I cannot recall completely, but I think this is my first allie Hazelwood book and it was OK. I’m was able to finish it in a good amount of time. It was definitely something that was intriguing in an and it kept me reading throughout.

Huge thanks to Penguin Young Readers Group and Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story follows our main female protagonist, Mallory Greenleaf, as she finds herself in a financial bind while taking care of her mother and sister. This bind leads Mallory to some hard decisions. One of those hard decisions lands Mallory back into the chess arena; a sport she has tried desperately to avoid playing ever again. As her talent is revealed, she becomes more and and more immersed in this world and ends up paired again chess playboy Nolan Sawyer. Chess sparks fly and the story goes from there.

I loved that this story was based around chess. It's not something that is well know and made for an interesting plot for these characters to interact in. I liked the story overall and it made for an easy read. The main female protagonist was fun to follow. I liked the female angst and feminine rage that seen in this story. Mallory was four dimensional and I rooted for her the whole way. However, I did have some problems with this story. One, this main male protagonist was very two dimensional. He barely had a character arc if any at all. His interactions with Mallory seemed forced and a little ridiculous at times. He did the bare minimum in this story and just enough for it to be characterized as a romance. Second, I have a hard time with this being marketed as a YA. YA ranges from 14-18. Some of the language in here and some of the scenes are highly inappropriate for this age group. This should have been marketed as an adult period. Just because the intimacy scenes were "closed door" and I say that lightly, the other scenes in this book and the language pushes it over the edge regardless. I would never, as an influencer and as a "mom" recommend or authorize my teenager to read this

Overall, I gave this 3.75 to 4 stars. I would recommend this to another over 18 adult to read but not to anyone under that age. Not a bad story just not my favorite from the author.

I enjoyed reading this first YA book of Ali Hazelwood's, but it was not my favorite of her books. I enjoyed that it was about chess, and it was definitely worth a read-I haven't actively disliked any book of hers. But her previous books (particularly The Love Hypothesis) were my favorites. I did have fun reading about these characters, though.

Mallory was a chess prodigy until chess tore her family apart. Now she does everything she can to keep her family afloat while shouldering the blame for its downfall. Her friend convinces her to play in a chess tournament one time for charity and Mallory shocks everyone by beating the top player in the world. She tries to avoid it, but somehow chess and its eclectic group of top players keeps finding their way into her life.

What a wonderful little feel good read. I read this whole book in about 4 hours. There was one thing that never really felt resolved to me, but other than that I found this book a hit. I also learned a lot about chess!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC of this book.

I absolutely loved Ali Hazelwood's YA debut. The perfect mix of contemporary and romance, while doing a deep dive into a world I don't know a lot about: chess. I read Hazelwood's adult books, but my favorite is now Check & Mate.

Perfect for fans of The Queen's Gambit, but who prefer a more lighthearted HEA. With notes of Ali Hazelwood's signature academic flare, this romance combines elements of chess with the struggles of identity, family, sexuality, and found family. As someone who prefers checkers to chess, I still loved this novel. While classified as YA, this is a perfect story for anyone who enjoys a well-written romance. I read this book in one sitting, and am confident this is a read anyone would enjoy.

This is my favorite Ali Hazelwood book and I am as shocked as you are since I no longer gravitate towards YA! I ended up enjoying these characters and their stories.

The rivals to lovers in this book were so well done. It is a slow-burn book, but so worth the time.

Definitely recommend this cute chess-themed book from Ali

I have really enjoyed this author’s previous books bit for some reason I struggled with this one. It was slow for me and I really had trouble reading it. I would put it aside for days then have to for e myself to pick it back up. I did t connect to the characters or story, maybe it was a mood thing? I have loved all the other books from this author

Ali Hazelwood is an amazing author. I love her other books but this one was my favorite by far. The plot line was so fun and the slow burn was amazingggg. I can’t wait for her next book.

Ali Hazelwood has not yet written a story I have been disappointed in. In her first ever yet YA novel, the characters are just as dynamic and NERDY as per usual. Keep on going strong Ali!

There are a lot of similarities in Hazelwood’s romances. However, they never fail to make me happy! This one was no exception! I love Mallory and Sawyer and love the dynamics with Mal’s sisters and friend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

As a fan of Ali Hazelwood, I was excited to get an arc of Check & Mate. She is a talented writer and keeps the words and. your brain flowing throughout this book. I enjoyed the quirky characters, references and friendships in this story. I will say that her are a little more New Adult than YA, so this would not be for my students. However, I enjoyed it and so will my friends.

had to DNF because apparently I'm way more uninterested in chess than I anticipated & I was also more annoyed by the pop culture references than usual. I'll definitely still try her adult novels that I haven't read yet though!

Ok wow!! This book was very Ali Hazelwood but also so not. The tension was spilling off the pages with so little words said and I’m very here for it.

I LOVE Ali Hazelwood, so when I saw she had a YA book coming I was excited to say the least. YA is a comfort genre for me even at the ripe old age of 31 and Check & Mate checked all the boxes.

And I loved it.

This one was so good. This slow burn romance between CHESS RIVALS was exactly what I needed but never knew to ask for.

I don’t have any qualms with anything in this book, I loved it, I loved the family relationships, the past family trauma felt by both of our MCs and I did feel that it was a different approach to YA that I don’t often see.

Could it have been aged up and been a NA rom com? Absolutely. There isn’t spice here, the romance is sizzling under the surface, and thus it is YA age appropriate.

You won’t find the spice level of TLH here (which really isn’t spicy anyway) but for YA it works and is wonderful and I love that a younger group of readers can experience the wonderful that is Ali Hazelwood.

Thank you so much for the review copy in exchange for an honest review!

I also cannot recommend the audio enough as it was so good!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this Advance Reader Copy. This title is clever, a YA novel with a STEM background makes it a must read. Some of the situations in this book may happen and some are far-fetched, but that's what makes it fiction and an escape! Mallory is such a relatable character in this age group experiencing burnout as an older sibling with a busy life. Their love story was an escape and while the ending felt a little rushed, overall both characters were well developed as well as their love story.

So cute! I really love Ali Hazelwood, so it's no surprise that I enjoyed this one a lot. It felt a little more new adult than young adult, but it's still appropriate for YA sections because it does not have explicit sex scenes.

This might be my favorite Ali Hazelwood book? I am the biggest fan of the love hypothesis, but I ADORED these characters and this story so much!

The rivals to lovers in this book was so well done. It is definitely a slow burn book, but so worth it!! I read this on my kindle and immediately wanted to order a physical copy. You don’t have to like chess to enjoy this book because Ali Hazelwood does a great job of making it easy to understand!!!

i don’t know if I would call this a YA; more of a NA in my opinion, but I really enjoyed the book.

I liked the FMC. She was dealing with so much and didn’t always make decisions I agreed with, but it fit with who she was and what she was trying to process or avoid processing.

The MMC was different than many MMC but swoonworthy in his own way.

I enjoyed the chess aspect and how the story unfolded. The epilogue was a great way to the end the book.

Check & Mate is the first Ali Hazelwood book I’ve read, and I was so impressed! I flew through the book in less than a day, and I’m already wanting to pick up another book by Hazelwood.

I loved so many things about this book! The story is centered around the game of chess, and while I’m not a huge fan, it was interesting. If you enjoy chess, I think you’ll definitely love this book, but if not, it doesn’t take away from the story at all. One thing I particularly enjoyed about the story was the way Hazelwood addressed gender inequality in chess.

The romance was cute, but I never really focus on romance, even in romance novels, and there were so many other compelling aspects of this book that made it stand out. Mallory was such a well-crafted character. I liked that she was not perfect and made many mistakes throughout the course of the story. The way she put her family first and tried to provide for her mom and sisters was endearing. Related to that, I appreciated the chronic illness representation in Mallory’s mom. Mallory’s motivation of wanting to help her family was perfectly executed and added a lot of plausibility to the story.

On a similar note, I thought Mallory came across as neurodivergent, which I enjoyed. The queer representation, in Mallory and multiple secondary characters, was excellent. Many of Hazelwood’s characters viewed queerness as the norm, which I loved, especially in Mallory’s younger sisters.

Furthermore, in relation to the plot, I enjoyed the way Hazelwood slowly revealed backstory, especially information related to Mallory’s dad and his relation to chess.

Finally, the supporting characters were exceptional! I loved so many of them, but Oz in particular was very likeable despite his grumpiness. I adored the fact that he supported Mallory throughout her journey in the world of chess.

Overall, I will certainly be reading more of Hazelwood’s books because this one was an absolute gem!