A review by thebooksatchel
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

relaxing medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Nice breezy read!
♟️ The guy falls first 
♟️ Kind of become chess rivals but not really rivals in real life. They fall in love studying strategies together 
♟️ Set in the world of chess tournaments. Women in a men’s world. Strong women
♟️ I found the protagonist extremely annoying. I found her sisters annoying too. Infact I abandoned the book when I first started reading it because I found the heroine annoying. I picked it up again and yes the story kept me going. I found her annoying nevertheless.
PS: This is a YA read and some YA protagonists are annoying.
♟️you’ll love this even if you don’t love chess
♟️ I think the research is good? It was very convincing anyway esp to those who don’t know much about chess
♟️ themes of family, grief, sisters etc
♟️slow romance 

3.5 stars