A review by bookameme
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

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:๐Ÿ’ก
I loved this book! Ali Hazelwood is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Sheโ€™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 thereโ€™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 letโ€™s not forget the representation in this book. As someone thatโ€™s ace but loves romance novels, I found it exciting to see an ace character represented amongst everyone else.

Fun Bits:
โšœ๏ธ Emotionally Impactful Siloques
โšœ๏ธ Chess Talk! Talk nerdy to me baby!
โšœ๏ธ Meaningful Family and Friendships
โšœ๏ธ Girl Crushing on Mallory, ngl
โšœ๏ธ Nolan Was Hot!
โšœ๏ธ Extremely Talented Narrator 
โšœ๏ธ Positive Diverse Representation 

โœจNoteโœจThis is a standalone

Full Content Warning:โš ๏ธ
Mentions of death and cheating, not the MCs, tackles misogyny and there is some sexual harassment from some asshats

Stats:๐Ÿ“Š
YA, but we get a fair amount of steam 
Characters: ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’™
Audio: ๐ŸŽง๐ŸŽง๐ŸŽง๐ŸŽง๐ŸŽง
Narrator: ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ
YA Rom Com: Competitive Chess (sports romance), Coming of Age, Grief and Forgiveness, Older Siblings as a Parent, Rivals to Lovers๐Ÿ“•
First Person, Present Tense, Single POV
Expand filter menu Content Warnings