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dpacker 's review for:
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
by Malinda Lo
I went into this book not having a clue what it was about. The cover, along with the title, piqued my interest. I imagined maybe historical fiction with a jazz club theme. I was so very wrong. I’m kind of glad that I didn’t know what it was about because I probably wouldn’t have read it. I like learning about all kinds of people though, so I’m glad I happened upon it.
The first half of the book was extremely boring. My husband kept telling me to give up on it and read something else, but I usually don’t quit books once I’ve started. I was right to continue with this one. Once you get past the halfway point (maybe the 60% point), it becomes more interesting. Essentially, the last 40% of the book is where the real story happens.
Being a teenager in any time period isn’t easy. I don’t pretend to know what it’s like to struggle with your sexuality as a teenager, and I only imagine it to be worse for a young Chinese American girl in the 1950s. This book attempts to give us some insight about what that would have been like.
Lily is a very likable character. Even if I couldn’t identify with her as a young Chinese girl in the 50s, or a teenager struggling to figure out her sexuality, I could identify with her struggle to figure out on her own how to make choices for herself within a household that is very strict and with a parent who believes that their beliefs are the only ones that matter.
I admired Lily for how strong she was, even if she didn’t realize it. She was willing to take chances to figure out where she fit in the world, and she was willing to stand up for her choices, even if they went against the beliefs of her opinionated and controlling mother and the others in her community. While it was subtle, at least her Father tried to help her understand that she would be okay if she followed her heart.
I thought the story came to kind of an abrupt end (maybe because my Kindle was telling me that there was a lot more left), but I guess the book told the part of the story it needed to tell and left us to figure out that Lily was strong enough and smart enough to find her way in the world, even if it didn’t fit into the path her mother expected from her.
In the first half of the book, I was ready to give it just two stars. While the end was much better, I don’t like having to read so far into a book before it gets interesting. That is why it earned only one extra star from me.
If you’re thinking this book is historical fiction with a jazz twist like I did, this book may not be for you. If you are close-minded and can’t handle a story about a young girl struggling with her sexuality, this book definitely isn’t for you. If you aren’t LGBTQ, but have an interest in understanding people who are different than you are, this book could be for you…as long as you realize that you will read for a while before it gets very interesting.
All in all, it was a good story that’s worth reading, but it was just really slow to start.
The first half of the book was extremely boring. My husband kept telling me to give up on it and read something else, but I usually don’t quit books once I’ve started. I was right to continue with this one. Once you get past the halfway point (maybe the 60% point), it becomes more interesting. Essentially, the last 40% of the book is where the real story happens.
Being a teenager in any time period isn’t easy. I don’t pretend to know what it’s like to struggle with your sexuality as a teenager, and I only imagine it to be worse for a young Chinese American girl in the 1950s. This book attempts to give us some insight about what that would have been like.
Lily is a very likable character. Even if I couldn’t identify with her as a young Chinese girl in the 50s, or a teenager struggling to figure out her sexuality, I could identify with her struggle to figure out on her own how to make choices for herself within a household that is very strict and with a parent who believes that their beliefs are the only ones that matter.
I admired Lily for how strong she was, even if she didn’t realize it. She was willing to take chances to figure out where she fit in the world, and she was willing to stand up for her choices, even if they went against the beliefs of her opinionated and controlling mother and the others in her community. While it was subtle, at least her Father tried to help her understand that she would be okay if she followed her heart.
I thought the story came to kind of an abrupt end (maybe because my Kindle was telling me that there was a lot more left), but I guess the book told the part of the story it needed to tell and left us to figure out that Lily was strong enough and smart enough to find her way in the world, even if it didn’t fit into the path her mother expected from her.
In the first half of the book, I was ready to give it just two stars. While the end was much better, I don’t like having to read so far into a book before it gets interesting. That is why it earned only one extra star from me.
If you’re thinking this book is historical fiction with a jazz twist like I did, this book may not be for you. If you are close-minded and can’t handle a story about a young girl struggling with her sexuality, this book definitely isn’t for you. If you aren’t LGBTQ, but have an interest in understanding people who are different than you are, this book could be for you…as long as you realize that you will read for a while before it gets very interesting.
All in all, it was a good story that’s worth reading, but it was just really slow to start.