Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

48 reviews

sarah984's review

4.0

emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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This is a coming-of-age novel about a young Chinese American lesbian in 1950s San Francisco. There is a romance, but the book is much more focused on themes of belonging, self-discovery and community. The main character is at a sort of crossroads where it is dangerous to be herself: her family sees it as a risk to be a lesbian not just because of 1950s homophobia but because homosexuality is associated with communism and as Chinese Americans they are already automatically tarred with that brush; when she's in gay spaces she tends to be the only Asian and is treated like a sideshow attraction even by people who are kind to her. 

The ways that Lily discovered that there were people like her who could lead full lives really rang true to me (Lily realizing women could kiss each other from reading pulps at the drug store is also an interesting tie in to Malinda Lo’s own work considering that she was writing mainstream LGBT YA in the pretty sparse early 2000s market) and despite the traumatic things that happen overall the book has an optimistic tone that I liked.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Violence, Forced institutionalization

Adult/minor relationships are speculated on by some characters and appear in a sensational newspaper article, but there are no relationships like that on the page.

toomanybookstoolittletime's review

3.0

challenging informative reflective 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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Outing

foxowl2005's review

4.0

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism

Minor: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Racial slurs

hannahmayhere's review

4.5

emotional sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Religious bigotry

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization

karis_1's review against another edition

5.0

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: Complicated

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Wow, I haven't read an actual book in so long and I read this straight through in a day. My only complaint is that there's not a sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use, Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief

waqupi's review

5.0

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Child abuse, Miscarriage

irlchaosdemon's review

4.5

challenging emotional informative 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content

Minor: Drug use

queerly_reading's review

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Police brutality