A Romance Novel That Fell Flat: My Thoughts on Chess and Mate

Hey everyone!

I recently read the book The Hypothesis of Love and, despite its simplicity, I really enjoyed it. So, I decided to buy the second book by the author, Ali Hazelwood, 'Chess and Mate', expecting to get similar emotions. But these two books turned out to be very different for me, even though the plots are built on the same principle.

Chess and Mate. Ali HazelwoodNumber of pages? 408 pages

Plot:

The main character, Mallory Greenleaf, is only 18 years old, but she's forced to support her entire family - her mother and two younger sisters. She couldn't even get into college, and she had to give up her favorite hobby, chess, because it's somehow connected to a tragedy that ruined her life.

But she still came to the charity chess tournament, where both amateurs and professionals were competing, thanks to her friend's persuasion. And guess what? She was able to beat Nolan Sayer, the current world champion, who's been surrounded by a lot of rumors about his terrible character.

After that, she received an offer to work at the chess school, where she'd get a scholarship and be able to earn prize money from different tournaments. And she's keeping it a secret from her family.

My opinion:

I have to say, I was really looking forward to reading Ali Hazelwood's new book, 'Chess and Mate', after enjoying her previous novel, 'The Hypothesis of Love'. But what I got was a completely different story. The plot is built on the same principle as her previous book, but it just didn't work for me.

Shah and Mat is a beautifully formatted book, making it a great gift option, and it looks amazing on my bookshelf, too. I really liked the text formatting too: the large font, and the little chessboard illustrations at the start of each chapter - it's all very on-theme.

Shah and Mat. Ali HazelwoodThe book is divided into three parts: debut, mittelshpiel, and endspiel, all inspired by a game of chess. I think that's a pretty cool idea. It's pretty obvious that these correspond to the setup, climax, and resolution of the story.And yeah, the translation is pretty good. No clunky sentences like in Hypothesis of Love - that's definitely a plus.

So, let's get to the main story. It starts with a prologue two years before the main plot begins. It's pretty much the same as in 'The Hypothesis of Love'. And as I later realized, this book is basically built on the same principles as 'The Hypothesis of Love'. The first thing that came to mind: the prologue; the main character is a quiet intellectual with a bad rep, but he's not actually mean; a tragic past; a sick mom; the main heroine is dirt poor, while the guy is super rich; and the main heroine's best friend. And I could go on and on! It already feels like a rehash of the previous success, which they partially managed to pull off. And while the main heroine's motivation in 'The Hypothesis of Love' was clear, I found this one's motivations to be contrived. The tragedy that happens because of chess is hidden, but I figured it out from the first mention and really hoped I was wrong. But no, it's just so cheesy and stupid, and the chess and Mallory are completely irrelevant. The mom's illness is just a total cop-out for me. I get that rheumatoid arthritis can be tough, but her mom is a freelance writer. And she can't even start working? And she needs some super expensive meds. I'm no expert, but are there really no other treatment options? In short, I have no idea why they're putting all this on an 18-year-old girl,

But what really stood out to me was the storyline of Mallory and her friend Easton, who's off to college. It's all very relatable and Mallory's character feels like she's finally figured some things out, but the ending really lets her down and makes the whole thing feel too sweet and fake.

As for the romance, I have to say I liked Nolan. He's calm, smart, and loving - almost too perfect, which is a shame because characters like that only exist in books. Mallory, on the other hand, is a bit of a wild card and can be pretty dramatic 😁. Although, she's more relatable than you'd think.

You might find this surprising, but I felt like there wasn't enough romance in this romance novel. Don't get me wrong, there were some sweet moments, like the game of tic-tac-toe, but they were few and far between...

I was really looking forward to a steamy scene, but there isn't one! And that's after the Hypothesis of Love, which had a whole two chapters dedicated to it. It was a bit of a letdown, especially since they'd been building up to it with a pretty interesting twist about the main character's sex life (I won't give it away, but it was a nice surprise). In the end, it just didn't deliver.

Checkmate. Ali HazelwoodWhat's really got me is the sheer amount of chess. I'm a casual player and my brain almost exploded from this book 😁. First off, there are tons of terms, a gazillion names, and some famous (not to me, though) games. I never thought I'd have to Google the logo of the World Chess Championship and Judith Polgar's game against Garry Kasparov 🤣.I get it, beating the world champion once is a fluke, luck, or your opponent's carelessness, but Mallory's just a machine that never makes mistakes, and she's almost a beginner! They show her learning, but it's all so weird. She didn't even know the theory and was learning it on the fly, but still didn't mess up. How? It's just crazy talk, if you ask me 😄

But what really had me roaring with laughter is how life as a chess player is described. They're undoubtedly wealthy, famous, and respected in their circles, but.....It's all described like they're in a K-pop group, not chess players. For instance, their games are super viral on TikTok 🤷‍♀️ (what's up with that?). Take a look at the example below on the photo ⬇

I'm not anti-chess, by the way. I actually think it's a pretty noble hobby - I'm even impressed by people who are really good at it. But can we get a little more realistic? How about that? I mean, it totally ruined the story and made it feel like a comedy, like it's not even a book, but a fanfic. I don't know, maybe I'm just missing something, but how do you guys feel about it? And the ending...it's just what? Not even 'figure it out yourself,' but more like 'I didn't know what to do, so just read on.'

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✅ It's actually pretty romantic

✅ I learned a lot about chess (now I can even beat the reigning champion, haha)

✅ The book's formatting

✅ Overall, it's a positive read

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❌ The plot is just nonsensical

❌ The ending

❌ There are just too many chess references and they're way overplayed. Have you ever seen that viral TikTok about the chess championship?

❌ It's just too sappy. A normal, realistic ending would be to tell Iston to get lost, but no, Ali Hazelwood's characters all have to be friends, in love, and all that jazz. Same with the mom and sisters, honestly.

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Verdict:

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I mean, the book is pleasant, romantic, and all that, but somehow it just doesn't quite work. It's a nice read, especially if you're into romance novels, but in a book format. Hypothesis of Love is on a whole different level (although that's just a silly romance novel). I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars - it's just average, nothing special.

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Enjoy your read and thanks for tuning in!