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Checkmate - Malorie Blackman

Description: ISBN 0552551945 / Author: Malorie Blackman / Genre: Junior Books / Publisher: Corgi Childrens / Can the future ever erase the past? Rose ... more

Checkmate - Malorie Blackman ... has a Cross mother and a nought father in a society where the pale-skinned noughts are treated as inferiors and those with dual heritage face a life-long battle against deep-rooted prejudices. Sephy, her mother, has told Rose virtually nothing about her father, but as Rose grows into a young adult, she unexpectedly discovers the truth about her parentage, and becomes determined to find out more, to honour both sides of her heritage. But her father's family has a complicated history - one tied up with the fight for equality for the nought population. And as Rose takes her first steps away from Sephy and into this world, she finds herself drawn inexorably into more and more danger. Suddenly, it's a game of very high stakes that can only have one winner...

Newest Review: ... her Cross mother, and her gradual disillusionment with her world. This is a well executed structure, which means that ... more

... everything is clearly interconnected but Blackman is still able to surprise us along the way. After the depressing feel of 'Knife Edge', the second in the quadrilogy, this is a novel that has a steep path to climb to find some hope for the future, but Blackman manages, perhaps by sheer dint of emotional weight, to suggest possibilities through the believable but terrifying choices her characters are forced to make. Initially considered the resolution to the series, this book does include the requisite happy endings whil...more

Read Reviews for Checkmate - Malorie Blackman

Checkmate - Malorie Blackman: thoughtful addition to an emotionally challenging series (341 words)
by - written on 28/02/09 (Very useful, 133 readings)
Rating:

After a predictable prologue to reveal a key piece of information, the opening chapter is stunning in its understated approach to horror: Callie Rose, a mixed race child in a racially intolerant world, is preparing to commit a shocking act at a young age. After this, the novel shifts continuously between the past and the present, including different viewpoints to allow you to witness over time the fragmentation of Callie's relationship with Sephy, her Cross mother, and her gradual disillusionment with her world. This is a well executed structure, which means that everything is clearly interconnected but Blackman is still able to surprise us along the ... Read the complete review

Romeo & Juliet meets reversed racism (876 words)
by - written on 03/03/08 (Very useful, 557 readings)
Rating:

*May Contain Spoilers, as it's about all four books* This review is not just about Checkmate, it's more about the whole story of the trilogy. There's always one book in everyone's life that always stays with them, with me it has to be the Nought's & Crosses trilogy written by Malorie Blackman. I first read this four years ago and fell in love, I managed to read Knife Edge and Checkmate within one day because I was just so absorbed in the story. This book is supposed to be a 'teen-read' but we won't let my sister who's 13 read it yet because of the context of the book and the fact that she probably wouldn't understand where the book was coming ... Read the complete review