It has been years since I’ve read The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. In fact, I pre-ordered that enormously hped book. Unfortunately I didn’t like it and stayed away from this author’s books ever since. Check & Mate however kept demanding my attention. I don’t know anything about chess, but it somehow caught my attention and made me curious. I decided to read it and give Hazelwood a fair second chance.

About the book

• Title: Check & Mate
• Author: Ali Hazelwood
• Publication date: November 7, 2023
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
• ISBN: 9780593619919
• Number of pages: 352
• Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life’s moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart. 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. 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 brighter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent…and infuriating…)

My review

Expectations

I have to admit that I expected to not like this book at all. My reading experiences with earlier work by this author were anything but good and I’m also drifting away from YA as it’s feeling more and more juvenile to me. However, I was completely wrong, because this book is one i ended up liking. Even though I don’t know anything about chess, which made me a little anxious to start reading. This wasn’t necessary at all, because you’re able to follow this story without any knowleddge of the sport.

Characters

Mallory Greenleaf is completely done with chess. We don’t know why, but it makes curious. We eventually find out why, but it’s something that keeps you wondering. Now, she had to quit school and work to support her mom and two younger sisters. Mer mom is chronically ill and therefore is barely able to work. When her best friend Easton moves away to university, Mallory feels a little lonely even though she doesn’t admit it. Before Easton leaves, she has agreed to play chess after years, on a charity tournament. There, she’s discovered by a talent scout who tries to recruit her by a chess scholarship. Mallory refuses at first, but circumstances leave her no choice than to acccept. She is determined to see chess as her daily job and as her daily job only. But, deep down she knows this is no use. Meeting Nolan Sawyer only adds up to this. It’s undeniable that there is a chemistry between Mallory and Nolan upon first meeting. Once the story progresses, they spend more time together and they open up to eachother. Mallory’s character benefits the most from this, because she shows a lot of growth. However, she happens to get into a situation that puts everything more in perspective. She wants to keep her return to the chess world a secret for her family, but you know what happens with secrets and lies right? yes, they can’t stay hidden forever. However, this is the turning point in her raltionship with her mother and sisters and it takes a lot of effort for Mallory to get there. This growth is great to witness though.

Writing

In comparison to The Love Hypothesis, Hazelwood’s writing has improved to me. I feel like it’s more straight forward in this book, which is actually pretty logic since this is aimed towards a younger audience than That novel. I found the writing more complex and the hypotheses playing too much of a role which is kind of awkward when you don’t understand them. In Check & Mate, everything was explained well and I believe the story was still interesting to read whenever you have no knowledge about chess at all. I don’t know anything about the sports and rules and I was able to understand it. I think this is why I enjoyed the book more. I had to get used to read a romance novel from a single POV again, I mainly read dual POV these days. However, it still works well.

Plot

Is this plot unique? No. In fact, it’s kind of preditable at times. However, this is not really a standard, awkward romcom. Between Mallory and Nolan spending time together and playing chess, there’s room for serious themes such as gender inequality in chess and feeling responsible for your family’s wellbeing. The author uses these themes in such a way that they feel real, but not extremely heavy. Therefore, the book stayed interesting. These themes were used for the character development and as I’ve stateb before, this works really well. I was, surprisingly enough, intrigued right from the start and it was hard to put the book down.

Final thoughts

I’m glad I gave Ali Hazelwood a fair second chance, because I really enjoyed Check & Mate. It’s your lighthearted in-between read, but enriched with serious themes such as gender inequality in chess (and all other sports to be honest). The writing style has improved so much compared to The Love Hypothesis, I really noticed a difference. The character growth is great to witness and I liked it. I’m glad for this reading experience, because it gets me more excited for Bride now.