Check & Mate

*more like 3.75

I was a bit unsure about wanting to read this, because it's YA and I was afraid it would feel very young and teenage-y and I was not feeling that, but I actually enjoyed it, I think it helps the characters are not super young (18&20). They're both very likeable, Mallory's relationship with her family was interesting and I liked their dynamic, I also really liked how confident/straightforward Nolan was. I also liked all the side characters, they were all fun and I would not have minded seeing more of them.

I don't know a lot about chess, so not sure how accurate that part is. It's probably a bit unrealistic how good Mallory is, but I didn't mind it personally.