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hazelwood told me “he’s based off Darcy” because he totally his.

Mallory is…. A dumb smart woman. Shes the type of smart woman who everyone tells us is SO intelligent and has this insane puzzling brain but is completely stupid in most other aspects of her life. The first 25% of this book was me raging at this girl. And many of my favorite moments were other characters calling Mal out on her SHIT - telling her to get her head out of her ass. (Actual words in the book.)

It wasn’t until around 26% that the book finally caught up and gave me some feel good Hazelwood vibes. It’s lovely how she can give us this beautiful tension and I was eating it up. 🥰

The parental plot was…. Silly. Usually I love parent plots in YA but this one felt shallow and didn’t honestly make much sense at all. It felt like the mother wasn’t being a mother a lot of the time - for the four years since she stopped chess I mean. When she was still 14 and needed a mom, not someone to support her adult decisions, but someone to guide her.

Hazelwood also uses tropes that are overdone and mediocre: “take care of me while I’m sick” and “let’s play a game winner gets to ask the loser a question.” While these are decently done here, they are overused and felt meh when considering she could have been more innovative.

Most of the twists of this book I called from the getgo. There was one I didn’t but it made perfect sense too in the grand scheme. The third act conflict was TERRIBLE because it was just the FMC being stupid. :)

So I had to drop a few stars for all that. I still think this book was a little above my “fine” rating which is why I gave it a 3.5, but I’ve read better YA books with better YA protagonists. 🤷‍♀️