“Sometimes I’m scared that I imagined you. Sometimes I think you’re only in my head.” —Nolan Sawyer, page 255

this was enjoyable! hazelwood writes rivals in a way that actually feels fun and i never really thought about chess tournaments before so that was a interesting thing to read! mal, as an eldest daughter, is so real to me i was holding her lovingly in my hands, and nolan is insane the way he says some of the most romantic lines very directly and with such sincerity. anyway, i also have a soft spot for couples who have a ‘maybe i made you up inside my head’ type of dialogue. it gets to me Personally. anyway this was fun! maybe it’ll be a 4-star book if i let it marinate (but the .25 is every mention of like . . . ao3 and and the likes 😭 i was curling away from it)