Truly absorbing and so captivatingly plotted. Check & Mate brought me to the life of Mallory Greenleaf after years of quitting chess due to an incident involving her father. Her days became a routine as a provider to the household, caring for her sick mother and two younger sisters until she reluctantly agreed to play in a charity tournament and accidentally won over the notorious ‘kingkiller’ Nolan Sawyer. Her victory has opened the door to sorely needed cash-prizes as well that enigmatic strategist feeling which long forgotten. A club fellowship offer unexpectedly came afterwards and as what Easton said; just fake your way through it, Mallory decided to take her chance.

This was so cute in a way but also too intense of how it grasped the dark and fascinating glimpse into the competitive world of chess. I love Mallory’s inner musings and dynamic; a love-hate for the character yet gripping much to see how she overcame and rekindled her feeling towards chess as well to deal with the alarming and heart-clutching pain and regret in between her father’s accident and relationship with both of her mother and sisters. It slightly peek into one’s emotional health, of dealing with anxiety and hatred, and reading the author’s note at the end has reflectively brought me into another thoughtful perspective on the highly observed threat and gender stereotypes during chess competitions that factually happened in real life.

Lovely subplot on friendship; I like Oz a lot (he was so wickedly charming) also Defne (fancy her character too much!) and Easton. Love Nolan although I could only see him from Mallory’s POV; their earliest tension intrigued me and I like how it flowed from a rival to a friend and spicing up with a love story later; minimal romance yet still swoon-worthy much. So entirely addictive to me, light, delightful and sweetly humorous. Despite the abrupt ending which I digress after reading that ‘twelve match’ reason in epilogue, I truly enjoyed this YA debut a lot; would go with another YA by Hazelwood if she ever writes another!

4.2/5 stars.

Thank you Times Reads for the gifted review copy!