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A review by lisaluvsliterature
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I’ve loved all of this author’s adult romances, so I was very excited for what was touted as her first YA. Now, personally, I feel it might be a little more New Adult than YA, but not in a bad way. I’m just thinking of the age of the characters. However, besides that, I really did love it!
I used to play chess when I was younger, I had a grandpa who was really into it. I was never that good though. And when I was younger I wouldn’t say it was very popular. Nowadays, there are more chess clubs at schools, my current school has one that meets in the library at least once a week after school and then goes to tournaments once in a while. It was fun reading about all the different chess moves and strategies with their names and some of the real players. I did want to Google a lot of the chess moves though.
As I read I wondered just if the students in the chess club at my school would know all these different moves and be interested in reading it. Although sadly to say, our chess club is made up of mostly boys, just like this book discusses how chess is pretty dominantly men. I liked that aspect of this book. My first year at my current school there was at least one girl on the chess team. But she quit coming after a while. And I have to wonder if it had anything to do with the type of misogyny, known or unknown that even younger males may put out.
As usual Hazelwood includes romance or characters that aren’t your romance heteronorm. For instance, Mallory would probably be considered bi-sexual. And I almost wonder if Nolan could have been considered ACE(asexual) up until he met Mallory and finally felt an attraction that he hadn’t in the past. I also liked the kind of fate-destiny trope of how the two could have met when they were younger, but it wasn’t until Mallory was older and probably ready for the meeting. And I’m sure Nolan might not have been ready earlier before.
I enjoyed the story, liked how Mallory’s family was so real in how they behaved. How her sisters actions were really like what I could see teens that age doing. A wonderful steminista type of story and I’ll be putting it in my school library for sure, and seeing if I can get any of our chess club members interested, boys or girls!
I used to play chess when I was younger, I had a grandpa who was really into it. I was never that good though. And when I was younger I wouldn’t say it was very popular. Nowadays, there are more chess clubs at schools, my current school has one that meets in the library at least once a week after school and then goes to tournaments once in a while. It was fun reading about all the different chess moves and strategies with their names and some of the real players. I did want to Google a lot of the chess moves though.
As I read I wondered just if the students in the chess club at my school would know all these different moves and be interested in reading it. Although sadly to say, our chess club is made up of mostly boys, just like this book discusses how chess is pretty dominantly men. I liked that aspect of this book. My first year at my current school there was at least one girl on the chess team. But she quit coming after a while. And I have to wonder if it had anything to do with the type of misogyny, known or unknown that even younger males may put out.
As usual Hazelwood includes romance or characters that aren’t your romance heteronorm. For instance, Mallory would probably be considered bi-sexual. And I almost wonder if Nolan could have been considered ACE(asexual) up until he met Mallory and finally felt an attraction that he hadn’t in the past. I also liked the kind of fate-destiny trope of how the two could have met when they were younger, but it wasn’t until Mallory was older and probably ready for the meeting. And I’m sure Nolan might not have been ready earlier before.
I enjoyed the story, liked how Mallory’s family was so real in how they behaved. How her sisters actions were really like what I could see teens that age doing. A wonderful steminista type of story and I’ll be putting it in my school library for sure, and seeing if I can get any of our chess club members interested, boys or girls!