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A review by jnishimura
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
4.0
I’m racking my brain for a comparable read and I’m coming up with nothing that touches on post-WWII Red Scare America through a Chinese American lens + queer identity in the 1950s + a story of an Asian American testing racial boundaries on account of young love. Which is exactly why I picked up Last Night at the Telegraph Club. And you should too.
What I liked: as a fan of multilingual authors and stories from non-English speaking nations, so I appreciated the break from traditional writing/publishing with the footnote translations instead of in-text translations that often feel clunky. Seeing Chinese characters surprised me at first but it felt authentic in a way that emphasized that Lily, our protagonist, straddles cultures and languages. Also, the timeline chapter breaks were a fun and educational addition!
What I loved: at the risk of being redundant, I admire this novel for seizing multiple topics that lack representation and executing a wholehearted investigation into each.
What I liked: as a fan of multilingual authors and stories from non-English speaking nations, so I appreciated the break from traditional writing/publishing with the footnote translations instead of in-text translations that often feel clunky. Seeing Chinese characters surprised me at first but it felt authentic in a way that emphasized that Lily, our protagonist, straddles cultures and languages. Also, the timeline chapter breaks were a fun and educational addition!
What I loved: at the risk of being redundant, I admire this novel for seizing multiple topics that lack representation and executing a wholehearted investigation into each.