A review by anonymous_blobfish
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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

4.5

 Last Night at the Telegraph Club told the story of Lily, a young Chinese-American teen living in 1950’s San Francisco, who is exploring her burgeoning sexuality. The complex relationship between lesbianism and culture, especially in the setting of the 50’s made for an oftentimes fraught reflection on culture and society.

I fell in love with Lo’s beautiful writing and heartfelt characters: there was so much thought and care put into every depiction and I can only imagine how much this story will resonate with young Chinese diaspora, queer kids. Sometimes bleak, sometimes rosy, the world Lo created was rich with so much imagery, from the smell of the cooking to the ocean breeze to the press of warm fingers upon your cheek. It was electric.

I do think this story lost a little something for me in its ending. The climactic event felt a bit rushed and unresolved and the epilogue, though lovely, didn’t really feel like it was enough to balance out the abrupt ending to the main narrative. I don’t think this took anything away from the rest of the story, but I also don’t think it elevated it to what it had the potential to be.

I 100% recommend this book and I would be remiss if I also didn’t shout out the fantastic Emily Woo-Zeller for their incredible narration of the audiobook.