A review by froon
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

3.5

i’ll say, the parts that were great were really great. i was crying for lily, angry for her, swooning with her throughout this whole book. my slightly unpopular opinion was that i thought the flashbacks were actually good (lol) and informed the actions of the characters later on in the novel, especially the end. oh and lily and kath, probably one of my favorite romantic pair i’ve read in a looooong time.

while all that is good, i will say that i echo a lot of the disappointment that other people have with the pacing and resolution. so many storylines left unfinished, so many scenes that went nowhere. if i were to diagnose this problem it would be that this story is too big for this book. the author pulling in too many historical sources (as evidence by the author’s note) but too afraid to commit to true, life-altering conflict until the end. which, really, is what i’m most disappointed in. lily’s story feels incomplete in a way. the biggest indicator of this

is the hint at the “Forbidden City” having it’s own Asian male impersonator. after the flashback of her parents there, i was sure that somehow this would be relevant to lily’s story. that there would be a reveal or an encounter that would comfort lily. instead, it was just the author integrating her historical fan facts…

overall, the ending should’ve been moved to the middle and have the characters (and the reader) sit with the consequence. loved the romance tho! #kathily4ever

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia