Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

16 reviews

filipa_maia's review against another edition

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

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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

Content Warnings

sofiabalmer's review

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

3.75

Content Warnings

bookameme's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ali Hazelwood is brilliant, witty, and emotionally compelling.

Thoughts:💡

I loved this book! Ali Hazelwood is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She’s brilliant, witty, and emotionally compelling.

This story got me in all my feels, yes there were funny and steamy moments but there was so much more to it. The family relationships broke my heart as much as they made me laugh. Then there’s the friendships, the new ones, the old ones, and the ones that mentored, they made the story spectacular.

The plot addressed some pretty deep topics between the sexism in sports, chess specifically, and the way a parent's bad behavior can have long reaching effects into the lives of their children. Between everything happening in the story it almost feels sacrilege to call this book a romcom because as steamy and titillating as it was, it feels like the romance was only a fraction of what this story was about.

The audio was well edited with a steady volume and pace for really easy listening, but the narrator was fantastic! She delivered the best kind of performance with all the right inflections and enthusiasm. I enjoyed her work almost as much as I loved this story.

Oh, and let’s not forget the representation in this book. As someone that’s ace but loves romance novels, I found it exciting to see an ace character represented amongst everyone else.

Fun Bits:

⚜️ Emotionally Impactful Siloques

⚜️ Chess Talk! Talk nerdy to me baby!

⚜️ Meaningful Family and Friendships

⚜️ Girl Crushing on Mallory, ngl

⚜️ Nolan Was Hot!

⚜️ Extremely Talented Narrator

⚜️ Positive Diverse Representation

✨Note✨This is a standalone

Full Content Warning:⚠️

Mentions of death and cheating, not the MCs, tackles misogyny and there is some sexual harassment from some asshats

Stats:📊

YA, but we get a fair amount of steam

Characters: 💙💙💙💙💙

Audio: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

Narrator: 🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️

YA Rom Com: Competitive Chess (sports romance), Coming of Age, Grief and Forgiveness, Older Siblings as a Parent, Rivals to Lovers📕

First Person, Present Tense, Single POV

Content Warnings

tah_014's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

s_green217's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-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

3.75

Content Warnings

maidmarianlib's review

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lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

Love the context its not often you get competitive chess as a topic, cool characters, note there is content that may not be suitable for all readers.

Content Warnings

modernmatilda's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

4.0

This was a sweet romance about the game of chess, how people navigate in circles dominated by the opposite gender, and intimidation theory (which is basically this idea that people perform worse if they are afraid, especially when gender is a factor).

I really love "he fell first" love stories - they are so CUTE - and I loved love loved reading about a protagonist who feels the stress and weight of money, caring for a sick parent, and providing for her siblings. The sister dynamic was wonderful.

This is very random, but I promise it makes sense. If you love The Lizzie McGuire movie, you should read this book.

Also, we love the bi rep!

Content Warnings

ankiaisreading's review

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

4.25

Content Warnings

laheath's review

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emotional hopeful 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

A fun, sweet romance about strong female characters involved in a predominantly male world. Similar to the author's adult novels, this YA novel presents some of the stereotypes and harassment faced by women in STEM, this time being competitive chess. Fortunately, most of the men are respectful. This would be challenging to read without at least a basic knowledge of chess terminology and how it is played. Considering this is YA, there are some pretty serious issues in the characters' backstories, so be aware of the trigger warnings.

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