A review by bentewill
The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

3.0

Unfortunately, I can’t help to compare this book to the Netflix show. While some changes I understood
, I was kind of sad that in the show they changed her first loss to Borgov as a result of her taking pills. In the books, she was simply not good enough, which I much prefer
.
In general, this book read really nice in the beginning. Towards the ending it becomes a little more boring, because they keep describing all the chess moves, which mean nothing to me.
It also felt a bit more sudden that she got addicted to alcohol, and her relationship with Benny felt a little more confusing here. Where in the show, she seemed to really be in love with him. In the book, it seems like she likes him but she doesn’t really know in what way exactly.

It is interesting to see more of what exactly is going on in Beth’s mind. She is 100% neurodivergent, and is just in general such an interesting character.
Overall, I quite liked the book. I wish I had read it before watching the Netflix show.
[December 16, 2023 → January 6, 2024]