Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Last Night at the Telegraph Club tells the story of Lily Hu, a seventeen-year old American-born with Chinese family and heritage, who discovers the truth surrounding her sexuality in a rather beautiful and emotional way amidst period-typical homophobia, racism and a tinge of misogyny. Through multiple lenses, the reader embarks on a journey throughout San Fransisco not only in the 50s and learns of the history of the gay and lesbian culture and of Chinese realities in America.

I must say, out of personal preference, that I liked the second half much more than the first.

The first half of the novel allows for the reader to explore family backgrounds and to accustom not only to the underlying racism, but also to the harsh homophobic tone of the 50s. Since my personal reality strays away from Lily's just far enough to forget the amount of privilege I enjoy (queer-friendly surroundings devoid of youthful peer pressure), I had a hard time staying focused whenever Lily described her day-to-day among peers at and outside of high school. However, the insights on Chinese culture in an immigrant family were pleasant. I really liked how well (racial) belonging was depicted.

Rather fond of fast-paced stories, it is no wonder then, that I enjoyed the quicker developments in the second half following Lily's

self-recognition as a sapphic

and especially loved the scene where

she seeked advice from Lana

. It warmed my heart at the sight of queer kinship.

Careful to those who have rather traumatic experiences with

coming out, lesbophobia and racial slurs

as these themes/triggers are quite graphic in this novel. Please look after yourselves.

Content Warnings

literary_waffle's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Loved 🫶
• Having a main character who is exploring her sexualit and sexual expression as well as a love interest who is a masculine presenting lesbian and other character who are also butches and femmes is very powerful

• The author knew who her target audience was and the effort and research put into this books about Chinese and queer history is something to be appreciated

Did not like
• The flashbacks, even thought I understand why they are necessary (I get it it gives me information about relationship dynamics and the history of Lily's family) I felt like, as a reader, they were just kinda boring and I was always hoping to get through them so I could get to the interesting story

• It has a lot of triggers, especially for someone queer or who is a minority

Content Warnings

betweendotsandletters's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Content Warnings

schlady's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

While Lily's shy & sapphic coming-of-age story is so emotionally & thoroughly told on its own, the passages about her aunt's and parents' lives alongside important events of the time were meaningful additions. Not only did these other details put Lily's challenges into a historical context, they shift the adults from being seen as automatic antagonists into well-rounded but still imperfect people.

Content Warnings

stachmou's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was a hit. I didn't expect enjoying this book so much. I love books that mix history and fiction. Everything about it felt so natural and the character so relatable. Her struggle but also her confidence in doing the right thing even though it will be hard for people around her to understand. She stood her ground and chose happiness.
It really offers a good morale at the end.

Content Warnings

More...