Reviews - Last Night at the Telegraph Club: A sultry summer romance

17.6k reviews for:

Last Night at the Telegraph Club: A sultry summer romance

This book broke my heart a little. Don’t start it expecting a happy ending. I mean, come on, it’s about lesbians in the 50’s. HOWEVER, it was not a devastatingly sad ending that made me lose hope in my uphill battle as a gay woman in America. It did provide a glimmer of hope that was much appreciated.
My favorite part about the book was the way the author explored the intersectionality between being othered by your race as well as your sexuality and how those things can shape you. Lily spends the whole book trying to be a good Chinese girl at risk of deportation only to realize that a good Chinese girl will never allow being a lesbian. Heartbreaking but such an important perspective on American life for the marginalized, especially queer people of color.

knlevengood's review against another edition

3.5

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

keeley_allen's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective 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: No

katymatey's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful 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: No

Last night at the telegraph club has been on my to-read list for a long time. So my expectations were pretty high. In a lot of ways it fulfilled them. But parts of the story felt a bit longer than necessary. Other than that it made me really think about how lucky I am to be born at this time and the place where I am. And tho it is fictional it is partly inspired by real people which I love. So in that aspect it is a really inspiring book. I‘d recommend it!

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