This is my first book by Ali Hazelwood and I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype of the author that I've been hearing. But to my surprise it did! I'm now understanding why everyone loves this author and I will definitely need to check out more by her. Hopefully, her adult novels are just as good as her YA debut.
Now specifically about this book. I loved the sense of humor in the writing. I was laughing throughout the book. I loved the way it was written and I loved the characters. Mallory was so funny and Nolan was so sweet! I loved their interactions. They were so cute together! I thought it was great that the book had many different layers with the chess game and the romance, but there was also a bit of mystery. I wanted to read more to not only see how Mallory fell in love with chess again but also to figure out why she fell out of love with chess in the first place. What was going on with her dad? Why is she so adamant about not falling back in love with chess? So many questions to be answered throughout the book that it kept pulling me back in as I waited to learn more. I loved this book so much. It was perfect, but one thing that would have put it just a little bit more over the top into ultimate perfection would have been seeing Nolan's POV. I love him so much and I wanted more of him. I would have loved to see inside that head of his. But it works so well without it just would have been a cherry on top.
I also want to say that this book can be read by anyone, whether you like chess or not. I've never been a huge fan of chess, but I was invested in it. I'm even thinking about watching Queen's Gambit now haha.
Overall, I highly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more by this author.
content warning: sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, chronic illness, death of a parent, cheating, car accident, alcoholism, dementia
Now specifically about this book. I loved the sense of humor in the writing. I was laughing throughout the book. I loved the way it was written and I loved the characters. Mallory was so funny and Nolan was so sweet! I loved their interactions. They were so cute together! I thought it was great that the book had many different layers with the chess game and the romance, but there was also a bit of mystery. I wanted to read more to not only see how Mallory fell in love with chess again but also to figure out why she fell out of love with chess in the first place. What was going on with her dad? Why is she so adamant about not falling back in love with chess? So many questions to be answered throughout the book that it kept pulling me back in as I waited to learn more. I loved this book so much. It was perfect, but one thing that would have put it just a little bit more over the top into ultimate perfection would have been seeing Nolan's POV. I love him so much and I wanted more of him. I would have loved to see inside that head of his. But it works so well without it just would have been a cherry on top.
I also want to say that this book can be read by anyone, whether you like chess or not. I've never been a huge fan of chess, but I was invested in it. I'm even thinking about watching Queen's Gambit now haha.
Overall, I highly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more by this author.
content warning: sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, chronic illness, death of a parent, cheating, car accident, alcoholism, dementia