Check & Mate

De: Ali Hazelwood

Narrado por: Karissa Vacker

Duración: 9 h y 31 m

Resumen del Editor

In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life’s moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart.

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess.

Nolan’s loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory’s victory opens the door to sorely needed cash-prizes and despite everything, she can’t help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist....

As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren’t only on the board, the spotlight is brighter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent…and infuriating…)

©2023 Ali Hazelwood (P)2023 Listening Library

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Ali Hazelwood is the queen of smart rom-coms, and Check & Mate is her best book yet. Filled with snappy banter, clever characters, and crackling tension (and lots of chess!), this is the perfect rivals-to-lovers romance. Check & Mate will have you swooning, laughing, staying up all night, and smiling so much your face hurts. This book is my new obsession. Who knew chess could be so romantic?" —Alex Aster, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lightlark

"Ali Hazelwood brings her signature wit to YA and the result is nothing short of delightful! Check & Mate stole my heart from the first page — it's at once an irresistible romance, compelling character study, and fascinating peek into the world of chess. I couldn't put it down!" —Rachel Lynn Solomon, New York Times bestselling author of We Can't Keep Meeting Like This

★ "Hazelwood has captured many a reader’s heart with her adult rom-coms. Now, she makes her YA debut with a story that sparkles with her signature wit and relatable characters. . . . This highly enjoyable, emotion-filled romance will attract teens and even loyal fans of her adult novels as it blends wit and wisdom with love’s tendency to make pawns of us all." —Booklist, starred review

The Narrator!

Wow, the book was fantastic, everything Ali writes is golden. I loved discovering a new narrator! Her different voices, on point, her intonation - I felt their feelings. She reminded me of my fave Julia Whelan!

Amazing.

Had such a great time listening to this story. It was cute, funny and sad at times. But aveall I enjoyed it.

I love Ali’s books

Everything she writes is golden! I just need her to write more ❤️ and more and more!!! She has the best characters.

Loved!

This was such a breath of fresh air! It was wonderful and exactly what I was wanting!

Favorite book of the year (so far!)

I love all Ali Hazelwoods books, but this one stands out - the protagonist is younger (technically it’s a YA, I think?) so her “dumber” decisions feel more forgivable, rather than annoying me. The chess is fun to hear about and inspires me to pick up a set again, and the love interest is perfection. Layered, imperfect, nuanced, just great. I loved the performance too! All in all, I couldn’t stop listening to this book and I’m very sad it’s over! Can’t wait for what Hazelwood comes up with next ❤️

One of my top 20 favorite books

But I’m still left wondering what Jimmy said about Tina’s Pepto pink shirt… total cliff hanger, middle school drama moment the author slid in there. “And what did Jimmy say?” Then nothing… (Sigh.) The world may never know. LOL

So good

"Sometimes I’m scared that I imagined you. Sometimes I think you’re only in my head.”

So cute!

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. It used to be her favorite thing and she was really good at it until it led to destruction of her family four years earlier. Now she takes care of her mum and her sisters and she hasn't thought about chess ever since. That's until her best friend asks her to play in her team for a charity event and Mallory wins against the best player in the world Nolan Sawyer.

This is Ali's debut in YA and it's so good. Ali's writing is fantastic, it hooks you from the start and, when it's over, you still want to know more.

Mallory's story here is heartbreaking and frustrating too.

I could barely put it down. The romance is so sweet, I love it when he falls first.

It was really interesting seing the world of the chess competitions, I didn't know much about them.

This was a fantastic first YA book.

Chess story with love thrown in

I am a big fan of Ali Hazelwood. And this book did not disappoint. It is emotionally complex with a great love story. My only gripe is I wish we could get into Nolan’s head more. It is hard to gauge his personality. Loved her main character and the exploration of sexism in chess.

Voice volume changed throughout book

In the audio, there was a pretty wide range in loudness level of the voices making it difficult to hear all of it without keeping the volume up too loud fit the rest of the book. Disappointing because I loved the book!

Another Stellar Book From Ali Hazelwood

If Ali writes it, I have to read it! She's my absolute favorite author & she did not disappoint with this one! I devoured it in one sitting since I couldn't put it down. The only negative thing I have to say is that I now have to wait until Feb 2024 for her next book.