e-Audio, 09:31:43
Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
Release Date: November 7, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: October 27-28, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a copy of this audiobook from the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Misogyny, Sexism, Death of a parent, Chronic illness (mom), Grief, Sexual Harassment, Injury/Injury Detail, Infidelity (Parent), Car Accident, Bullying, Forced Institutionalization, Abandonment, Classism, Alcoholism
For Readers Interested In: Contemporary Romance, Family Diversity (Father passed away), Most Anticipated, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Stand-alone, New Adult, 2SLGBTQ+ (FMC is Bi), Sports/GamesIn 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…)
*MY THOUGHTS*
I can’t lie, I was a little weary of this. I don’t know how to play chess and I really thought it came out of like left field. Chess? But then I read the author’s note at the end and it said that there were actual people that this could be based on and I was like whattttt? Who knew there was this huge world of chess that I never knew of. (Which actually is pretty dumb because I’m also in a huge specific niche of a world lol) It just caught me by surprise.
I wanna start this by saying, yes this was good, but I’m still mad as hell this was marketed as YA. This is the definition of New Adult. No there’s no spice, but that shouldn’t matter. It should just matter on the age group. And in this one the FMC is 18 and the MMC is 20. There’s no spice, but Mallory does hook up with multiple people. But when it gets down to them doing the do, it wasn’t actually shown. And the only reason I’m mentioning this is in relation to where to shelve this. At the library we never had enough books from publishers to make a section for New Adult, so books like these have to read and be decided on. I really wish they publishers would stop doing this. It wouldn’t be an issue if she was just 1 year younger and he was 2. There’s another book like this that I’ve been trying to order but couldn’t find. I just found out it was the same thing and it was actually in the adult purchase cart. So, here is my plea, PUBLISHERS, EITHER MAKE NEW ADULT A THING OR DON’T. BUT STOP PROMOTING THESE BOOKS AS ADULT WHEN THEY’RE 18.
OK now that that’s said, I actually really enjoyed this. I said actually because at one point I wanted to learn to play chess. But there are too many rules and I just couldn’t remember all of them. And those people have been like playing like they were 3, so I said I’d stick with checkers. But seeing these characters play was so intense. I remember holding on to my chair when I was nervous and cheering out-loud when there were victories. So basically, I had a lot of emotions when I was reading this book. Idk what it is, but Ali Hazelwood has a weird way of sucking me into her words and making me feel all the feels. And this one was no different.
The characters made me weary tho lol Like idk why Mallory didn’t understand that once she beat Nolan of course he was going to be impressed/obsessed with her. But she was like so shocked and so stubborn. But I totes get the reason why she wanted to quit chess. No it wasn’t accurate or smart, but neither is grief. And with her losing her father that way, and all the ways she’s had to keep her family afloat afterward, I can’t imagine that she had the time to properly grieve. And she was a kid. I guess she thought that her quitting chess would mean her taking a stand. And then Nolan. Like he was a little weird in my opinion. How did he not know that there was going to be some backlash with her after what he did for her? And I know I’m not the only person, but I wondered the whole book if he was just doing that because he found someone who beat him at one point lol
The other characters were great tho. They all had amazing personalities and they were all so much fun. I loved seeing the way they interacted together and the way they changed when they were playing vs how they were with their other friends. And I loved how they interacted with each other even though they were all actually like rivals. There were a few of them that were assholes and cheaters, but it never really felt like it? They weren’t there. But the others? They felt real, like a competition in high school against your rivals that go to another school but then you text them later if that makes sense lol
The romance was ok though. This was like academic rivals to lovers. And tho I’m not a huge fan of it, I was ok with this. Idk what it is about Hazelwood’s romances, but they always have this huge man that towers over this small girl and I thought it would change in this one, but eh, not so much. And Idk I didn’t really feel like they had chemistry. It was like they just had chess in common? Like if she had never beat him she wouldn’t have even been attracted to her. But once they got together, they were ok and they finally got more comfortable together.
The ending was a little abrupt too I thought. It was basically like they finally got together and then they were both all set to play chess together and learn and be together…… And then it was done. And then it went to a year later like it was nothing. But when it went a year later, I hated that it was reduced down to that. I really wanted to see more of them together or even playing. I hated that we didn’t get that throughout the whole book. Wasn’t that like the point? Ugh lol
This review is all over the place, but I’ve said before my reviews are more like a stream of conscience. Maybe I’m using this as an excuse to say this is just me rambling, but whatever. I don’t think I’ve ever been this sucked into a game of chess in my life. And I take that as a sign that it was a really good book.
Overall, I give this
