3,5/5. A bit overrated! This book was awesome in some parts and well... no so much in others. Let's begin with the good. The incursion in the chess world was amazing! The description of the game sequences were strangely "active" for a description of a game of chess, we felt the tension. That being said, those same descriptions of games were too many. We find ourselves reading chess games descriptions, moves and counter moves for about 20% of the book at least and that, even if really well done, become a bit too much for me. The writing felt dry, it would have been okay if it was a biography, but as a piece of fiction, I would have like the writing to be better, a bit more poetic, stylish and more depth in the psychology of the main characters, because even if we are always more or less in her head, we end up not knowing much about her. The book also have three main elements that didn't work well together, the glue didn't work, they seem alone in their respective corner. The toxicomania, the sex and of course the chess. Finally, I like the ending "twist" even if the final was very predictable and I loved the obsessive character of Beth.

Very hard to rate, because it was a very original setting and take for a novel, something that hasn't been done much and I truly enjoy it. But at the same time, the writing, the character development and the overall narrative needed more love in my very personal opinion. I think this might very well be the kind of book that the TV shows could make better and I'm curious to watch it! I'll go with a 3,5/5, maybe not the best book of the year, but interesting and original enough to make it worth it!