Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

67 reviews

robyn_fenix's review

challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Bullying and Miscarriage

gabyngaway's review

emotional hopeful 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

This book was a delight. The writing put me right into the scenery, and I really felt like I was with the characters. I loved Lily and her growth and her coming to accept herself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Homophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

eurydice_books_09's review

challenging emotional hopeful tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

this was a good book! personally I thought it was gonna be like super good cause of all the amazing reviews I read but it didn’t fully live up to that. It’s still really good though! Tbh lily bugged me at times and idk why, my fav character was probably kath or lana honestly. this book made me cry at the end though :((

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, and Sexism

ciaracullen's review

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Outing, and Misogyny

akblair's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexism, and Outing

Minor: Drug use

uss_mary_shelley's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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? Yes

5.0

I'm in love, i kept wanting to come back to this book while at work, it was constantly on my mind. The perfect balance of queer love and historical understanding. It felt rooted in its time but told the story of centuries. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Miscarriage

libralover's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

incredible 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Miscarriage

kmturpie1025's review

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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism

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.

ayejaysbadatreading's review

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing 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

Minor: Homophobia, Drug use, Xenophobia, Outing, and Miscarriage