Check & Mate

Ali Hazelwood

Nov 2023 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Karissa Vacker

About this audiobook

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…)

Ratings and reviews

Hazelwood has once again invoked my emotions when reading her books. It's refreshing to see a different narrative as she moves away from academia a bit, as someone in stem I can relate, though I wanted to see her tackle a different scene and she delivered. I also love how she subtly includes lgbtqia++ themes. I do respect how she handled the romance with the characters despite the protagonist and the love interest being frustrating. I hope to see more of her works step away from the broody male lead, I understand it's a signature troupe now. Though I see Hazelwood at least tried a bit for our protagonist. I was engaged all throughout.

I'd actually rate this 3.5. I enjoy the authors writing but with this story it felt like it worked too hard to stick to the trope. Drug it out a little too long. Or maybe I'm reading too much of her stuff lately...? I also just didn't find this one as charming. It's cute but won't be reading again and am considering skipping a chapter or 2 to get to the end of the book.

My favorite book from Ali Hazelwood since the love hypothesis!

About the author

Ali Hazelwood is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis, as well as a writer of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the US to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her three feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).