Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

37 reviews

gilnean's review against another edition

4.0

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

Content Warnings

almostelle's review

4.25

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

Content Warnings

ghostlyprince's review

2.5

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

some_random_person_hi's review against another edition

3.5

challenging sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

It's an important book due to how it tells the stories of people who previously only existed in the margins of history and gives them a voice but I personally did not enjoy it. It's probably due to how I usually don't read historical/romance, didn't ship the main couple and personally would not make some of the major decisions the main character did.

Content Warnings

smithreads's review

5.0

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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: Complicated

Content Warnings

rinku's review against another edition

4.0

emotional informative 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: Complicated

It was nice that with Last Night at the Telegraph Club, we got a book that combines historical and queer elements. There was just something missing for me to give it five stars, but it’s nevertheless a great read.

I don’t have too much to say about the story itself since it’s more centred around its main character. We follow Lily, a Chinese American girl in the 1950s, discovering that she’s a lesbian and having to deal with all the prejudices that people have towards her identity. In the course of this discovery process, she meets Kath and visits with her the Telegraph Club. These coming-of-age elements of this novel were written so well and realistic. Furthermore, the time period that the story is set in is interesting as well and I had the feeling that I’ve learnt something about it. I knew the term red scare and that the government acted racist against Asian people in these times, but I didn’t know how extreme it was which is so terrible. The only critique I have towards the way the story was told is that I didn’t like the other POV’s chapter which were not really necessary in my opinion.

From the beginning, you just have the feeling that something bad will happen at one point – and what happens is so sad and spoilered in the German synopsis, thanks for nothing lmao. After this event,

everything happening is just terrible and my heart ached so much for Lily; it’s so sad how homophobic everyone is and that not even her aunt accepts her

. The ending itself is

quite open and still sad in my opinion because Lily and Kath still have to hide their relationship. Considering the time period, I expected no happy ending from the beginning but still, it’s so sad

I often have my problems with romances but this one was really good. It’s relative slow burn which I always like but some moments between Kath and Lily were a bit too coincidental and hence felt constructed. Together, they were so cute from the beginning, especially their bounding through their love for STEM. Lily was a great main character in general and it’s so intense how she slowly discovers her sexuality and gender identity, just like how she’s caught between her different identities. She has such a tough life and at many moments in the story, I just wanted to hug her. Besides her, I loved the other female characters from the Club as well and the strong solidarity between them.

All in all, Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a great book for both learning about the red scare period and for experiencing an emotional coming-of-age story together with Lily.

Content Warnings