A review by documentno_is
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

adventurous emotional funny sad tense 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

This was (actually) one of my favorite romcoms of the year, and I emphasize actually only because Hazelwood has been pretty lackluster for me so far. Even aside from the really out there wolf book. 

Chess plays center stage in this enemies to lovers tension built romance surrounding their shared profession, family trauma, and different ways they approach love and relationships. Our FL Mallory is a bit of a Debbie Downer, but she has the trauma to match. She does in fact find her match in incredibly stable and secure chess wunderkin Nolan and chaos ensues. This is a book about chess, but its also a book about becoming an adult and finding yourself in the world. 

I found this novel so endearing, and chess is so incredibly interesting even when our FL is being annoying and self-effacing. I think my love for this novel was largely driven by my love for activity obsession media (Chihayafuru, March Comes in Like a Lion, Challengers, The Houseguest…) I’m extremely interested in this paradigm of not being able to discern where your affection for a person and your shared interest begins and ends. 

It is kind of crazy to me the sheer volume of content that Hazelwood pumps out, she has a good work ethic for certain. To also put out so much media and not have any of it have a particular drop in quality is pretty cool. 

Anyway, don’t go into this novel thinking she’s going to cure your depression or write some inalienable truth to the human experience but I do think this is a somewhat deeper than surface level romantic comedy for people who are too into their hobbies.