Reviews tagging 'Death'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

6 reviews

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation

clever__username's review

4.0

adventurous hopeful 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: Complicated

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Lesbophobia, Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Excrement, Pregnancy

megelizabeth's review against another edition

4.5

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

---

I completely adored this book. Lily and Kath are characters who I know will stay with me forever, and there's so much to love about their story: the beautiful, tender depictions of queer awakenings; the vividness with which 1950s San Francisco is captured; the complex family relationships and friendships that are explored; the seamless interweaving of discussions of race, gender, sexuality, and Cold War politics. This wasn't quite a 5* for me only because I found the ending to be ever so slightly unsatisfying and because there's a very brief mention of student-teacher 'relationships' which didn't sit right with me, but on the whole I just loved this book, its quiet, haunting, timeless depiction of queer love and community in an unsafe world, and everything else it comprises.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, War

Moderate: Racism, Alcohol

Minor: Death, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

spookily's review

4.0

emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Classism, Deportation

Minor: Death, Drug use, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail

breadwitchery's review

3.75

emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content

Moderate: War

Minor: Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Alcohol

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

---

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.

---

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.