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

This is an incredible story. The details, from Chinatown to references to real historical figures, are fascinating. The romance between the girls is heart-wrenching, and the ending brings out full-blown tears. Needless to say, the style itself is absolutely beautiful, to my taste. Yes, there's a slow start and the book takes a long time to "rock out", but the end is all the more stunning. After all, that's exactly how it is in reality! A monotonous and repetitive everyday life and then BOOM!

I'd also like to point out that this book makes me much more angry at the way the queer community is represented by the hetero media. Here, here is our shared trauma, here are our fears, here is The History - and it all boils down to a male gay friend helping to pick out outfits... Somehow, it doesn't seem so all-encompassing and powerful when you live it. So - thank you, Melinda Lo.

By the way, there's a huge amount of references to literature on the subject at the end, so I what I'll be reading more. And Lo's other books have already been added to Read Later!

I absolutely recommend this book. Be prepared for a slow start - you just have to get through it so you have everything you could want from the book afterwards. And have tissues and valerian ready for that "afterwards" :)

Content Warnings

ahaines18's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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julia1579e's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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antoniarachael28's review against another edition

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emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

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moneyispizza's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

“She’s having a hard time right now because you’re not what she expected. But we’re never what our parents expected. They have to learn that lesson.”

Set in the 1950s, this is the story of Lily, a Chinese American, coming to terms with her sexuality in San Francisco. She meets her first love, Kath, in math class. This is a story about love, rejection, fear, homophobia, and finally self-acceptance.

I really enjoyed Lo’s writing style throughout this book. I do think the middle portion of this novel was slow-moving. But, the last 10 (or so) chapters had me on the edge of my seat. Overall, a well-written book that is incredibly impactful. Would absolutely recommend.

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sarah984's review against another edition

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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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shinefall's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.0

This book started off really well but I felt the middle of the book was very drawn out and not very interesting. The end of the book however felt kind of rushed. But other than that I really enjoyed this book and thought the characters were good.

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