A review by rinku
Last night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It was nice that with Last Night at the Telegraph Club, we got a book that combines historical and queer elements. There was just something missing for me to give it five stars, but it’s nevertheless a great read.  

I don’t have too much to say about the story itself since it’s more centred around its main character. We follow Lily, a Chinese American girl in the 1950s, discovering that she’s a lesbian and having to deal with all the prejudices that people have towards her identity. In the course of this discovery process, she meets Kath and visits with her the Telegraph Club. These coming-of-age elements of this novel were written so well and realistic. Furthermore, the time period that the story is set in is interesting as well and I had the feeling that I’ve learnt something about it. I knew the term red scare and that the government acted racist against Asian people in these times, but I didn’t know how extreme it was which is so terrible. The only critique I have towards the way the story was told is that I didn’t like the other POV’s chapter which were not really necessary in my opinion. 

From the beginning, you just have the feeling that something bad will happen at one point – and what happens is so sad and spoilered in the German synopsis, thanks for nothing lmao. After this event,
everything happening is just terrible and my heart ached so much for Lily; it’s so sad how homophobic everyone is and that not even her aunt accepts her
. The ending itself is
quite open and still sad in my opinion because Lily and Kath still have to hide their relationship. Considering the time period, I expected no happy ending from the beginning but still, it’s so sad
. 

I often have my problems with romances but this one was really good. It’s relative slow burn which I always like but some moments between Kath and Lily were a bit too coincidental and hence felt constructed. Together, they were so cute from the beginning, especially their bounding through their love for STEM. Lily was a great main character in general and it’s so intense how she slowly discovers her sexuality and gender identity, just like how she’s caught between her different identities. She has such a tough life and at many moments in the story, I just wanted to hug her. Besides her, I loved the other female characters from the Club as well and the strong solidarity between them. 

All in all, Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a great book for both learning about the red scare period and for experiencing an emotional coming-of-age story together with Lily. 
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