Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

75 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

3.5

emotional informative reflective

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, War

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Police brutality, Outing, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation

Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy

Pedophilia warning is just in case, for an adult woman behaving flirtatiously towards the teenage protagonist.

scrunklyguy's review

4.75

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

---

Originally I bought this book for the pretty cover, I had no idea what it was about, but oh am I glad I chose to read it.

I really liked this book even if the pace is slower than what I usually read. I actually quite enjoyed reading all the little details and even if ever so often I remembered a detail that turned out to not matter all that much story-wise it didn't feel like I wasted my time reading words for nothing.

And if you're like me and you dislike reading spicy scenes this book is great because it barely contains any (explicit that is, there of course are mentions of sex and sometimes it's more than others but overall I didn't feel like it was too difficult to read) 

A thing that shocked me was the language use in this book. Many words that today would be considered very offensive were used and at first it made me upset but I later realized it was simply the author trying to stay true to the 50's, so naturally that kind of language was used back then.

This book definitely made me reflect on many things and I really recommend reading this book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Outing

Minor: Drug use, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

mel_katz's review

5.0

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: Complicated

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia

Moderate: Police brutality, Abandonment

Minor: Drug use, Alcohol

sknappy1's review against another edition

4.0

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: No

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing

Moderate: Sexism, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Deportation

Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia

katelynnreads's review

4.0

adventurous informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, War, Deportation

Great read.

daydream's review against another edition

5.0

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: No

---

miss malinda lo, you will be paying for my therapy bills.

my heart is shattered beyond repair, but my heart is also full to the brim. no other book has ever made me feel quite so seen.

i think i cried the entire way through the last eight chapters, and i will probably never fully recover. i loved loved loved nearly everything about this book, and i'm so grateful i was able to experience it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content

tinyjude's review

4.0

emotional reflective sad 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

---

The story mainly focuses on Lily a Chinese American on her last year of high school as she comes to terms with the fact that she is a lesbian. It also provides some insight into the situation of Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans in the United States during the 50s, as well as queer people. As a historical fiction, the characters and events of the plot are fictional, but there are also traces of realism that show the huge work Malinda Lo put into the book's research. I particularly liked the author's note and bibliography explaining how she documented all these important dates and how the story came to be. As a consequence, it should not be taken as book about history per se, but as a fictional story, one of the many there could be, and actually were, and if you are interested about learning more, to do proper research as POC writers always indicate.

The writing, especially the descriptions (like the kiss scenes) were gorgeous and made me feel in my bones the yearning Lily was feeling. (I love yearning lesbians. She is so real for those lingering silent glances towards gay women). Furthermore, I liked her acknowledgement of the difference between the male and the female gaze, as well as the telegraph's club atmosphere and their relationship. I became infatuated with Tommy and Kath the same way Lily was, which speaks volumes about (my gayness and) Malinda Lo's talent and hard work. I will definitely check her future work. The only thing that left me feeling a bit empty was the shortness of the epilogue

, I needed more of Kath and Lily seeing each other again, some cozy/intimate scene of them living together or just being happy. I know it is not that essential and we got the idea they will be seeing each other a lot again, but after going through so much pain in the last chapters I needed something healing and seeing them happy :(.

Nonetheless, homophobia, forced outing, xenophobia, racism and toxic friendships are some of the triggering topics that you can encounter in this book, so beware.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Alcohol

Minor: War

rieviolet's review against another edition

5.0

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: No

---

I really really loved this book, it was such a compelling read. I flew through it and read the final 90 or so pages in a single day because I was so invested and wanted to see what would happen to the characters. 

I loved the mixing of the personal coming of age story with the wider historical and social context of the time. It was also so interesting to see how the author explored the different aspects of Lily's identity, how being both Asian-American and lesbian affected her. 

Above all, I was stunned by how the words on the page provoked so many emotions within me. There were so many passages that really struck a chord with me and left me on the floor, knocked out, completely destroyed. 
Lily and Kath's relationship was so beautifully developed, it felt raw and tender and hopeful, in spite of all adversities. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Lesbophobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment

_rhea_'s review

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful informative 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexism, Outing, Alcohol

julesadventurezone's review

4.5

emotional informative reflective fast-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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage