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claire_michelle18's review against another edition
4.0
Such a gripping tale, I literally couldn't put this down. Told mostly in flashbacks it tells the story of how Callum and Sephy's daughter Callie Rose learns the truth about her heritage and how that's used to manipulate her. This is a book and a series full of incredibly uncomfortable truths told in a compelling way, it should be on every school curriculum.
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
4.0
Checkmate is the third book in the fabulous Noughts & Crosses series by a woman I've come to think of as a YA genius - Malorie Blackman. I am going to try and write this review as spoiler free as I can for anybody who hasn't started the series yet but it gets harder with each successive book in the series. I heartily recommend anyone who is interested in dystopian fiction, prejudice and racial tension to read these books and discover the magic of them for yourself.
Our main character from the first book, Sephy is back and she has had a daughter, Callie Rose whom she is raising by herself with the help of her mother and Callie's father's mother. Callie is growing up in tough times where black people (known as Crosses) are the "superior" race and whites (known as Noughts) are treated with scorn and derision. Callie's problem is that she has a Cross mother and a Nought father, so in effect is mixed race and suffers terrible prejudice from both sides of the divide. Checkmate is Callie's coming of age story as she grows up in a hostile world, tries to connect with her often emotionally distant mother and finds out things about her family that may have been better left hidden and may have dangerous consequences.
To be perfectly honest, this book did not have as much of an effect on me as the previous two books in the series, Noughts & Crosses and Knife Edge, Apart from the ending that is, which is quite literally explosive and incredibly tense, paving the way for a potentially devastating final book in the series. I loved Callie Rose as a character and could see a lot of her mother in her young self but found myself becoming quite frustrated with Sephy at times as her wariness around her daughter was truly heart-breaking to read. I loved the way that this novel was told from the perspective of multiple characters once again, this is one of my favourite ways to read as I feel it gives you a much deeper insight into the mind of certain characters, especially ones where you can't quite accept their motives. Say no more....apart from please start this series if you haven't already and let me know what you think!
For my full review and many more, please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
Our main character from the first book, Sephy is back and she has had a daughter, Callie Rose whom she is raising by herself with the help of her mother and Callie's father's mother. Callie is growing up in tough times where black people (known as Crosses) are the "superior" race and whites (known as Noughts) are treated with scorn and derision. Callie's problem is that she has a Cross mother and a Nought father, so in effect is mixed race and suffers terrible prejudice from both sides of the divide. Checkmate is Callie's coming of age story as she grows up in a hostile world, tries to connect with her often emotionally distant mother and finds out things about her family that may have been better left hidden and may have dangerous consequences.
To be perfectly honest, this book did not have as much of an effect on me as the previous two books in the series, Noughts & Crosses and Knife Edge, Apart from the ending that is, which is quite literally explosive and incredibly tense, paving the way for a potentially devastating final book in the series. I loved Callie Rose as a character and could see a lot of her mother in her young self but found myself becoming quite frustrated with Sephy at times as her wariness around her daughter was truly heart-breaking to read. I loved the way that this novel was told from the perspective of multiple characters once again, this is one of my favourite ways to read as I feel it gives you a much deeper insight into the mind of certain characters, especially ones where you can't quite accept their motives. Say no more....apart from please start this series if you haven't already and let me know what you think!
For my full review and many more, please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
millieagordon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thebooksareeverywhere's review against another edition
4.0
https://thebooksareeverywhere.com/2020/09/15/review-checkmate-3-by-malorie-blackman/
If Knife Edge left me wanting more, Checkmate gave it to me. I was blown away by this book, and I can’t believe how different I found it from the second. The second really felt like a lull for me, suffering from the classic ‘filler’ feeling second books in series sometimes have. But in Checkmate, the action ramps up, emotions run high, I loved it.
I cannot congratulate Blackman enough for writing an absolute roller coaster of a series. The way Checkmate was structured, non-linear and flitting between Callie as she grows up and Sephy, Callie and family in recent years, is astounding. I wanted to rush through the pages in order to find out what happens, and of course, Blackman leaves you on the edge of your seat until the very final pages.
But remember this if nothing else: I love you more than there are words or stars. I love you more than there are thoughts and feelings.
As well as the plot being amazing, the characters were very well structured, too. In Knife Edge, I struggled with how Jude acted, and I felt Sephy’s feelings and more specifically, depression, were not dealt with very well. All of that goes out of the window in Checkmate, for a more developed and well rounded cast. I finally felt like I was there with them for every step, feeling everything they did. It was everything I wanted from this series, finally in my hands.
The repetitiveness in the writing has also vanished. Instead of feeling like Blackman was struggling to fill a page, I finally felt like every word meant something, every word needed to be there for the story. The only slight downside was the amount of POV’s could be confusing at times and felt like they were flitting around a lot. Despite this, I still really enjoyed it and found it digestible enough to read.
I love you more than there are seconds or moments gone or to come. I love you.
This is a story about race. A story about divide. A story about women, family and friendship and love. I cannot wait to see where the next book takes me, and I only hope it lives up to this one.
★★★★
4 out of 5 stars
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
If Knife Edge left me wanting more, Checkmate gave it to me. I was blown away by this book, and I can’t believe how different I found it from the second. The second really felt like a lull for me, suffering from the classic ‘filler’ feeling second books in series sometimes have. But in Checkmate, the action ramps up, emotions run high, I loved it.
I cannot congratulate Blackman enough for writing an absolute roller coaster of a series. The way Checkmate was structured, non-linear and flitting between Callie as she grows up and Sephy, Callie and family in recent years, is astounding. I wanted to rush through the pages in order to find out what happens, and of course, Blackman leaves you on the edge of your seat until the very final pages.
But remember this if nothing else: I love you more than there are words or stars. I love you more than there are thoughts and feelings.
As well as the plot being amazing, the characters were very well structured, too. In Knife Edge, I struggled with how Jude acted, and I felt Sephy’s feelings and more specifically, depression, were not dealt with very well. All of that goes out of the window in Checkmate, for a more developed and well rounded cast. I finally felt like I was there with them for every step, feeling everything they did. It was everything I wanted from this series, finally in my hands.
The repetitiveness in the writing has also vanished. Instead of feeling like Blackman was struggling to fill a page, I finally felt like every word meant something, every word needed to be there for the story. The only slight downside was the amount of POV’s could be confusing at times and felt like they were flitting around a lot. Despite this, I still really enjoyed it and found it digestible enough to read.
I love you more than there are seconds or moments gone or to come. I love you.
This is a story about race. A story about divide. A story about women, family and friendship and love. I cannot wait to see where the next book takes me, and I only hope it lives up to this one.
★★★★
4 out of 5 stars
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
milffiction's review against another edition
5.0
my heart has never been toyed like this before. from the beginning of the book to the end, i have literally not been able to breathe. reading how callie-rose was treated by her family was so heartbreaking and frustrating because all i wanted was for sephy and callie-rose to rejuvenate their bond as mother and daughter, and everything apart from that was actually happening. including jude's and jasmine's and meggie's perspectives were so incredibly interesting and necessary for the path of the story; i hope that the books to follow continue the perspectives of everyone. despite the chapters being short, every ending added so much more depth to the characters. their emotions and thought processes were written so thoughtfully and beautifully, callie-rose's was especially moving. i love how everything tied together as you developed throughout the story, the flashbacks aided a lot in that. and don't even get me started on the ending—absolute genius. i think it will be hard to top this book in terms of the plot but malorie blackman never fails to surprise me.
whatbritreads's review against another edition
2.0
Ah, where did this series go so wrong? I just feel like the direction of the story has taken such a sharp turn from Noughts and Crosses, it’s completely not even the same story and I’m so disappointed. It’s lost all of its momentum; I feel like the dystopian and unjust society they live in isn’t even a focal point of the story and has just been pushed aside for some really weak relationships ‘development’. I can’t even begin to express how sad I was reading this book. The series had so much potential but it really should’ve been a standalone, or the first book should’ve been the basis for a more dragged out story. Sigh.
Let’s start with the fact that we have just started this book by skipping an entire SIXTEEN years? This is a consistent theme throughout as well, we randomly skips months or years without really any acknowledgement of it and it’s so frustrating. I really wasn’t expecting a series that spanned over 25+ years. Also, the incessant need for side characters. I started reading expecting to just develop with Callum and Sephy but what we’ve ended up with is quite frankly (sorry for being so negative but it must be said) a mess. The characters are all carbon copies of each other anyway with no real personality and the most unnatural manor of speaking to each other I’ve ever come across is bizarre.
There were multiple love triangles in this book for NO REASON. Why is romance just shoved into a story pointlessly? Honestly this series had such potential to be a groundbreaking dystopian masterpiece in the analysis of power play and race in society, and the first book made a good attempt, and from here it’s just unreadable. It just felt like a weird contemporary read with a random suicide-bomber and cancer storyline thrown in for shcok-value. It all felt so cheap and I literally felt nothing for any of these characters.
The plot of this book, because of the format, had no intrigue because we pretty much knew how it was gonna end from the beginning. I hated the constant back and forth throughout time, it was confusing and many of the chapters added nothing. In fact, often he perspective changed just to go over the exact same scene in a different POV? Also, the random addition and sudden storyline where Sephy is a singer and writes music 24/7? What is that about?
I really had high hopes from Malorie Blackman from the first instalment. I was willing to let her off for the second book, assuming it was maybe a filler for better things to come, but I’ve never read such an unsatisfying book series. I don’t even wanna read the last book but guess I’m this far in now I’ll push through the pain.
Sorry for all the negativity, someone else please tell me they’ve read this and thought it was a complete trainwreck and I’m not just miserable?
Let’s start with the fact that we have just started this book by skipping an entire SIXTEEN years? This is a consistent theme throughout as well, we randomly skips months or years without really any acknowledgement of it and it’s so frustrating. I really wasn’t expecting a series that spanned over 25+ years. Also, the incessant need for side characters. I started reading expecting to just develop with Callum and Sephy but what we’ve ended up with is quite frankly (sorry for being so negative but it must be said) a mess. The characters are all carbon copies of each other anyway with no real personality and the most unnatural manor of speaking to each other I’ve ever come across is bizarre.
There were multiple love triangles in this book for NO REASON. Why is romance just shoved into a story pointlessly? Honestly this series had such potential to be a groundbreaking dystopian masterpiece in the analysis of power play and race in society, and the first book made a good attempt, and from here it’s just unreadable. It just felt like a weird contemporary read with a random suicide-bomber and cancer storyline thrown in for shcok-value. It all felt so cheap and I literally felt nothing for any of these characters.
The plot of this book, because of the format, had no intrigue because we pretty much knew how it was gonna end from the beginning. I hated the constant back and forth throughout time, it was confusing and many of the chapters added nothing. In fact, often he perspective changed just to go over the exact same scene in a different POV? Also, the random addition and sudden storyline where Sephy is a singer and writes music 24/7? What is that about?
I really had high hopes from Malorie Blackman from the first instalment. I was willing to let her off for the second book, assuming it was maybe a filler for better things to come, but I’ve never read such an unsatisfying book series. I don’t even wanna read the last book but guess I’m this far in now I’ll push through the pain.
Sorry for all the negativity, someone else please tell me they’ve read this and thought it was a complete trainwreck and I’m not just miserable?
ohbookisme's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ravenreadsnwrites's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Best book in the series by far