3.5 ⭐️
Nolan Sawyer has stolen my heart, just like he steals pawns in a game of chess. Check & Mate has made me want to learn chess; will I learn? Probably not but let me be delusional and think I will. I went onto this book hoping for a cute quick read and it served its purpose. I enjoyed the chess aspect of the book, but a lot of the stuff that they talked about flew over my head, but for me it didn’t affect my perception of the book too much. For this book I felt the ending was very rushed, you spend the book building up to this competition for it to be over in literally a page. One other thing I felt that if the book ended the way it did, we should have gotten a better epilogue. Or even two epilogues, we could have kept the first one and given me a second one, years in the future from Nolan’s POV.
This book follows our main character Mallory Greenleaf who when she was younger would go to chess tournaments and beat people double her age. Fast forward she’s 18, her friends are leaving for college while she stays working in a car garage providing for her mom and two younger sisters. Before her best friend Easton leaves for school she begs Mallory to go to a chess tournament after not playing for years. She ends up agreeing and her competitor for the tournament is Nolan Sawyer, the #1 chess player in the entire world. To everyone's surprise Mallory beats Nolan with ease and rushes out before Nolan can get her name. A few days later Mallory offered a way to make money playing chess, needing to keep her family afloat. Throughout the story Nolan and Mallory keep being thrust into situations together slowly forging a connection that you can see from a mile away…
“His movements, when he touches the pieces, are precise, economical, and strong. I hate myself for noticing that.”
Back to Bella’s critiques on this book. I forgot to mention that I had a hard time believing they were in love at the end of the book. The romance is definitely a subplot, so they didn’t exactly have a lot of moments that made me go awww. I felt the connection, but it felt superficial. I got a moment when Nolan was sick and Mallory took care of him but that’s about it, I was hoping for an epilogue that was more personal to make me feel something between them. If you don’t care about only getting a little bit of romance, then definitely read this because I enjoyed the chess aspect the most. Still recommend this after my rant.
“Chess is a bad idea.”
“Why?”
“Look where it got me.”
“It got you here. To me.”
Mallory Greenleaf- I feel that Mallory doesn’t stick up for herself when her sister says she's not doing anything, and she's wasting time. When in reality Mallory is the only reason, they aren’t going bankrupt, throughout the book you can tell it’s taking a toll on her mental health, yet she proceeds to take shit from them anyways. Mallory does grow more of a backbone throughout the book, but it took her too long to stand up for herself. Nolan was the one defending her when the other male competitors told her she wouldn’t win a match. She’s such a smart girl it made me upset for her to make so many decisions for the sake of others. Overall, I connected with her character, not just because we're close in age but I feel for her struggles. No. Not her arguing with a hot, tall, dark haired, light eyed chess prodigy. I wish…
“When I’m with you, Mallory, everything is different. When I’m with you, I want to play more than I want to win.”
Nolan Sawyer- This man… Is phenomenal, he never lets any of those stuck-up pricks so much as glance in Mallory’s direction in the wrong way without throwing a chess board at them (kidding, but not really.) Honestly, I don’t have much to say besides he was so down bad for Mallory that it gave me butterflies. He would throw away his entire chess career if she asked him to. I’m sorry but I love a boy obsessed.
“He leans toward me over the table, dark eyes earnest, stars traveling on his skin. “Do you know how incredible you are?”
Was this review hectic compared to others? Yes, it was. But I said all that needed to be said. As for the final verdict, I think you should read this if you ever need a palate cleanser between books. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and if you pick it up let me know how you felt. Thank for reading my incoherent review 💗