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

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a love-letter to butch/femme relationships and to Chinese-American culture. Its setting of 1950s San Franciso comes to life under Lo's descriptions. And there is a subtlity to Lily's changing feelings - about both Kath and Shirley - that shows Lo's fine handle on detail. The flashbacks supply important cultural context, and the timelines keep everything straight (pun intended). The author's note at the end is also very informative.

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bebidocrimes's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

A well-researched, heartfelt story about discovering a world you belong to that you never knew was there. I especially loved the community aspect of the club-goers, it really shows how there's a future for our community. It also does a fantastic job of weaving in the other characters between chapters and showing their personal struggles and how it relates to their place in the 50s.

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haley49's review against another edition

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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

4.25

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zoiejanelle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i cannot recommend this book enough.

if i had been reading this alone (instead of in the car on a roadtrip with my family) i would be bawling. LNATTC is a honest, insightful, and hopeful peek into what life must have been like as a Chinese-American lesbian in the 1950s.

Lily’s perspective was so vivid and real that it made me nostalgic for an age i neger thought i’d miss. what a unique experience to be seventeen and for the first time really, honestly, truly understanding who you are. who you will become. her yearning, for truth and progress and love, was so heartfelt. through Lo’s unforgettable, spare (yet still lush) writing, Lily’s warmth and desire leapt off the page and struck me square in the chest. her thoughts will resonate with me for many years to come.

though this book is unmistakably about Lily—her coming-of-age, her identity, her wants, her world—it was also about how each person’s life is more than just one story. the glimpses into Lily’s family’s lives and the lush imagery of 1954 San Francisco bring the reader to the startling understanding that we are all part of something bigger, and despite this we still deserve the freedom to be ourselves. though we get to know Grace and Joseph and Judy and are shown their own struggles, we don’t have to agree with their decisions regarding Lily. we can understand them, though, which makes them cut much deeper. the chapters of their POVs were so interesting and enlightening and unexpected. i haven’t read a book quite like this before.

the details of The Telegraph Club and its patrons were just so REAL. reading about women like me in a time that feels so distant and so dark lit my soul on fire with love and pride. how proud i am of Lily—and Kath, and Lana, and Tommy, and Paula, and Rhonda, and Claire, and Jean… how proud i am to be reading this book and feel like i am among friends in this other world. i felt like i could reach through the pages and hold their hands, smell their cigarettes, and laugh at this jokes.

LNATTC is not a tragedy, though tragic things do happen, but a triumph. despite the realism and the heartbreak toward the end (see trigger warnings), the ending inspires hope for a future Lily and Kath don’t yet know. for a future we have the privilege to live today.

if i could give this book 6 stars, i would. i will hold Lily and Kath gently in my heart forever. i can’t wait to read A SCATTER OF LIGHT.

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hannahrogers's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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narbine's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

So much to relate to as a young queer kid figuring it out. Especially as a child of an immigrant who is not white.

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