Reviews

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

harukoreads's review against another edition

4.0

This book is BEAUTIFULLY written, and so readable (it took me less than 24 hours to finish), but I'm not sure I see why it was necessary to tie it to Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Yes they're both queer historical novels about Chinese American girls discovering their sexuality, but while Telegraph Club felt expansive and era-defining, this book feels more personal, and messy. Lo's storytelling mastery is on full display here, and I really enjoyed the discussions of art, but the self-discovery felt less than realized, especially since there's an extended cheating story line that I felt deserved more closure. While this book spends a decent amount of time on the trauma of sexual exploitation, there isn't nearly as much time spent on the trauma of cheating, and maybe that's just my personal values coming out, but I felt really alienated by the main characters handling of the situation. This is not a romance, and I don't think it needed to be, but I wish it had spent just a bit more time exploring the identity and sexuality at the core of this story.

elliecornishx's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

emmah45's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.25

Pretty mid tbh I'm disappointed

jcinf's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.5

Y’all put so many spoilers on this damn book review and ruined it for me before I had the chance. I mean at least SIX of the most recent reviews have uncovered spoilers 😭 So scroll down to other reviews with caution. (All my spoilers are covered tho.)

First, if you’re looking for a strong sequel novel to Last Night At the Telegraph Club, this book does not give you what you’re looking for. It doesn’t build on that story much, and we only hear briefly about it in 2 places. I was OK with that, and I thought it was well-done. But I want you to come in and have your hopes let down. Heavy emphasis on *companion* novel and not sequel. Works as a stand-alone novel!

I definitely enjoyed this book quite a bit. I keep going back and forth between 4.25, 4.5, and 4.75 stars. I get what people were saying about not being happy about a particular plot line: (

the cheating situation

). And I get that. But I thought it made sense for the character development. So it didn’t bother me. 

I feel like I didn’t have full insight into Aria’s character. It seemed like her main motivating force was one thing:

(her love interest)

and we didn’t get much insight as to who she is as a person outside of that. The author could’ve gone more in depth on Aria’s relationship with Joan. With Joan’s impact on Aria… honestly Aria’s relationship with anyone else. Or delved more into the discussions on class that she seemed to want to explore. Or gotten more into Aria’s feelings behind an unfortunate situation she was in in the beginning of the book (

the n*des

. I mean, I enjoyed the

smut

, but it doesn’t make up for a lack of depth or subject exploration. 

I thought the latter half of the book was more interesting to me than the first half, but maybe that’s more a matter of me having the time to hunker down and read the last 40% in one sitting. 

Thematic spoilers, but no strongly plot related spoilers below:

I thought this did a great job of encapsulating the queer experience of coming out. And also the way that sometimes your sexuality slowly comes into vision. After putting the pieces together and then one person comes along and “bam” you realize.

Loved the characters. Especially Joan and Tasha. Loved that Joan is an artist. That’s close to my heart :’) And the writing style was stunning, too. 

rosiebooks's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

willgilmore_87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

3.75

atleastido's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

i loved this book!! i love the way malinda lo writes and i love that there’s an update on lily and kath from last night at the telegraph club. 

rosegrace's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

lucyistoocool's review against another edition

5.0

I read this book and I loved it. I’m left with questions like: what even happened? What was the point? What was the plot? Did I even like the characters? And yet I loved reading this book. And I love Malinda Lo’s writing style. And I cried. The book, ultimately, is about Joan imo. And I think that’s beautiful.

sevillamaria's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.0

Characters felt less personal and less fleshed-out than in Last Night at the Telefraph Club. I thought these two stories were connected and they are, but less than I would have liked, as I loooooved the Telegraph Club Book and wrongly expected a sequel.