Mallory is done with chess, that is until she plays one match 3 years after she decides she is done with it, purely for monetary reasons, and wins against the "Kingkiller" Nolan Sawyer. This comes as a surprise to everyone and even more so to his desire to play against Mallory once again.
This book was not what I expected. It is very Ali Hazelwood coded, the main character is pretty much clueless to the amount of pining that the love interested is doing. And I think that that is what makes this book so good, the way that Nolan just wanted to be with her, close to her at all times, insisting on playing more matches with her, was so freaking addicting.
My negatives are the insane amount of Gen Z slang and pop culture references found in this book. As a Gen Z, I found it cringe. As well as the amount of sex that this teenager seems to be having. And while it's not graphic, I don't think it was very appropriate for a book marketed as Young Adult. And I'm not saying that sex-positive books are bad, just that the number of times this topic came up in the book was a bit ridiculous. God, Mallory's sisters made me want to yank my hair out because of how ungrateful they acted.
This book was not what I expected. It is very Ali Hazelwood coded, the main character is pretty much clueless to the amount of pining that the love interested is doing. And I think that that is what makes this book so good, the way that Nolan just wanted to be with her, close to her at all times, insisting on playing more matches with her, was so freaking addicting.
My negatives are the insane amount of Gen Z slang and pop culture references found in this book. As a Gen Z, I found it cringe. As well as the amount of sex that this teenager seems to be having. And while it's not graphic, I don't think it was very appropriate for a book marketed as Young Adult. And I'm not saying that sex-positive books are bad, just that the number of times this topic came up in the book was a bit ridiculous. God, Mallory's sisters made me want to yank my hair out because of how ungrateful they acted.