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emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-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
For my first book of 2022, this book was amazing
Shirley is…. I hate her let’s just say ( if Shirley hadn’t started dating Calvin, half of this book wouldn’t have happened and everyone would have been fine!!! )
I love the build up to the romance and the telegraph club itself, the more it was brought up, the more homely it became and I love that. And characters like Lana, Claire, Paula and Tommy (who I now have mixed opinions for) make the place so well rounded and realistic.
Grace…oh my lord YOU DONT FREAKING SLAP YOUR KID FOR BEING GAY!!! also I’m just saying, I’m convinced Judy is a closeted bisexual woman, she gives off the energy several times in the book.
I’m so excited to hopefully read any more of Lo’s writing because she is brilliant :)
Shirley is…. I hate her let’s just say (
I love the build up to the romance and the telegraph club itself, the more it was brought up, the more homely it became and I love that. And characters like Lana, Claire, Paula and Tommy (who I now have mixed opinions for) make the place so well rounded and realistic.
Grace…
I’m so excited to hopefully read any more of Lo’s writing because she is brilliant :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, War
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Miscarriage
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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, Racism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Miscarriage, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Deportation and other immigration troubles, particularly relating to the post-WWII Red Scare. Setting-typical dated language. Mentions of teacher-student relationships in a film; brief suggestive advances on a teenager by an adult. Non-graphic sex between two seventeen-year-olds and short descriptions of sex scenes in pulp novels. Police raid on a gay bar. Underage drinking and smoking. Scene where a parent slaps a child. One scene featuring an air raid drill at school and discussion of atomic bombs.
challenging
emotional
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:
Yes
Woah. Just woah. I am at a complete loss for words after reading this book. I am feeling all different kinds of emotions all at once; Grief, hope, relief, fear, and so many more. I'm going to be honest, the start of the book felt incredibly slow and put me into a reading slump for a couple of weeks and I thought that it would be my lowest rated book, then when I picked the book up again I finished it in one sitting and absolutely loved it. I fell in love with the characters the connections they had felt real. The writing was absolutely incredible and it was obvious that the author not only did their research but also had personal experiences that they could reflect into the novel. I'm not sure if I would read it again as it has left me incredibly emotionally distraught, but I would recommend this book to everyone and anyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism
Moderate: Violence, Toxic friendship
Minor: Miscarriage, Self harm, War
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
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
This is a very fun book with wonderful world building and well-crafted characters, if you're looking for your next queer-historical fiction read, then give this a go :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol
emotional
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:
Complicated
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Violence, Forced institutionalization
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.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
No
I saw so much of myself in Lily, my heart breaks for her and is cheering her on all at the same time. I loved this book I cannot wait to read it to pieces
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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
4.5 lo amo tanto
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence
outing, lesbofobia, physical violence, family problems
emotional
hopeful
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
Wow, I haven't read an actual book in so long and I read this straight through in a day. My only complaint is that there's not a sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use, Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief
emotional
informative
relaxing
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
I read Last Night at the Telegraph Club for this month’s #SapphicStoriesBookclub!
This is a story about friendship, finding your own voice, family and first love.
The author has given us a thoroughly researched novel about and what it meant to be queer and asian in the 50’s, where xenophobic, homophobic, Anti-Chinese and downright racist sentiments were extremely prevalent.
Moreover, the author includes brief explanations of research and resources at the end of the book. I think those were very important to get the whole picture of the story and to learn more about LGBTQ+ and USA history overall
To say that I really loved this story is an understatement.
I loved the reflections on the "first times" as a queer person and how exciting and hopeful, but also secretive, and scary they can be.
I especially loved the description of the first night in the Telegraph Club. It was so vivid and personal, it reminded me so much of my first time at a gay bar and feeling like I found a safe haven.
This book left my little sapphic heart very full, so I can’t recommend it enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Police brutality