Reviews with content warning for Dementia - Check & Mate

Spice Rating: 🌶️ / 5

Even though I don't know much about chess, I still had so much fun reading Check & Mate.

At just 18 years old, Mallory feels the burden of providing for her mother, who has rheumatoid arthritis, and her two younger sisters. She's been able to until recently, when she got fired from her job as an auto mechanic. But after playing in a charity chess tournament for the first time in years, Mallory receives an offer for a chess fellowship. Even though Mallory swore off chess after her father suddenly passed away, she can't pass up the great salary. Surely she can keep chess at work and not become obsessed with again... right? Mallory has been keeping her chess fellowship secret to protect her family from the unpleasant memories they associate with chess, but after she starts to win tournaments and becomes internet famous, she might not be able to keep the ruse up much longer. And once she gets to know chess champion Nolan Sawyer, Mallory isn't sure she wants to keep her two lives separate anymore. She finally feels seen, and nothing is more terrifying to Mallory than that.

I thought this was such a cute novel! I loved learning more about chess and seeing the gender gap within the chess world. This is such a sweet romance with plenty of emotional backstory.

Content Warnings

jencolumb0's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

Another deeply satisfying Ali Hazelwood delight, filled with funny observations, spice, and (mostly) charming characters. (The characters who are not charming get what they deserve and it is satisfying too.)

My own lack of familiarity with chess made the (comforting) tropes feel less predictable. (Though, in the notes, Hazelwood acknowledges that she took a fair amount of liberty with chess details to make the story work out well. I would expect that, if you are a true chess nerd, this book might be annoying . . . and I’d actually be curious as to what is off, technically, about this book. An annotated copy would be super interesting. I digress.)

Mallory & Nolan are easy to ship. Arguably more importantly, as the book unfolds, it’s lovely to see Mallory put down a lot of the things she’s been carrying because she realizes that relationships can be repaired and she’s not as alone as she thinks she is: it doesn’t have to be, forever, as hard as it has been.

Somewhat relatedly, I really appreciated the discussion in the book of casual sex. Mallory is down, depicted (generally) being responsible about it (

the wisdom and safety of hooking up in a car in an otherwise public place raises questions but, throughout the book, there are clear statements of heterosexual couples relying on condoms when engaging in penetrative sex

), clear that “sex” is about sharing of bodies for pleasure and not just p-in-v penetration that can lead to babies, and gives a clearly-articulated explanation as to why she chooses to share her body with the folks she does. The book is fade-to-black (which Hazelwood, naturally, still manages to make steamy but I would call the pre-fade scenes PG-13 at best). Nolan is coded as shades of Ace (or, alternatively, Pan, with

Mallory being the only person he’s ever been interested in having sex with

) SO, reviews that complain about too much discussion of sex are . . . slut-shaming a fictional 18-year-old?? That’s messed up.

Personally, I found this to be a sex-positive delight that slips in neatly between binges of Heartstopper and Sex Education. Bravissima, Ali Hazelwood!

Content Warnings

abby_can_read's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

📖
I have to admit it: Ali Hazelwood has me in a chokehold. I enjoyed this. I liked Mallory and Nolan. They were cute together.

Content Warnings

filipa_maia's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

After reading 'Bride' I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. I think my brain was conditioned to expect one thing and got the exact opposite.

I loved this story so much. I really like Mallory (although I found her annoying sometimes) - I appreciate her sense of family and the fact that she simply feels like supporting them; and I really like Nolan - he's just a good guy who learned the hard way how to grow up alone surrounded by cameras. They are perfect for each other.

And I loved the ending - everything was exactly as it should be.

P.S.: I love Oz, he is my favorite character.

Content Warnings

gemma_00's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

Good, easy read. Focusing on sexism and gender stereotypes in a competitive environment.
Mallory is slightly annoying in a 'main character of a romance' type of way.
Nolan is a walking contradiction. Don't know how else to explain him.
But looking past plot holes, inaccuracies, the characters' similar personalities and mannerisms; its an enjoyable and investing read.
Cute epilogue

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