Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood || Book Review

When I decided to read all of Ali Hazelwood's backlist, I did not expect that I would want to review one of them. I read Check & Mate weeks back and it has been persistently present at the back of my mind.

When you can't stop thinking about a book, it's a sign to review it and air out all the thoughts. So, here I am, to do just that.

about Check & Mate

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays. After the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory's focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious "Kingkiller" Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning bad boy of chess.

Nolan's loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone—especially Mallory. What's even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory's victory opens the door to sorely needed cash prizes and, despite everything, she can't help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist....

As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren't only on the board, the spotlight is hotter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce(-ly attractive. And intelligent...and infuriating...)

my review

The first thing that I noticed is how young the main characters are. Hazelwood's other contemporary romances (so far) star main characters well into adulthood. They're either working or doing a PhD. They also have a lot of similarities in the plot structure which I spoke about in my July wrap-up.

Check & Mate was immediately refreshing because it had something different from the author's other novels, even if it was the characters' ages and positions in life.

The prologue occurs when Mallory is 16 and the rest of the book is when she's 18. The story starts in the summer after her high school graduation. She chose not to go to college due to family issues so this story is not academic or sciencey like Hazelwood's other books.

Although there are still a few similarities with other Hazelwood books, the main story is pretty different and has a different setting so I didn't feel like I already knew half the plot. The author did something new here.

I think about a deserted chessboard. Only the white king on it, standing on the home square. Alone, untethered, safe from threats. Free to roam.

The book is all about chess. The main character is a chess prodigy who hasn't played in years and suddenly finds herself in the professional chess world. We learn about professional chess and she learns it too. There's a bunch of chess talk as well that we don't need to understand to enjoy, which was great.

Mallory is a great chess player. She has a mentor and player friends. Her romantic interest is the No. 1 chess player in the world. So, we hear and talk about chess a lot but it's not boring. I enjoyed everything because there was enough explanation when needed and the rest was simple to understand and follow through.

When Mallory wins big games out of nowhere as an "unknown" player, she starts trending online and we read about TikToks and articles on her. There's a hype created in the fictional world which kinda makes its way to the reader as well. The book makes chess look very cool.

I really liked how exciting reading about chess matches was. In real life, watching chess matches is pretty boring (to me, at least) but the book made it so fun. I especially loved how the internet got involved and Mallory became a lowkey celebrity through a "nerd game." We have a chess adventure through Mallory which is super fun.

It reminded me of The Queen's Gambit (the Netflix show) as the show is also all about chess and follows a chess prodigy who thinks about chess all the time and seemingly easily climbs up the ranks. Check & Mate, like The Queen's Gambit, makes chess look very cool, prestigious and smart. Both depict chess as one of the most followed sports in the world within their fictional worlds.

The story addresses the sexism in the sport as well. Chess is dominated by men and women seem to not come up easily. We see how some of the chess "geniuses" treat Mallory as though she's a kid at the adults' table. What I liked the most was how Mallory had a chance to make things better and she took it (albeit, with a lot of prodding).

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.

The chess was even more fun in the book because of the romance. Mallory Greenleaf (an unknown & unrated player) has a romance with Nolan Sawyer (current chess world champion) and it is EVERYTHING.

I absolutely loved how the two met. It skyrocketed my interest in the story. It's probably the most iconic meeting that I've ever read in a contemporary romance.

When the book starts, Mallory hasn't played chess in years because it reminds her of her dad who was a chess GM and broke their family by cheating on her mom. When her friend pleads, she reluctantly joins a charity chess game as part of her friend's team.

Turns out that the event is a big deal and draws popular players. Mallory ends up playing against Nolan Sawyer. She is, of course, flabbergasted but manages to play with a level mind. And somehow, somehow, she traps Sawyer and checkmates him. That's when he looks up and sees her for the first time and is clearly in awe. Instead of having a regular conversation, Mallory runs away because she has heard that he is a sore loser and tends to lose his temper.

I liked how the main characters met through a seemingly chill game of chess that changed both of their lives. It literally changed Mallory's life by spotlighting her, leading to her getting a fellowship that paid. For Sawyer, who had been finding chess pretty boring for a while, it made the game fun again and he wanted to play with her again.

A lot happens in the story before the main characters meet again so the romance is slow to develop. There's a lot of development in Mallory's life before their paths cross again. Mallory is also a complete doofus about romance so she does not even consider that Nolan may like her. So, a lot happens before they finally get together.

I liked that the romance took time to develop. It was satisfying when the characters finally got together and I loved watching them be lovebirds. I loved how Nolan was gone for her. He simped over her the entire time. He wanted to play chess with her again so badly <3

The third act breakup was pretty messy but I wouldn't have accepted any less. Considering that Mallory is only 18 years old and has a lot of issues to go through, especially familial ones, her imploding over a seemingly small thing and making things bad with Nolan and her family makes sense. The resolution took time but I liked how it happened.

The epilogue was so good. I liked how it was from an external perspective (through a news article) and gave just enough details about the couple. I loved how it addressed their relationship, Mallory's family, and even chess. It left me feeling happy which is very important in any book.

My only complaint is that Nolan was too perfect. He had no flaws so it wasn't very realistic. He had a small sad backstory but was a perfect guy otherwise. His age was 20 but acted much older. I would have liked it more if he had flaws as it would have made him feel more like a regular human.

Guilt and responsibility are heavy burdens, Mallory. But they're also something we can hide behind.

Mallory was a flawed and real-ish character, though. She was taught chess by her chess GM father and excelled at it. Her relationship with her father became strained so she quit playing chess.

At 18, she was majorly providing for her family and needed money after being fired from her mechanic job. So, when she got a chess fellowship after beating Nolan, she took it for the money. She went in with the mindset of treating it like a job but her love for chess didn't let it be just a job.

I liked the unconventional way Mallory returned to chess. Watching her take to chess again so easily and winning professional matches without realizing the significance of them was so funny. The reactions to her winning were hilarious too.

Mallory has significant issues due to what happened with her father and the incidents following that, she is deeply flawed in this book. She takes on guilt that doesn't make sense, doesn't lean on people for support, and hides things more than necessary. Her main motivation is to provide for her family and keep them happy.

Towards the end, things blow up and force Mallory to grow. It was pretty messy but required. Considering that she's 18 years old and has been burried in personal issues for years, the mess and her reactions made sense. I liked that it got resolved slowly and wasn't an easy fix. Often, romance books resolve things too quickly so I was glad this didn't do that.

overall

I really liked Check & Mate. It was entertaining, engaging, and funny. It had a good plot, a swoony romance, and good character growth unrelated to the romance. I didn't talk about the supporting characters but they were great and added a lot to the plot.

If you're looking for an entertaining romance to read that feels smart but doesn't require you to use your brain, read this. It is a great chill read for when you are exhausted and need a pick-me-up.

chat with me!

Have you read Check & Mate or any other books by Ali Hazelwood? What did you think of it/them? Have you seen The Queen's Gambit? Do you find chess to be really cool but suck at actually playing it (like me)? 😂 Tell me in the comments!