Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

371 reviews

kinahgrace's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

This book is incredible. I learned so much, and I’m so grateful to have met these characters and witnessed their lives. 
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nightmaresandfairytales's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

3.5

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livreads4fun's review against another edition

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emotional informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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mayadelaine's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

Malinda Lo has captured the young lesbian experience in a devastatingly vivid and accurate manner. This very well may be the first time I have seen my struggles as a teenager reflected in a novel.
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knockoffrainbow's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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mjverrall's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense fast-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

5.0

This story was beautifully written and heart wrenching; it is clear why it won the stonewall award. The description of romance truly felt like discovering your sexuality for the first time, and it made me feel like a teenager again—albeit one that had to grow up too quickly. The historical and cultural elements added another layer to what was already a beautiful story, and Malinda Lo seems to have gotten everything right. 
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nithya_natalya's review against another edition

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There is so much that I loved about this book, but I kept struggling to pick it up, and it became too much of a slog. My main issue with this novel is that I am not a historical fiction fan and this focused too heavily on the story as a historical moment, rather than building out the characters into people who felt real. There were times when Lily felt more like a symbol of an Asian American during a particular time period than she did a real and complex person. A lot of work was put in to the historical accuracy of the novel and there was a huge emphasis placed on these major historical events running parallel to the lives of the characters, which in theory is cool. But then every scene felt like someone was in the background saying THIS IS AN IMPORTANT HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT THING. Rather than just letting it be a story of a teen being a teen. Even the characters seem to be viewing their own lives from a historical distance, which makes it feel less lived in.
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xjr's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you're buying this I'd read some of the author's notes about language before starting since it may come off offensively. 

Anyway, this historical sapphic love story that takes place in the 1950s is both sweet, emotional and in a way empowering. Lily truly undergoes a transformation, and the lesbian yearning is strong. 

I simply wish some of the other subplots were elaborated on to make it feel a bit more satisfactory. The romance itself was well done and I enjoyed both characters, their interactions and their adorkable dream sharing. 

The author's notes at the end are also all super interesting and I recommend all to read it for some history lessons and interesting anecdotes from sapphic Asian Americans that experienced the 1950s-1970s USA.

Removed details of my issues since I can't get the spoiler button to work and they're very minor issues so can't explain without spoiling lol rip.

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morenowagain's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring 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

4.5

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tessvosper's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated
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