Marthabethan's Reviews > Checkmate

4.5 stars!

Wow, this book was incredible. It focuses on Callie Rose, the daughter of Sephy and Callum, and we get the perspectives of so many different characters who we’ve seen before. Before starting the novel, I read Malorie Blackman’s statement in the beginning about how people had said that it was wrong for her to write about a young girl being groomed to be a suicide bomber. I agree with Malorie, it wasn’t wrong, it’s important and these narratives need to be told.

Jude, Callum’s brother and Callie Rose’s uncle, was even less sympathetic as a character in this one than in Knife Edge, the second in the series. You really got to see how life had turned him into someone cruel, cold and calculating. He had risen to power in the Liberation Militia, but had never truly learned to love or to find the hope bad light in life.

I loved the exploration of the mother/ daughter relationships, both with Callie Rose and Sephy, and with Sephy and her mother. It showed how vital female relationships are. This book was emotional and made me cry a few times. It was heavy but engaging and fast paced. I truly loved this reading experience and am really looking forward to the next in the series.