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cemeterygay 's review for:
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
by Malinda Lo
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I adored this book as historical fiction is typically not my thing but I think I've learned that I just can't read historical fiction about white, cishet men.
To start with the setting and time period, I loved the exploration of queer and Chinese American culture at the time and specifically how Lily navigated both spaces and I really appreciated how both were given the same care and complexity. I loved how the Red Scare and Lavender Scare were explored and how much of a threat these scares could be. You can tell that so much time and research was spent really building up the setting and keeping to historical accuracy and context and getting that all across without compromising the actual storytelling. I do appreciate how much outside historical context we were given especially as the plot jumped in time.
The plot itself was fine, I had no issues with pacing and I really enjoyed seeing Lily grow as a character. The suspense and emotion and particularly the romantic storyline were well-balanced and incredibly well-paced.
Beyond the phenomenal handling of the setting and historical context, the characters are absolutely a standout in this book. Not only is Lily an absolutely phenomenal protagonist who you really want to see succeed and work through the problems she has been faced with. The wonderful thing is the vast majority of characters are also given this depth and it makes the character interactions so much more interesting.
This book is also just really well-suited for an older teenage audience and I think could be a very meaningful book for teens beginning to enter adulthood.
To start with the setting and time period, I loved the exploration of queer and Chinese American culture at the time and specifically how Lily navigated both spaces and I really appreciated how both were given the same care and complexity. I loved how the Red Scare and Lavender Scare were explored and how much of a threat these scares could be. You can tell that so much time and research was spent really building up the setting and keeping to historical accuracy and context and getting that all across without compromising the actual storytelling. I do appreciate how much outside historical context we were given especially as the plot jumped in time.
The plot itself was fine, I had no issues with pacing and I really enjoyed seeing Lily grow as a character. The suspense and emotion and particularly the romantic storyline were well-balanced and incredibly well-paced.
Beyond the phenomenal handling of the setting and historical context, the characters are absolutely a standout in this book. Not only is Lily an absolutely phenomenal protagonist who you really want to see succeed and work through the problems she has been faced with. The wonderful thing is the vast majority of characters are also given this depth and it makes the character interactions so much more interesting.
This book is also just really well-suited for an older teenage audience and I think could be a very meaningful book for teens beginning to enter adulthood.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content
Additional CW: Discussions and threats of deportation, underage drinking, imprisonment