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

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

56 reviews

keatynbergsten's review against another edition

4.75

emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

caffeinatedknots's review

4.5

challenging dark informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I just wish we had more of an ending. It feels like a cliffhanger almost. I know because it’s set in the 1950s that the ending is the way it is though. Loved this book. Such a good representation of so many under represented communities.

Content Warnings

touchegiantsquid's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful 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: Complicated

I loved this one. The coming-of-age romance is heart achingly sweet, tentative, and slow. The writing craft is so good in this book, deftly weaving the external with the internal. I highly recommend this. I had previously read Lo's Ash, a lesbian retelling of Cinderella. That was good, but at times the story lost its grounding -- which worked for a fairy tale. In this book Lo is relentless in grounding all the action, so even though so much of the story is internal as Lily discovers her sexuality and navigates her intersectional out-of-placeness in white lesbian and hetero Chinese American communities, nothing floats - every beat hits.

Content Warnings

katievh's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful reflective 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

Content Warnings

aly_young's review

4.75

emotional hopeful sad fast-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

Content Warnings

cantfindmybookmark's review

4.75

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Hello, my name is Kelsey and I was not prepared for how emotionally invested in this book I’d become. I mean, wow. This amazingly researched and nuanced piece of historical fiction is a queer coming of age story about first love that also explores the experiences of Chinese Americans at the height of McCarthyism. I learned so much reading this and the bibliography and author’s note at the back made me want to learn even more.

Lily Hu is a 17 year old Chinese American living in San Francisco’s China Town during America’s Red Scare. Lily Hu is also in love with Kathleen Miller (Kath). As Lily and Kath explore their relationship under the neon lights of the Telegraph Club, a lesbian bar that becomes their sanctuary, Lily grapples with the very real danger this love poses to both herself and her family, including arrest and deportation.

I loved Lily and Kath so much. They are the only girls in their advanced math class and they both are obsessed with flight and space. Lily dreams of majoring in math or engineering and working for the Jet Propulsion Lab, while Kath yearns to become a pilot.

This book explores so much of Lily’s identity in the 1950’s: A woman interested in math and science, a Chinese American, a lesbian, a daughter, a friend, and a lover.

I could not get enough of this book and recommend everyone read it.

Content Warnings

robyn_fenix's review

4.0

challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

alouette's review against another edition

4.75

challenging 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: Yes

i wanted so badly to give this 5 stars! the writing is gorgeous and atmospheric- you can tell that a lot of love, passion, and research went into this novel. Lily and Kath's relationship was beautiful described and well-paced, with the bloom of first love being achingly vivid. side characters were fleshed out, and the dialogue was smooth (i think one of my favourite conversations was at the end, when

Eddie offered to beat up the kids at school who were gossiping about Lily. it just felt so real, the way that you don't have to be understood to be loved sometimes

). everything felt so realistic and raw and filled with feeling. the one thing that kept it from being at the very top of books for me is that the plot lines were weaving together beautifully, and then it felt like most aside from the main one were just snipped away in a very unsatisfying fashion. it just seemed as if there was going to be a lot more other plot than there ended up being, based on what was setup, so that was a bit disappointing.

like, what about Shirley and Calvin? did Lily ever consider telling her parents about the two of them like she said she would? what does her father decide to do, when it comes to either signing a fake claim or not getting his papers back? does Lily ever get any other closure with Shirley, who i feel was a much more complex character than she was given credit for by the end? how about the anti-communism pamphlet, does Lily never think of it again?

these little nitpicks don't take away from the beautiful story that was there, but they were enough for me to shave a little off my star rating. still loved it, though, and the audiobook narrator is very talented!

Content Warnings

kimveach's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I learned so much from this book set in San Francisco Chinatown in the 1950s. There were so many interesting elements in this book: a young Chinese girl interested in math and science, her friends and relatives in her community, the secret community of lesbians, and the fear of Communist witch hunts which were used to deport Chinese people and jail homosexuals.

I love learning pieces of history, especially about San Francisco.

Content Warnings

baponthecob's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful 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

I don't even know how to describe what this book means to me. I haven't seen that much queer Asian representation in media, so it was amazing to see that here. Especially her family's reaction to her coming out.

I think it's more heartbreaking that everyone in Lily's life who disapprove simply don't understand. They love her and just want the best for her. Her parents, her aunt. Even Shirley must have cared about her. But that doesn't change how traumatic an experience this was for Lily. She was never really heard.
I was really pissed off at Lily's mom for getting mad at her for running away. How can you make your home an unsafe space for your child and then be mad that she doesn't want to be there? I love Lily's brother for offering to beat people up for her though.
The epilogue was bittersweet to me because she's still close with her family, but to me, it's clear that they still don't like the fact that she's gay. And yet, she's found a way to keep in touch with Kath and they're together again. She can be in both worlds, but not at the same time. It's sad, but I guess I would rather see it positively: she's able to find a way to be queer, successful, and happy despite the obstacles.

Content Warnings

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