Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

96 reviews

atamano's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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author2223's review

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emotional funny informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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boba_n_books's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

4.25

Spice Rating: 🌶️ / 5

Even though I don't know much about chess, I still had so much fun reading Check & Mate.

At just 18 years old, Mallory feels the burden of providing for her mother, who has rheumatoid arthritis, and her two younger sisters. She's been able to until recently, when she got fired from her job as an auto mechanic. But after playing in a charity chess tournament for the first time in years, Mallory receives an offer for a chess fellowship. Even though Mallory swore off chess after her father suddenly passed away, she can't pass up the great salary. Surely she can keep chess at work and not become obsessed with again... right? Mallory has been keeping her chess fellowship secret to protect her family from the unpleasant memories they associate with chess, but after she starts to win tournaments and becomes internet famous, she might not be able to keep the ruse up much longer. And once she gets to know chess champion Nolan Sawyer, Mallory isn't sure she wants to keep her two lives separate anymore. She finally feels seen, and nothing is more terrifying to Mallory than that. 

I thought this was such a cute novel! I loved learning more about chess and seeing the gender gap within the chess world. This is such a sweet romance with plenty of emotional backstory.
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lawbooks600's review against another edition

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funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Representation: Black and Asian characters
Score: Six out of ten.

I wanted to read Check and Mate (the winner of the Best Young Adult book award in 2023,) hoping it would be an improvement over Ali Hazelwood's debut, The Love Hypothesis, but no library had it at the time so I resorted to buying it instead. I glanced at the blurb, which didn't seem up my alley, but I gave it a try anyway. When I closed the final page, it was okay.

It starts with a prologue spanning a few pages, with Mallory unexpectedly beating Nolan in a chess match, then the plot begins with those characters living separately at first, with Mallory not wanting to play chess because of some events that happened. The first few pages are slow until Mallory and Nolan meet and then start a relationship, all while Mallory plays the game she didn't want to play again, chess. I hoped Hazelwood would resolve the problems I had with The Love Hypothesis in Check and Mate, but I was wrong, since I couldn't connect or relate to Mallory, Nolan or any other character, but that was only the beginning of the issues I saw. Perhaps adding depth to them would've improved the reading experience, since Mallory and Nolan had no chemistry, and the romance felt shoehorned in (they only bonded together over chess and nothing else. Really?) I used to like Mallory until I read some irritating lines when she didn't speak about her family kindly, and even though that was a one off, that left a sour taste in my mouth.

The writing style and pacing are enough to keep the narrative going but the latter can be slow at times with nothing much happening. That kind of progression only works when there are well-written characters, but, unfortunately, there aren't any. At least the plot is easy enough to follow. Hazelwood's second latest creation (at the time of writing) has a narrow target audience of either chess enthusiasts or romance fanatics. I'm not particularly into either of them, which is why I didn't enjoy it as much as I could've. The climax is bittersweet as the couple break up, and an epilogue follows, abruptly finishing the fictional composition. Perhaps I'll give this author another shot by reading more of her stories, but my expectations are low.
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jencolumb0's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Another deeply satisfying Ali Hazelwood delight, filled with funny observations, spice, and (mostly) charming characters. (The characters who are not charming get what they deserve and it is satisfying too.) 

My own lack of familiarity with chess made the (comforting) tropes feel less predictable. (Though, in the notes, Hazelwood acknowledges that she took a fair amount of liberty with chess details to make the story work out well. I would expect that, if you are a true chess nerd, this book might be annoying . . . and I’d actually be curious as to what is off, technically, about this book. An annotated copy would be super interesting. I digress.) 

Mallory & Nolan are easy to ship. Arguably more importantly, as the book unfolds, it’s lovely to see Mallory put down a lot of the things she’s been carrying because she realizes that relationships can be repaired and she’s not as alone as she thinks she is: it doesn’t have to be, forever, as hard as it has been.

Somewhat relatedly, I really appreciated the discussion in the book of casual sex. Mallory is down, depicted (generally) being responsible about it (
the wisdom and safety of hooking up in a car in an otherwise public place raises questions but, throughout the book, there are clear statements of heterosexual couples relying on condoms when engaging in penetrative sex
), clear that “sex” is about sharing of bodies for pleasure and not just p-in-v penetration that can lead to babies, and gives a clearly-articulated explanation as to why she chooses to share her body with the folks she does. The book is fade-to-black (which Hazelwood, naturally, still manages to make steamy but I would call the pre-fade scenes PG-13 at best). Nolan is coded as shades of Ace (or, alternatively, Pan, with
Mallory being the only person he’s ever been interested in having sex with
) SO, reviews that complain about too much discussion of sex are . . . slut-shaming a fictional 18-year-old?? That’s messed up. 

Personally, I found this to be a sex-positive delight that slips in neatly between binges of Heartstopper and Sex Education. Bravissima, Ali Hazelwood!
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mary_do_12's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

guilty.
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abby_can_read's review

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

đź“–
I have to admit it: Ali Hazelwood has me in a chokehold. I enjoyed this. I liked Mallory and Nolan. They were cute together. 
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filipa_maia's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

After reading 'Bride' I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. I think my brain was conditioned to expect one thing and got the exact opposite.

I loved this story so much. I really like Mallory (although I found her annoying sometimes) - I appreciate her sense of family and the fact that she simply feels like supporting them; and I really like Nolan - he's just a good guy who learned the hard way how to grow up alone surrounded by cameras. They are perfect for each other.

And I loved the ending - everything was exactly as it should be.

P.S.: I love Oz, he is my favorite character.
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julells's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Ein wirklich gutes Buch, wenn man sich auch für Sideplots begeistern kann und gerne Schach spielt. Sollte man den Sport allerdings nicht mögen oder auf der Suche nach einer ausschließlichen Liebesgeschichte sein, sollte man von diesem Buch vielleicht lieber die Finger lassen.
Ich glaube alles in allem gefallen mir die Erwachsenen- Romane von Ali Hazelwood (die ich bisher gelesen habe) ein bisschen besser. Trotzdem werde ich bald mal wieder mein eigenes Schachbrett rausholen.
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sinoclock's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It was a fun read. The characters were consistent and I could appreciate that, even if I didn't totally relate to some of their decisions. I think Hazelwood gets some flack for having common themes in her writing but this one definitely stands apart to me (and not just for the lack of explicit scenes).  Overall really enjoyed it even tho she admits she kinda made some stuff up chess-wise lol.
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