I have many book “icks” (things that disinterest me). That being said, it does not mean that I am not open minded. I will often give my book “icks” a second chance, sometimes even a third. That is why I am so glad I gave audiobooks a second chance because now I can say I am starting to really like them.
Audiobooks have always been a miss for me for many different reasons. Whether it was the pitch of the voice actor/actress or the way that the voice did not meet the interpretation of the character I had in my head. I always thought that audiobooks took away the creativity the reader had to build character voices and setting, but Ali Hazelwood’s Check and Mate has definitely changed my mind.
The narrator for this book, Karissa Vacker, had such a fun sense of versatility, and each character ended up having their own personality through her voice. Vacker also did accents throughout the book, but where this usually would turn me away from an audiobook, her knack for them made me all the more interested in listening to it. I will say that the audiobook was slow to me, which is why I am so grateful for the speed adjuster. I listened to the book at 1.25X speed, which made the experience much more my pace.
But what really made you so against audiobooks before?
Well, dear reader, I shall tell you. If you are familiar with Fort Worth Country Day, then you may have heard of something called a “universal book.” That is a book that everyone reads from faculty and staff to 9-12 grade. The concept is a good one: it builds in a conversation starter for the entire Upper School campus, but the execution – not so much. I have never heard of a book that is appealing from 14 year olds up until 65+ year olds. It seems impossible to please everybody. And that is what made Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel so painful to finish.
I tried everything to finish that book quickly: timers, removing any distractions, reading while pacing, none of it worked. Eventually, I looked up an audio version of the book and began running while I listened to it. I previously enjoyed listening to podcasts while running, so I thought it wouldn’t be any different. But oh, how it was. That sole book put a bitter taste in my mouth. It was absolutely horrible, boring, and tedious. Every chapter felt two hours long. Easy to say I gave up on the book.
Because of that bad experience I finally gave up on the potential of audiobooks. Until I really wanted to read Check and Mate. But your girl is on a budget, and I didn’t want to buy the book. So I tried getting it at the library, but the book was already checked out (support your local libraries by the way), so I thought I would listen to the book and give audiobooks another chance.
I realized that the key for me to like audiobooks is not only the narrator of said book but also the content that the book covers, that is, the genre of the book. I like rom-com audiobooks, and from all the different genres that I have tried out, that is the only one. No other genre captivates me in the audio format like a good romantic comedy. So, I’m excited to try out new books in this format.
Now switching gears, what made Check and Mate good enough that I gave it five stars? I am glad you asked. But I also want to preface. Rating systems are subjective and emotion-driven, which means that it is not a proper scale because everyone’s interpretation of it will be different (hm I could write an article about that…). Point is, this is my sole opinion and interpretation, hence the column format.
I was in a small reading slump and could not get myself to focus on any books that I had to read. This is because the amount that I was reading for my classes kind of made me tired and ended up stopping me from reading what I actually wanted to. So I did what I usually do when I feel myself starting to get into a reading slump. I “read” a romcom. And to me Check and Mate was perfect.
It is a Young Adult book that follows the story of Mallory Greenleaf as she rediscovers her love for chess. Along the way a relationship with the top chess player in the world, Nolan Sawyer, also starts. While she rediscovers this passion, Mallory has to learn to balance her life and take care of her family, who relies on her for her income, so when chess starts to make her big money, she has to try to keep her family and the sport separate because chess is what ruined her life to begin with.
Is the book unrealistic, yes; but it is so refreshing and funny, also yes. The book does do a few things that I do not particularly enjoy, such as mentioning real life things like social media inside jokes and TikTok. But it was done tastefully and in a funny way, nonetheless.
I would recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves pulling away from their love from reading, or falling into a reading slump. It has some nice themes such as: the struggles of being an older sibling, living with an autoimmune disease, having to drop out of college, and living in a low income household. All these things are not spoilers by the way, but they do shape the perspective of the story.
The refreshing feeling I felt after finishing another book made me remember why I love to read so much in the first place, and this book was great for that. I would say give the audiobook version of this book a try, and if you have read it already, tell me what your thoughts were.
I would love to write about what people want to hear, so if you have any books (or audiobooks) you would like me to try, comment them below and I will do my best to respond. Hope you enjoyed my first column piece, more to come soon.
XOXO
– Maya
