Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

45 reviews

namzuru's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted 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? No

3.75

this book was good read. i didn’t find it anything amazing but it wasn’t bad or boring. I thought the story was nice but i just didn’t get hooked on this book like i usually do. usually when i finish a book i get that feeling of sadness that there’s no more but with this one i felt cool it’s done and idk why

I did find myself relating to lily with her realizing she liked women and how it was gradual and still came as surprise to her yet the signs had been there since the beginning. Their relationship was cute and nice but i’m a little annoyed at the ending.

I mean the ending made sense for it to just not work out with them as it is the 50s and are still in high school and living with their parents so they don’t have much freedom but like i just hate how we don’t know what happens to kath after she goes for her stuff in the club. i mean we kinda find out later with lily but it wasn’t until near the end of the book and they just never saw each other for a year after the whole event. idk kinda made my investment with their relationship fizzle out

like how it gave a little back story to her mom and aunt. it helped to understand their characters and where they are coming from when they make their decisions about things throughout the book.

it’s been two months since i read this book and so maybe i just don't remember but did we ever find out about the guy that Shirley liked or about her fathers papers being taken and him being blackmailed. i can’t remember if that was addressed at the end of the book

taylor swift songs that embody this book:
- this love
- it’s nice to have a friend
- message in a bottle

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ridesthesun's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I've never read a queer book set in the 50s before, and for it to be also set in a Chinese family and community made it all the more special. Kath and Lily are the SWEETEST little things, and I love them so much 🥺🥺🥺🥺 tiny babies.

The ending was a biiiiiiit unsatisfactory, with not much pay-off for all that they had to go through, but that might just be me and my preoccupation with settling into characters' happy endings.

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kaii's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

4.5

obsessed with this book! the setting truly comes alive and everything feels so real and it made me cry in an airport

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marialenov's review

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challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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16kneidels's review

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adventurous reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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caitlinreadss's review

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challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This book certainly put me through every emotion possible. One minute I was over the moon with happiness for Lily and Kath, the next I was so worried and then I was crying.
Brilliant and heartbreaking.
Last night at the telegraph club has very loveable characters and an extremely sweet lesbian (secret) romance. It has characters with historically accurate mindsets - which I magically hoped that they wouldn’t be because I was hanging on to the possibility that there would be the happiest ending for Lily and Kath. But despite this disappointment I set myself up for, the book was incredible to read and it really made me feel so much for these girls.

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alouette's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.75

i wanted so badly to give this 5 stars! the writing is gorgeous and atmospheric- you can tell that a lot of love, passion, and research went into this novel. Lily and Kath's relationship was beautiful described and well-paced, with the bloom of first love being achingly vivid. side characters were fleshed out, and the dialogue was smooth (i think one of my favourite conversations was at the end, when

Eddie offered to beat up the kids at school who were gossiping about Lily. it just felt so real, the way that you don't have to be understood to be loved sometimes

). everything felt so realistic and raw and filled with feeling. the one thing that kept it from being at the very top of books for me is that the plot lines were weaving together beautifully, and then it felt like most aside from the main one were just snipped away in a very unsatisfying fashion. it just seemed as if there was going to be a lot more other plot than there ended up being, based on what was setup, so that was a bit disappointing.

like, what about Shirley and Calvin? did Lily ever consider telling her parents about the two of them like she said she would? what does her father decide to do, when it comes to either signing a fake claim or not getting his papers back? does Lily ever get any other closure with Shirley, who i feel was a much more complex character than she was given credit for by the end? how about the anti-communism pamphlet, does Lily never think of it again?

these little nitpicks don't take away from the beautiful story that was there, but they were enough for me to shave a little off my star rating. still loved it, though, and the audiobook narrator is very talented!

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bbellabeee's review

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adventurous challenging 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? Yes

3.75

I had really high expectations for this one. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it, but it didn’t hit as hard as I thought it would. It was great while reading, but I wouldn’t necessarily read it again

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arlangrey17's review

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challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0

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marie0350_'s review

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adventurous funny hopeful 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? N/A

5.0

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