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A review by billblume
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
5.0
I went into Last Night at the Telegraph Club expecting to like it, but honestly, I love this book. Even though it's only mid-February, I can already tell it's going to be one of my favorite books of the year.
The book is set in 1950's San Francisco, and Malinda Lo does a brilliant job bringing that setting to life. I see agents all the time saying how they want to see stories where the setting is also a character in the book, and LNatTC is a textbook example of how to do this right.
I became a fan of Malinda Lo, because of her fantasy and sci-fi novels ([b:Huntress|9415946|Huntress|Malinda Lo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1306722698l/9415946._SY75_.jpg|13022195] remains one of my favorite fantasy novels). My respect for Lo's skills as a writer has only increased as she's ventured smoothly into other genres. This trip into historical romance couldn't have turned out better. I was invested in the building relationship between Lily and Kath, and even though you can already see the impending disaster coming from a mile away, the way things unfold is done well and kicks you in the stomach. I don't think it's a spoiler, given the genre, to say that there is ultimately a somewhat happy ending, and I was so relieved to see that.
I also want to praise the audiobook version, read by Emily Woo Zeller. Zeller is one of my favorite readers for audiobooks, and as always, she delivers a brilliant performance. If you prefer to go that route, instead of the ebook or print copies, you won't be disappointed. I went back and forth between the two versions while reading it.
Possibly the highest praise I can give Last Night at the Telegraph Club is that I read it as a loan from the library, but after reading it, I had to buy a copy of it. I wanted to make sure I was supporting the author beyond posting reviews like this one. This is a great book that I hope will show up on some "best of" lists at the end of 2021.
The book is set in 1950's San Francisco, and Malinda Lo does a brilliant job bringing that setting to life. I see agents all the time saying how they want to see stories where the setting is also a character in the book, and LNatTC is a textbook example of how to do this right.
I became a fan of Malinda Lo, because of her fantasy and sci-fi novels ([b:Huntress|9415946|Huntress|Malinda Lo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1306722698l/9415946._SY75_.jpg|13022195] remains one of my favorite fantasy novels). My respect for Lo's skills as a writer has only increased as she's ventured smoothly into other genres. This trip into historical romance couldn't have turned out better. I was invested in the building relationship between Lily and Kath, and even though you can already see the impending disaster coming from a mile away, the way things unfold is done well and kicks you in the stomach. I don't think it's a spoiler, given the genre, to say that there is ultimately a somewhat happy ending, and I was so relieved to see that.
I also want to praise the audiobook version, read by Emily Woo Zeller. Zeller is one of my favorite readers for audiobooks, and as always, she delivers a brilliant performance. If you prefer to go that route, instead of the ebook or print copies, you won't be disappointed. I went back and forth between the two versions while reading it.
Possibly the highest praise I can give Last Night at the Telegraph Club is that I read it as a loan from the library, but after reading it, I had to buy a copy of it. I wanted to make sure I was supporting the author beyond posting reviews like this one. This is a great book that I hope will show up on some "best of" lists at the end of 2021.