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A review by serahlunareads
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
4.5
My first Ali Hazelwood definitely didn’t disappoint! I know this one is very different from her others, but I really enjoyed her writing and her character development. I will absolutely be checking out others by her soon!
As someone who doesn’t care one iota about chess, it’s amazing how invested into this storyline I became! Yes, there were definitely some things that I didn’t understand, but it didn’t take away anything from the story and my enjoyment of it. It’s very approachable, even if you don’t know anything about the game of chess.
I absolutely ADORED the romance. It felt natural and realistic. Although the FMC was really irritating to me at times, the MMC made up for it tenfold. Plus, I’m a fan of books that keep their characters realistic, flaws and all.
Things that kept it from being 5-stars for me:
There were Way. Too. Many. Pop culture references. Normally just one is too many for me, but this completely went overboard. There were honestly dozens.
There was also a bit of disappointment for me in the end of the book. Throughout the whole story there is an intense buildup to a particular event. Sadly, that particular event never happened and it felt like a huge letdown.
Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
As someone who doesn’t care one iota about chess, it’s amazing how invested into this storyline I became! Yes, there were definitely some things that I didn’t understand, but it didn’t take away anything from the story and my enjoyment of it. It’s very approachable, even if you don’t know anything about the game of chess.
I absolutely ADORED the romance. It felt natural and realistic. Although the FMC was really irritating to me at times, the MMC made up for it tenfold. Plus, I’m a fan of books that keep their characters realistic, flaws and all.
Things that kept it from being 5-stars for me:
There were Way. Too. Many. Pop culture references. Normally just one is too many for me, but this completely went overboard. There were honestly dozens.
There was also a bit of disappointment for me in the end of the book. Throughout the whole story there is an intense buildup to a particular event. Sadly, that particular event never happened and it felt like a huge letdown.
Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.