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A review by afrathefish
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
3.75
copied from GR
3.75-4* - i just round down bc i’m a dickhead
one of my friends has a very strong reaction to another one of ali hazelwood’s books, and i finally understand why bc this is that book’s equivalent for me, but i guess in the inverse way.
never have i seen an fmc who has the same barebones flaws as me. like none. the same complexes, the same paths to self-destruction, i could go on and on but i think those things aren’t meant to be listed in a bloody goodreads review and instead will be shared with my therapist.
it’s why i’ve had to take a star and a bit off, bc it was infuriating reading her ways of self destruction, and frustrating knowing i fall into the same traps and same deficits. it was also incredibly humbling having your fuck-ups being worded to you in such a manner. i hated the experience, actually, but it was also very very much needed. i loved the pairing , but the moment she started becoming self sabotagey, i’d get frustrated, but then had to remind myself this bitch has not gotten therapy AND she’s a teenager.
it’s why the ending of that bastard book was so healing for me and just destroyed me emotionally. just seeing things come together the way it does, UGHHH how i wish i got to hear something similar when i was at that age. it’s good , i’m all good now but it’s so uncannily resemblant of the worst parts of me (that have since been worked on, thank fuck for therapy) that this book was an experience and a half.
ALL OF THIS IN A BASTARD ESCAPIST ENEMIES TO LOVERS YA ROMANCE AS WELL BE SO FRRRRRR ALI HAZELWOOD WHEN I CATCH YOUUU.
it’s not even that it’s the next best thing in literature. it’s literally just. hazelwood is very good at characterisation. the way the characters are written are very resemblant of that time in one’s life, but in a way that you’re able to both relate to the characters now AND simultaneously remember what it was like to be 18 and 19 and have the world change so dramatically around you, as you’re making your first foray into adulthood. where mentally you still feel 16 but emotionally feel the weight of 24 on your shoulders. where you’re able to explore the world with both adult understanding and childlike naievete and curiosity, you’re straddling both stages in your life during those years and i think it’s so wonderfully captured in this story. you see the fmc both act way older than she needs to yet lashes out in such childlike forms you get frustrated at her. it’s ugh. very well-crafted. also the shifts in friendships and how they wax and wane , especially female ones and the nature of them as you get older UGH UGH UGH.
also the main pairing was just everything i’ve wanted, ugh wyMMMMM chess rivals to lovers , and some moments you genuinely want to scream bc it’s so cute. i actually really bloody appreciated this book, as much as it punched me in the chest.
i did have a few qualms. the bloody child prodigy teen chess player did not need the build of a bastard greek god. the descriptions of over-emphasised muscle on an 18 year old had me rolling my eyes, it would’ve been sm more believable if he had skinny scrawny arms like every other bastard 18 yr old chess kid. idk. also there was brief mention of the fmc being hurt before by a previous love but that was barely explored and just thrown in there. tbf i think hazelwood was exploring SO many things, i don’t think there was also space to explore a jaded ex lover so i’ll let her be.
anyways. good story. made me feel way too raw.
3.75-4* - i just round down bc i’m a dickhead
one of my friends has a very strong reaction to another one of ali hazelwood’s books, and i finally understand why bc this is that book’s equivalent for me, but i guess in the inverse way.
never have i seen an fmc who has the same barebones flaws as me. like none. the same complexes, the same paths to self-destruction, i could go on and on but i think those things aren’t meant to be listed in a bloody goodreads review and instead will be shared with my therapist.
it’s why i’ve had to take a star and a bit off, bc it was infuriating reading her ways of self destruction, and frustrating knowing i fall into the same traps and same deficits. it was also incredibly humbling having your fuck-ups being worded to you in such a manner. i hated the experience, actually, but it was also very very much needed. i loved the pairing , but the moment she started becoming self sabotagey, i’d get frustrated, but then had to remind myself this bitch has not gotten therapy AND she’s a teenager.
it’s why the ending of that bastard book was so healing for me and just destroyed me emotionally. just seeing things come together the way it does, UGHHH how i wish i got to hear something similar when i was at that age. it’s good , i’m all good now but it’s so uncannily resemblant of the worst parts of me (that have since been worked on, thank fuck for therapy) that this book was an experience and a half.
ALL OF THIS IN A BASTARD ESCAPIST ENEMIES TO LOVERS YA ROMANCE AS WELL BE SO FRRRRRR ALI HAZELWOOD WHEN I CATCH YOUUU.
it’s not even that it’s the next best thing in literature. it’s literally just. hazelwood is very good at characterisation. the way the characters are written are very resemblant of that time in one’s life, but in a way that you’re able to both relate to the characters now AND simultaneously remember what it was like to be 18 and 19 and have the world change so dramatically around you, as you’re making your first foray into adulthood. where mentally you still feel 16 but emotionally feel the weight of 24 on your shoulders. where you’re able to explore the world with both adult understanding and childlike naievete and curiosity, you’re straddling both stages in your life during those years and i think it’s so wonderfully captured in this story. you see the fmc both act way older than she needs to yet lashes out in such childlike forms you get frustrated at her. it’s ugh. very well-crafted. also the shifts in friendships and how they wax and wane , especially female ones and the nature of them as you get older UGH UGH UGH.
also the main pairing was just everything i’ve wanted, ugh wyMMMMM chess rivals to lovers , and some moments you genuinely want to scream bc it’s so cute. i actually really bloody appreciated this book, as much as it punched me in the chest.
i did have a few qualms. the bloody child prodigy teen chess player did not need the build of a bastard greek god. the descriptions of over-emphasised muscle on an 18 year old had me rolling my eyes, it would’ve been sm more believable if he had skinny scrawny arms like every other bastard 18 yr old chess kid. idk. also there was brief mention of the fmc being hurt before by a previous love but that was barely explored and just thrown in there. tbf i think hazelwood was exploring SO many things, i don’t think there was also space to explore a jaded ex lover so i’ll let her be.
anyways. good story. made me feel way too raw.