Reviews with content warning for Racism - Gambito de dama

I must say, the story worked better for me as a Netflix show. This is simply because I really don't care for chess, and watching the show I could just lean back and enjoy the atmosphere of the tournaments while Beth was playing. In the book however, the moves were described with great detail and I found myself just skimming these parts.

What I liked:
Beth is a rather good (and hard to find) example of a well-written female character in a book written by a man. She is super messed up while still likeable, interesting while very silent, feminist and not keen on being reduced on being a girl while liking nice dresses and so on.
The writing style is rather plain and pragmatic most of the time and usually fits the mood of the scenes. I would just have liked a few more description to drag me more into the world of the 50s and 60s in the way the show managed to.

One more thing I still want to point out is the very ambiguous, problematic and yet really warm mother-daughter-relationship between Beth and Alma Wheatley. I found it very interesting how in a way Mrs Wheatly is partially responsible for Beth's self-destructive path but on the other hand is also a source of love and warmth for her.

What bothered me:
Apart from Mrs Wheatly, the side characters could have been better executed, especially Jolene. But that is probably due to the shortness of the book. One more thing that bothered me though was the very disturbing sexual assault scene between Jolene and Beth in the orphanage. I am not sure why the author thought this was a good plot element, because it was not. Also: Working out with a friend for a few months can probably help with overcoming an addiction. But can you overcome a year-long addiction just with that? Naaaa.... not sure.

Content Warnings

hermyknee19's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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seren's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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sofiya's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I'm not exactly sure how I want to rate this book, in complete honesty. I think it is a generally well-written (not always, but usually) book with an interesting plotline. I watched parts of the show before reading this book, and I think I'm on the side where it's not that worth it to read the book with/rather than watching the show. The book was written by a middle-aged man in the 1980s and that shows, particularly with how the author portrays Beth's inner monologue (considering she is 8-19 years old in the book). I didn't find the tone exactly right for who she was, but it wasn't awful.

What was awful was

a SA scene that happens in one of the first few chapters (when Beth is 8 years old). It's so unnecessary and doesn't get brought up again or shown to have repercussions. The author actually uses it as a way to build a bond between two characters and it made me sick and disappointed to read. After finishing the book, I still have no idea what the purpose was.

An additional problem I had was how quickly Beth seemed to overcome her addiction. Maybe I'm thinking about how addiction is dramatized in media, but it felt too simple. We hear her thoughts while she's struggling a bit, but she doesn't really fall off the bandwagon at any point.

Overall, interesting book, but I wouldn't really recommend anyone reading it over watching the show unless they're more interested in the chess details themselves.

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kaylee1957's review against another edition

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dark inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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lkbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

5.0

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