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courtofsmutandstuff's review against another edition
5.0
I adore Ali Hazelwood, and her oblivious FMCs, and her Adam Driver MMCs. I devoured it in 24 hours and have no complaints.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Death of parent
melissaslibraryy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
4.75
This is my third Ali Hazelwood novel and she did her lil thing with this one im ngl ๐ Iโm obsessed with Nolan and how smitten he was with Mallory after she outsmarted him and won their chess game. Also the fact that she is bi and has a supportive family is just ๐ฅน๐ซถ bc we rarely get to see rom-coms where the mcโs in a heterosexual relationship have different sexualities other than being straight, so this was refreshing. I do agree with some people opinions that this shouldโve been marketed as a new adult instead of YA bc even if it wasnโt incredibly descriptive, the spicy scene in the book was hardly fade to black either. I will definitely continue to read books by this author bc I enjoy her writing and how each book sheds a positive light on feminism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Dementia, Car accident, and Abandonment
sundayfever's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Dementia, and Car accident
withlivjones's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I LOVED the chess storyline, it was so exciting and definitely my favourite part of the book. The romance was cute but rather sappy and cringe at times. Definitely an enjoyable and easy read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
reedandright's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying
emilyferrise's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I liked this one more than her more adult STEM books. A good bit of pining, which I historically havenโt loved, but am coming to appreciate more. Romcom meets Queenโs Gambit (Netflix).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Dementia, Death of parent, and Alcohol
jla's review against another edition
funny
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
3.75
Nolan was, of course, perfect. Everything out of his mouth was swoon worthy because Ali Hazelwood knows how to write vulnerable, emotionally intelligent men. I wish she could write less annoying female leads. Her female chess player characters were so awesome. I'd read a whole book on each of them. Honestly, all the chess players, aside from the misogynists, were really great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Death of parent
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book was SO fun and so cute. I absolutely loved Mallory and Nolan and their relationship! This one had so many good moments and the banter was gold.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
spellbindingtomes's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐'๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐'๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ.
Who would have thought I would fall in love with a chess romance!? I was skeptical at first but I really enjoyed this one.
Ali wrote such an engaging romance that had me hooked from the start. There were so many swoon worthy moments. I loved each of Mallory and Sawyer's interactions and their banter was so funny.
Their first match with each other read like an intense sports competition. I haven't played chess since I was a kid so when Mallory and Sawyer played, the writing had me feeling like I was watching a secret passionate conversation unfold between them.
I did have some issues that held me back from giving this a 5 star. For one, I wasn't a fan of the 3rd act breakup which I'm recognizing is a pattern in Ali's books. And there were times I had to remind myself that Mallory is 18 years old because she was a little frustrating.
HOWEVER, that being said, I would definitely pick this up again. Check & Mate was my third Ali Hazelwood book (I'll post my Bride review soon!) and I find her writing so fun and entertaining.
๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐บ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ค. ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐บ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ.
Read if you love:
โ๏ธYA romance
โ๏ธrivals to lovers
โ๏ธhe falls harder
โ๏ธchess
โ๏ธsports romance
Who would have thought I would fall in love with a chess romance!? I was skeptical at first but I really enjoyed this one.
Ali wrote such an engaging romance that had me hooked from the start. There were so many swoon worthy moments. I loved each of Mallory and Sawyer's interactions and their banter was so funny.
Their first match with each other read like an intense sports competition. I haven't played chess since I was a kid so when Mallory and Sawyer played, the writing had me feeling like I was watching a secret passionate conversation unfold between them.
I did have some issues that held me back from giving this a 5 star. For one, I wasn't a fan of the 3rd act breakup which I'm recognizing is a pattern in Ali's books. And there were times I had to remind myself that Mallory is 18 years old because she was a little frustrating.
HOWEVER, that being said, I would definitely pick this up again. Check & Mate was my third Ali Hazelwood book (I'll post my Bride review soon!) and I find her writing so fun and entertaining.
๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐บ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ค. ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐บ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ.
Read if you love:
โ๏ธYA romance
โ๏ธrivals to lovers
โ๏ธhe falls harder
โ๏ธchess
โ๏ธsports romance
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexism, and Car accident
chemeducator's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity and Grief