Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

66 reviews

charliebites's review

emotional funny informative lighthearted 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Deportation, War, Misogyny, and Miscarriage

Minor: Police brutality, Medical trauma, Drug use, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, and Sexism

kajoreads's review

emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

4.0

The beginning was a bit too slow for me, otherwise I really loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Outing, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual content, Deportation, Child abuse, War, and Misogyny

Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, and Toxic friendship

adalinemccormick's review

adventurous emotional informative tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Deportation

Minor: Police brutality, Sexual content, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization

paula357's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I enjoyed the second half of the book so much more than the first, when the story finally picked up its speed. personally, I would have liked the book to be a little bit more hopeful, which is a common experience with queer books for me. still, I grew to love the characters throughout the book and would have loved to read more about their happiness (even though the tragedy is a central part of the story)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Outing, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Racism

clarkg's review

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Deportation, Homophobia, and War

Minor: Sexual harassment, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization

aysha_blake's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racial slurs, Deportation, Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Grief, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Miscarriage

the_true_monroe's review

emotional informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

I love reading books that focus on the impact of intersectionality (how multiple parts of someone’s identity relate to each other) on people’s life experiences, and while there are an increasing number of those, this one stood out to me as also being historical fiction. Most I have read are featured in present day or are memoirs.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a coming of age novel surrounding a Chinese American child of an immigrant, living in 1950s San Francisco, who realizes she is attracted to women and that there are many others like her. With McCarthyism brings both The Red Scare and the Lavender Scare to a time where racist and homophobic sentiments were already through the roof. Lily and her family and friend’s experiences portray very multifaceted and underrepresented stories in a way that readers can easily follow and become connected to the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Outing, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Deportation, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, War, Body shaming, Drug use, Miscarriage, and Police brutality

gilnean's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Racism, Colonisation, Alcohol, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Sexism, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Outing, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, Miscarriage, and Blood

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Drug use, Classism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Excrement, War, Gore, and Adult/minor relationship

kh_xion's review

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Racial slurs

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