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heartbrekker 's review for:
Check & Mate
by Ali Hazelwood
Did I just find my favorite Ali Hazelwood book?
Y'all I cannot remember the last time I was giggling, kicking my feet, and rereading sentences over and over again until the words bled together. Check & Mate, Ali's YA debut, just completely blew out Bride and The Love Hypothesis. It wasn't even on my tbr radar until late last night!! I wanted to read something light and fluffy, and then my ARC was just boring its eyes into me. This was like 9pm? Possibly a little before or after. Ultimately, I did not go to sleep till 1:30a. I could not put this book down, refused to honestly. The rain and thunder were pouring outside, and I was a goner within these pages, within Mallory and Nolan's story.
I can't lie: the cover of this book is not good. It's not as beautiful as Ali's other books, and I judged it for that. I put off reading it because I was thinking "it can't be better than the others." Y'ALL, I WAS WRONG. HIT ME UPSIDE THE HEAD BECAUSE I WAS DELUSIONAL TO THINK OTHERWISE. Thankfully, the universe thought to teach me the "don't judge a book by its cover" mantra, and I certainly learned my lesson.
First off, this story is genius. I watched Queen's Gambit back in 2020 or 2021 like most people, but the idea of chess competitors in a romance was a flawless from the get-go. The execution, somehow, even superior. Ali weaves a beautiful love story amongst the trials and tribulations of familial problems as well as identity and self-reflection issues. The friendship undertones within this book are poignant and hard to watch. Every reader can relate to those miscommunication/ assumption moments that come with friendship (other relationships too) changes. I just cannot believe how well rounded and fulfilling this story was for my heart. I'm 24, but I saw myself reflected back in Mallory with such a startling clarity. I cannot wait to reread this beauty in the future either.
But nothing stole my heart more than the tension and build up to Mallory and Nolan. Not only was their first interaction perfect, but I was squealing like a baby pig when he showed up to Mallory's house. That only worsened in the best way when he was invited in for dinner. The conversation between Mallory, her family, and Nolan—one of the best, most natural scenes I've ever read about. Her sisters talking to Nolan cured my heart, and also, the sisters were SO FUNNY. I had to bite my lip hard last night to keep myself from cackling and waking up my partner as he slept. Darcy was a top tier character, and I'll do anything for her hahaha. It felt like each character could fly off the page; they were THAT real in that moment. Then, the tension during the tic-tac toe game was off the charts. I knew Ali was good at building relationships in her stories, but she flexed those muscles to the high heavens in this one. She's proved with Check & Mate alone that she does not need the sex to write a damn good love story. She can do it all with a finesse most authors dream of. I kept rereading scenes of them over and over again, against my own will at times, because I could not get enough of this romance. They're my favorite couple in Ali's books, and I will die on that hill.
Also, one of the reasons I adored their relationship was just how honest and raw they were to the other. Nolan, alone, is such a refreshing lead. He's so different from Ali's other male leads, but his honesty just really stuck with me. His ability to speak his mind and unapologetically be himself to Mallory just made me so happy. Even after they've broken up and the two are gearing up for their Championship chess game, he knows his feelings so well for Mallory that he does not show an ounce of distrust or anger. She said some horrific things to him, but he only speaks of her in the highest caliber. He compliments her to a whole pressroom, and Mallory is dumbstruck. He's a good guy that knows she made a mistake because she was hurting, and instead of making her grovel, he's compassionate, understanding. It's beautiful to read. It reminds me of my own partner, and I think that again is why this story hit so hard for me.
Mallory feels like a brutal reflection of myself in many ways. I'm certainly not in her exact situation, but the feelings and thought processes she had throughout the story mimic my mind. This fear of being alone and not being needed. That fear of vulnerability. The terror that your own mind and fear could destroy something good. I know some readers will probably find her annoying and a self-saboteur, but I only saw someone human making some mistakes along the way to happiness. Damn, Mallory was a great lead. I cannot wait to see what Ali dreams up next for a leading lady.
Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the eARC. I cannot believe it took me so long to find this wonderful book. Now I cannot wait to scream its praise from the rooftops.
Y'all I cannot remember the last time I was giggling, kicking my feet, and rereading sentences over and over again until the words bled together. Check & Mate, Ali's YA debut, just completely blew out Bride and The Love Hypothesis. It wasn't even on my tbr radar until late last night!! I wanted to read something light and fluffy, and then my ARC was just boring its eyes into me. This was like 9pm? Possibly a little before or after. Ultimately, I did not go to sleep till 1:30a. I could not put this book down, refused to honestly. The rain and thunder were pouring outside, and I was a goner within these pages, within Mallory and Nolan's story.
I can't lie: the cover of this book is not good. It's not as beautiful as Ali's other books, and I judged it for that. I put off reading it because I was thinking "it can't be better than the others." Y'ALL, I WAS WRONG. HIT ME UPSIDE THE HEAD BECAUSE I WAS DELUSIONAL TO THINK OTHERWISE. Thankfully, the universe thought to teach me the "don't judge a book by its cover" mantra, and I certainly learned my lesson.
First off, this story is genius. I watched Queen's Gambit back in 2020 or 2021 like most people, but the idea of chess competitors in a romance was a flawless from the get-go. The execution, somehow, even superior. Ali weaves a beautiful love story amongst the trials and tribulations of familial problems as well as identity and self-reflection issues. The friendship undertones within this book are poignant and hard to watch. Every reader can relate to those miscommunication/ assumption moments that come with friendship (other relationships too) changes. I just cannot believe how well rounded and fulfilling this story was for my heart. I'm 24, but I saw myself reflected back in Mallory with such a startling clarity. I cannot wait to reread this beauty in the future either.
But nothing stole my heart more than the tension and build up to Mallory and Nolan. Not only was their first interaction perfect, but I was squealing like a baby pig when he showed up to Mallory's house. That only worsened in the best way when he was invited in for dinner. The conversation between Mallory, her family, and Nolan—one of the best, most natural scenes I've ever read about. Her sisters talking to Nolan cured my heart, and also, the sisters were SO FUNNY. I had to bite my lip hard last night to keep myself from cackling and waking up my partner as he slept. Darcy was a top tier character, and I'll do anything for her hahaha. It felt like each character could fly off the page; they were THAT real in that moment. Then, the tension during the tic-tac toe game was off the charts. I knew Ali was good at building relationships in her stories, but she flexed those muscles to the high heavens in this one. She's proved with Check & Mate alone that she does not need the sex to write a damn good love story. She can do it all with a finesse most authors dream of. I kept rereading scenes of them over and over again, against my own will at times, because I could not get enough of this romance. They're my favorite couple in Ali's books, and I will die on that hill.
Also, one of the reasons I adored their relationship was just how honest and raw they were to the other. Nolan, alone, is such a refreshing lead. He's so different from Ali's other male leads, but his honesty just really stuck with me. His ability to speak his mind and unapologetically be himself to Mallory just made me so happy. Even after they've broken up and the two are gearing up for their Championship chess game, he knows his feelings so well for Mallory that he does not show an ounce of distrust or anger. She said some horrific things to him, but he only speaks of her in the highest caliber. He compliments her to a whole pressroom, and Mallory is dumbstruck. He's a good guy that knows she made a mistake because she was hurting, and instead of making her grovel, he's compassionate, understanding. It's beautiful to read. It reminds me of my own partner, and I think that again is why this story hit so hard for me.
Mallory feels like a brutal reflection of myself in many ways. I'm certainly not in her exact situation, but the feelings and thought processes she had throughout the story mimic my mind. This fear of being alone and not being needed. That fear of vulnerability. The terror that your own mind and fear could destroy something good. I know some readers will probably find her annoying and a self-saboteur, but I only saw someone human making some mistakes along the way to happiness. Damn, Mallory was a great lead. I cannot wait to see what Ali dreams up next for a leading lady.
Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the eARC. I cannot believe it took me so long to find this wonderful book. Now I cannot wait to scream its praise from the rooftops.