Reviews tagging 'Death'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

7 reviews

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

dragon_lord's review

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Racism

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

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

megelizabeth's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Child abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Racism and Alcohol

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

spookily's review

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

breadwitchery's review

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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, and Racism

Moderate: War

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

c_ab_bage's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

top tier coming of age book, i love my little sapphics just trying to find their place in the world, but the mc has double the pressure bc of her race and the target that paints on her back in america at this time. really interesting context that adds to the book rather than feeling like a half baked subplot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Miscarriage and Outing

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

sarah984's review

emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

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

4.0

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

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

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.