A review by annabananadel
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

challenging emotional funny informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

“He told me once that sometimes, with some people, it's not about winning or losing. That with some people, it's just about playing. Though for the longest time, I didn't really believe him.” 

When you stay up late and take a half day off from work, that’s how you know that a book is good. I wanted to devour the book after the first fifty pages just to see how Mallory’s story would progress. 

I love how the first hundred pages is just about Mallory's life (and yeah, that chess charity event too but it was just one chapter, right?). So the author really just made me get a feel for Mallory's world - her past and how the present came to be. It's not all about romance, which is one of the best thing I actually enjoyed (somewhat ironic since I'm a romance lover). It's mostly all about chess so when I get that little snippets of Nolan happens, I'm just dead, head-over-heels in love with that man. I also love how the characters are opposite where it's the girl who's sexually active compared to the guy, it's legit one of the favorite things in this book because I rarely see a romance book with that trait. The story also has more of a family aspect to it where it really shows the dynamics between each family members. Did I say that I'm in love with this book to the point of me actually watching chess games in youtube? Nope? Then yes. I'm in love with this book and it makes me want to enjoy chess - and believe me, I did try it and it's just not for me. Nonetheless, this book is just amazing. 

So far, I've read almost all of Ali Hazelwood books except for her latest one, Not In Love, which I already have though! So I'm really excited for that!
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