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Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

75 reviews

adventurous 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: Complicated

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nicolinebl's profile picture

nicolinebl's review

3.75
challenging reflective sad tense slow-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

Not the easiest book to get into, and I didn't care much for the perspectives besides Lily's; I can see why they were added though.

This book builds up slowly and really started to get interesting halfway through. Lily and Kath were some wonderful characters to get to know; others, not so much. 

Lily discovering her queerness felt very true to my own experience, I was happy with the authenticity and portrayal of her and Kath and all the other wonderful people at the Telegraph Club.

I don't really read a lot of historical fiction - but having read three in a row - I'm really getting into the genre. 
Turns out that I like learning about things that actually took place, throughout the viewpoint of a fictional person.

The ending was very tense but also slightly hopeful towards the future. I'm so done with bad endings for lesbian/queer couples, so this one by all means wasn't as 'bury your gays' as most, and probably quite a realistic take on a relationship off that point in time. 

All and all I think it's a wonderful book, but it's by no means a lighthearted novel.

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leo_liest's profile picture

leo_liest's review

5.0
challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Complicated

absolutely loved this book! had me rooting for the characters and my toes just hoping and hoping for a happy ending, knowing full well that it absolutely didn't for everyone back then.
the only thing that at times bothered me slightly was that the writing felt more like telling rather than showing (which honestly just made me wish for this book to be adapted into a movie!)

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neferatowen's review

5.0
emotional hopeful informative 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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emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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bailsfails's profile picture

bailsfails's review

4.5
emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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slimejules's profile picture

slimejules's review

4.0
emotional hopeful sad
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

this book was hard for me. this is a romance between a chinese-american girl and a white girl living in san francisco in the mid-1950s. i spent most of the book wanting to scream at the side characters to come to their senses, but alas, it's the times.
lily (17) and her brothers (14,7) all read a bit younger than they are meant to be. lily especially reads closer to 13/14.
the way that the older lesbians love, though, is really what brings this book together for me. the community these women manage to make in such a trying time is so heart-warming. 
the ending is a bit lacking. while we do find out what happens to both lily and kath professionally (WHICH I LOVE), we don't find out what comes of their relationship. we also don't learn where kath went after the raid, just that she was sent away.

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emotional hopeful 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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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative 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

I adore this book a lot. SO well researched!! I adore the characters alot, ironically especially Lily's family :) And it was so interesting to read about the historical setting and the life of Chinese Americans in that time period as well. It genuinely felt so real and honest. Very glad I was able to read this story!

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hopeful 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

I thought this started off a little slowly, but by about halfway through, the pace picked up. This story was important to tell, as it provides insight to a topic that isn’t widely known. 

The storytelling focus on the relationship dynamics between Lily and Kath, as well as Lily’s relationships with her family and Chinese friends, was very well done. It showed how conflicted and frustrated Lily was with her feelings toward Kath and how her parents’ and family’s opinion of her changed. 

This was obviously very well-researched and meaningful to the author. I appreciated this story being written. 

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