You know what's more boring than watching other people play chess? Reading about people watching other people play chess.

Seriously, was there a romance in here? Because I missed it. The book mostly went for me.

Blah, blah, Chess
Blah, blah, French word I don't know
Blah, blah, Chess
Blah, blah, Mad Marquee
Blah, blah, Chess
Blah, blah, Judith reference

Honestly, I finished the darn thing, and I still don't understand who the MCs were supposed to be. There was no chemistry between any of the characters in the story. I guess Roberta is the lead, but most of the time, she was boring or insulting. No redeeming qualities whatsoever. And for some reason Damon is in love with her. It's never really clear why, but he says he loves her, and he follows her around everywhere. But, like, does he not notice that she's super rude to his son? And they never talk unless they're trying to have (boring) sex. It's totally weird.

Jemma is by far the star of the book, but she's not the lead? But the book's mostly about her? I still don't know what the point was of focusing so much on so many different characters.

Really, this book is just a mess. It's impossible to get invested in any of the characters. You're never sure who you're supposed to like or who the focus of the story is. The characters' personalities change indiscriminately - for example, Damon is a bumbling playboy at the start, and then he becomes a secret master chess player and swordsman; Roberta comes off as rude and ungrateful in the beginning, then she's a super worldly woman, then she's a besotted innocent. It's maddening. I honestly can't believe I finished this.

This whole thing was just a mess.