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A review by alilbitofmonica
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
5.0
Umm yes I am 100% obsessed with this story. Fans of chess and fans of The Queen’s Gambit will be pleased.
I have always liked chess, been fascinated by it and so I was beyond excited for this.
- Chess drama is peak and I love it
- Mallory and Nolan were such good characters with solid depth and great chemistry.
- Mallory’s family dynamic was at times tragic and also hilarious - the interactions with her sisters was the only time this book really felt very YA to me. Not really a problem, but sometimes Mallory’s behavior with her family felt more juvenile than I was expecting.
- The tension created in this story was excellent - not just relational tension but plot tension in the chess matches too
- Mallory really was dumb for thinking she could travel all over the place and never have her mom figure out the truth. It made for interesting attempts at secrecy, but dang was she dumb for it.
I have always liked chess, been fascinated by it and so I was beyond excited for this.
- Chess drama is peak and I love it
- Mallory and Nolan were such good characters with solid depth and great chemistry.
- Mallory’s family dynamic was at times tragic and also hilarious - the interactions with her sisters was the only time this book really felt very YA to me. Not really a problem, but sometimes Mallory’s behavior with her family felt more juvenile than I was expecting.
- The tension created in this story was excellent - not just relational tension but plot tension in the chess matches too
- Mallory really was dumb for thinking she could travel all over the place and never have her mom figure out the truth. It made for interesting attempts at secrecy, but dang was she dumb for it.