Hooked on Books discussion

Welcome to the May "Main" Buddy Read!
starts 1-May-2024, ends 31-May-2024

Our theme this month is Young Adult and we're reading Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood.

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...)

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Ohh I just read this book last week, can I still join in in the discussion? I'd love to talk about it because I really enjoyed the book :D

I used to be a chess player and this looks interesting so will join in. May be a liitle while before I can get to it though.

Have made a start and read the first 6 chapters. This is definitely written for a young audience with a few unfamiliar terms to me that I had to work out. Finding it very slow and dull so far. I don't know why Mal finds it necessary to lie to her family about her job status. The family financial situation should be shared amongst all family members. We still don't know why she gave up chess in the first place and it is only hinted as something possibly to do with her father's death. Not a book that I could read in one sitting.

Anastasia wrote: "Have made a start and read the first 6 chapters. This is definitely written for a young audience with a few unfamiliar terms to me that I had to work out. Finding it very slow and dull so far. I do..."

Yes I also had a hard time understanding her reasons to hide her new job from her family. I've never been in such a situation before, where I felt I needed to hide something like that, so I couldn't relate at all. But then again, I did other unreasonable things as a teenager. I think Mallory puts a lot of guilt on herself and pressure to keep the family afloat and that must be very stressful already. I can't imagine having to provide for 3 other people and a mortgage at such a young age

The book really picks up after those early chapters and becomes more interesting. It is sad that there is still a lot of misogyny in the chess community. It is interesting to learn about the competitions. I am about two thirds into the book and apart from Darcy, Mal still hasn't told any of her family what she is doing. Her guilt seems unreasonable.

I'm on the wait list at the library - I should have it soon😀

Yasmine wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "Have made a start and read the first 6 chapters. This is definitely written for a young audience with a few unfamiliar terms to me that I had to work out. Finding it very slow and..."
She has put herself in a very stressful situation but that is still not a reason for her lies and adds to the stress. It is an example of what we tell ourselves not being accurate. She is taking on the parent role while even though her mother needs assistance she is still capable.

I loved this book. I started the last week of April expecting to not be done until mid May for this discussion and then ended up finishing the book after a couple of days because I am a sucker for a YA romance. These characters made me feel so cuddly inside. I can't wait to hear what everyone else thinks about this book! Especially those who love a good romance!!

Yasmine wrote: "Ohh I just read this book last week, can I still join in in the discussion? I'd love to talk about it because I really enjoyed the book :D"

Of course!

Finished the book and the last third was probably the best part of the book. I did not like Mallory as she came off unappreciative and silly to me. This was written for a much younger audience than me and I found it difficult to follow some of the references. I did find interesting the authors reasons for writing the book and her research on gender stereotypes though. Not really the book for me.

Starting the book. I have 2 books by the author already. I really liked The Love Hypothesis and the Love on the Brain was just OK.

YA Romance is not my first choice for genres but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised😃

Part I - Mal does seem to have had some tough things happen in her life for an 18-year-old, deceased father, sick mother, in charge of raising her sisters and making sure everything is taken care of financially. It's a bit much for an 18-year-old to handle. No wonder she feels like she can't go to college, it's a shame - she seems very intelligent.

Bernadette wrote: "Part I - Mal does seem to have had some tough things happen in her life for an 18-year-old, deceased father, sick mother, in charge of raising her sisters and making sure everything is taken care o..."
I felt it was more of her choices to take on these roles. She seemed to just take over without discussion with her family which would have made things easier.

Anastasia wrote: "Bernadette wrote: "Part I - Mal does seem to have had some tough things happen in her life for an 18-year-old, deceased father, sick mother, in charge of raising her sisters and making sure everyth..."

I totally agree!

Nolan's dinner with Ma's family made me laugh. But how many 12-year-olds would know about their older sister's sex life and discuss it at the dinner table with their mother there?

Why can't Mal tell her family about her job? Why can't they discuss chess? Is there some horrible thing about her father?

Definitely see the misogyny in the chess world in this story.

How can she go away for 10 days, do interviews and be on TV without telling her family why??? This is annoying me now. Makes no sense.

Bernadette wrote: "How can she go away for 10 days, do interviews and be on TV without telling her family why??? This is annoying me now. Makes no sense."

I felt the same. There doesn’t really seem to be any reason for her lies.

I didn’t like Mallory very much, she was somewhat insufferable and made herself out to be a martyr.

I did like Nolan, he was sweet, caring and honestly a good boyfriend.

It was good to see Hazelwood addressing the extra pressures and judgment on a woman in male-coded fields while inspiring young women to embrace their hobbies and strengths and achieve in whatever they want to do.

Anastasia wrote: "I felt it was more of her choices to take on these roles. She seemed to just take over without discussion with her family which would have made things easier."

I agree with you on this part. A lot of her struggles were thinking she had to take on more than she did and refused to communicate anything with her mother.

Honestly I felt myself quickly skimming the chapters that contained more of the family stuff and then lingered longer on the sections with Nolan and Mallory.

Most of her troubles where self imposed, but probably handled them the same way any 18 year old would who felt like she had to hold everything together for the people around her.

I prefer my dark steamy romance books but I also read a lot of YA. I gave this book a 4. I think it was written well for the audience intended, especially since they were high school type students. I do feel Mallory took a lot on at times but also the Mother didn't do enough to be present in her family, in my opinion. I liked Nolan more than Mallory but I didn't dislike Mallory. I liked learning more about chess. It is one thing that I'm not that familiar with.

I wonder if anyone else has read it this month. I love all the different opinions. Just random, was this anyone's first time reading Hazlewood or have y'all read her before?

bamaace83 wrote: "I wonder if anyone else has read it this month. I love all the different opinions. Just random, was this anyone's first time reading Hazlewood or have y'all read her before?"
My first time. Not really my genre. I prefer mystery and thrillers

I just finished this last night! I'm 32 so not the intended audience but I agree with obviously disliking how Mallory went about things, but kept excusing it as she's only 18. And she didn't have anyone until Nolan to call her out on her actions because that family doesn't seem to communicate about anything important. I agree the mom should have taken more responsibility at least with talking to her daughter. But then again my kids are still little so idk what it's like being mom to a teenager.
overall I enjoyed this one!

Also....I always enjoy Ali Hazelwood's books, but it's the exact same formula every time. Characters all feel the same with the same internal monologues (that make me laugh, I always enjoy them) and the guys are always so "big", have dark hair, and always appear to hate the MC until she finds out he was pining away the whole time. I guess eventually I will get tired of it? lol

Initially reading I thought that was an awfully lot for anyone to expect of a teenager....making sure the bills are paid, the younger siblings are taken care of with school and all other things, and that she was responsible for her mother's care.

The more that I read, the more I realize that all those things are self-imposed and that Mallory thinks she is "the cause" of so many things that were out of her control. AND, this family does not talk to each other about anything!!

I absolutely loved the section with Nolan showing up at Mallory's and having dinner with her family.

The family may not be open about important topics but apparently sex is not one of the topics that stays in the dark! LOL It was hilarious to hear the 12 year old sister spouting off about Mallory's sex life, her sexual preferences and how often she practices!! All with their mother at the table.

bamaace83 wrote: "I wonder if anyone else has read it this month. I love all the different opinions. Just random, was this anyone's first time reading Hazlewood or have y'all read her before?"

This was my first book of Hazelwood's but YA romance isn't my favorite or go-to read. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised with this one - but I think it is mostly due to the chess tournaments and talk about the game. I did like Nolan's character best of all of them....except maybe the 12 year old sister!

I really thought that the mother had to know about all that Mallory was doing, especially with all the tournament activity being recorded, televised and on social media. (view spoiler)[I was really happy to find out that she did and she was just letting it go until the blow up. Also happy that the mother admitted that she should have talked with things more with her daughters. I wouldn't have accepted that she had no idea what was going on!! (hide spoiler)]

Adrianna [SypherLily] wrote: "Also....I always enjoy Ali Hazelwood's books, but it's the exact same formula every time. Characters all feel the same with the same internal monologues (that make me laugh, I always enjoy them) an..."

I have read a couple of her books, but I feel the same way. I tried to read the Love Hypothesis and Love Theoretically back to back and stopped reading Love Theoretically because it was too similar. I still haven't picked it back up yet lol

Angie ☯ wrote: "bamaace83 wrote: "I wonder if anyone else has read it this month. I love all the different opinions. Just random, was this anyone's first time reading Hazlewood or have y'all read her before?"

Thi..."

Totally agree with everything you said here. This is my first Ali Hazelwood novel. I also usually avoid YA romances like the plague, but this one was great. I read through it like a breeze! Before I knew it, I already finished the book.

I absolutely love Darcy. She's such a smartass in a not-annoying way. But I like the main supporting cast in general, particularly because of how they all helped knock some sense into Mallory.

Angie ☯ wrote: "I really thought that the mother had to know about all that Mallory was doing, especially with all the tournament activity being recorded, televised and on social media. [spoilers removed]"

While reading the book, I'd been thinking that. How did Mallory think she could hide all that publicity? Even if her mom lived under a cave, it's just impossible lol. I was pretty relieved when her mom finally had a talk with her.

Bernadette wrote: "I didn’t like Mallory very much, she was somewhat insufferable and made herself out to be a martyr.

I did like Nolan, he was sweet, caring and honestly a good boyfriend.

It was good to see Hazel..."

The chess bits honestly flew over my head. Thankfully, Hazelwood didn't get too technical about it beyond the openings. But that research concerning internalized misogyny in the chess world was really interesting. It reminded me of this short clip I watched long ago about a female grandmaster who wasn't as famous as her male peers even though she was in the top ranks and cut back on her activity in the chess world because it wasn't that profitable.

Maria wrote: "Adrianna [SypherLily] wrote: "Also....I always enjoy Ali Hazelwood's books, but it's the exact same formula every time. Characters all feel the same with the same internal monologues (that make me ..."

Her books are pretty similar. I had to break those two books up also. This one was a little different but her STEM ones are following similar story lines for me.

Eunice wrote: "Angie ☯ wrote: "I really thought that the mother had to know about all that Mallory was doing, especially with all the tournament activity being recorded, televised and on social media. [spoilers r..."

I also think the mom knew more than she let on but she was so into her own world at times that she just wasn't present. It would be pretty hard to be totally out of touch with all the social media stuff around.