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A review by bisexualwentworth
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
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
4.0
Huntress by Malinda Lo was the first gay book I ever read. This was in middle school, years before I came out to anyone, but it—and Ash, which I read a few months later—very much threatened to awaken something in me. The problem was, they were just sort of fine as books. Nothing special or memorable, and in fact, while I remember liking Huntress better, I could not tell you what the plot was.
So I was excited when I learned that Malinda Lo’s new book was getting critical acclaim. I hoped that she had grown as a writer and that I would be able to love this new book the way I couldn’t quite love her earlier stuff.
And I do! This book absolutely delivered. The writing is clear and compelling. Lily is a strong, interesting protagonist who feels exactly like someone I would meet now while also having these problems that are so specific to her own place and time.
I loved the focus on queer community. I loved seeing Lily’s growth into her lesbian identity. I loved the way that this book filled in a piece of queer history that is missing from the usual story we get told.
But it was also too historically accurate for its own good. We don’t know what’s going to age poorly in the future, but we DO know what HAS ALREADY aged poorly, especially when that language wasn’t great to begin with. I don’t fault Lo for including derogatory language against Asian characters, especially since it’s mostly just in dialogue (Asian readers, feel free to disagree with me on this one), but I DO fault her for choosing to use outdated and derogatory language to refer to black people in this book, especially since there are no named black characters (a single mention of Gladys Bentley doesn’t count).
I still highly recommend this book, but I think that’s something to be aware of, and I think that Lo made a bad call to stick to historical language as closely as she did.
That being said, I loved that she didn’t Anglicize the Chinese dialogue (it’s translated in footnotes instead).
This book has completed what Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café started and Taylor Jenkins Reid has been continuing: I like historical fiction now. I just hated the type of historical fiction that’s about white cishet teenage boys living through world-changing events. Those are the books I was forced to read in middle school, and they were all awful.
Be aware that racism and homophobia are main parts of the story and that romance is present but not the main focus. Nothing too awful happens, but don’t read this book expecting a fluffy romance or anything cause it’s very much not one.
So I was excited when I learned that Malinda Lo’s new book was getting critical acclaim. I hoped that she had grown as a writer and that I would be able to love this new book the way I couldn’t quite love her earlier stuff.
And I do! This book absolutely delivered. The writing is clear and compelling. Lily is a strong, interesting protagonist who feels exactly like someone I would meet now while also having these problems that are so specific to her own place and time.
I loved the focus on queer community. I loved seeing Lily’s growth into her lesbian identity. I loved the way that this book filled in a piece of queer history that is missing from the usual story we get told.
But it was also too historically accurate for its own good. We don’t know what’s going to age poorly in the future, but we DO know what HAS ALREADY aged poorly, especially when that language wasn’t great to begin with. I don’t fault Lo for including derogatory language against Asian characters, especially since it’s mostly just in dialogue (Asian readers, feel free to disagree with me on this one), but I DO fault her for choosing to use outdated and derogatory language to refer to black people in this book, especially since there are no named black characters (a single mention of Gladys Bentley doesn’t count).
I still highly recommend this book, but I think that’s something to be aware of, and I think that Lo made a bad call to stick to historical language as closely as she did.
That being said, I loved that she didn’t Anglicize the Chinese dialogue (it’s translated in footnotes instead).
This book has completed what Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café started and Taylor Jenkins Reid has been continuing: I like historical fiction now. I just hated the type of historical fiction that’s about white cishet teenage boys living through world-changing events. Those are the books I was forced to read in middle school, and they were all awful.
Be aware that racism and homophobia are main parts of the story and that romance is present but not the main focus. Nothing too awful happens, but don’t read this book expecting a fluffy romance or anything cause it’s very much not one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Homophobia
Minor: Miscarriage and Body horror