Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

307 reviews

olivia_piepmeier's review against another edition

informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Lo just knows how to tell a good story, so with that and the LGBTQ historical fiction topic AND it's Vermont Reads pick of the year, I wanted to at least give it a try. She does a great job describing the world Lily lives in. San Francisco feels like a character within itself. The little blips of experiences of her family were interestingly used to frame the reader on where Lily is coming from based on the experiences of her family. Particularly when this "don't say gay" mess is going around, this seems like a very timely book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs and Toxic friendship

Minor: Deportation, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

mcreasman's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

TW: homophobia and family issues related to homophobia, racism. I really liked this book up until the big conflict, which I hated but was anticipating. The story itself is so well written and the characters are cuties. This is a historical fiction based in the 1950s following an Asian-American girl who finds herself questioning her sexuality. The romance is so cute that I had to scream into a pillow a few times. The historically accurate ending was soul crushing but true to the time. I’d recommend this book, but be aware that there’s blatant homophobia and racism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Xenophobia, War, and Toxic friendship

jkull_10's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Alcohol, Classism, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Racial slurs

jashanac's review against another edition

4.25

I quite enjoyed this! It was a very quick read for me -- every time I sat down to read I had read 50 pages before I knew it, and always wanted to continue even if I couldn't at the moment. 

This was a lovely, real, and honest coming-of-age story combined with a coming out story. With the added layer of what it was like to be Chinese American at a particularly tense time in American history for that community. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing in this story; I found myself getting lost in the story time and time again, despite it not being some high-action, full-of-high-drama kind of story. 

My only real qualm here is the backstory chapters we got for Lily's parents and her aunt. There were only a few of them, and I personally don't think they actually added anything to Lily's story that was being told. Her parents were very much background characters, and I don't think they needed to be more than that -- I don't feel that I needed to learn more about who they really were, or who they were when they were younger, etc. 

This story ends on a hopeful note, and doesn't tie everything up with a neat bow, which I didn't mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Xenophobia

Moderate: Racism, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Miscarriage

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Outing, Hate crime, Grief, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Mental illness, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, War, Medical content, Violence, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, and Infertility

kinahgrace's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book is incredible. I learned so much, and I’m so grateful to have met these characters and witnessed their lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Racism

nightmaresandfairytales's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content and War

Minor: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Outing

livreads4fun's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Racism

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, and Bullying

mayadelaine's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

Malinda Lo has captured the young lesbian experience in a devastatingly vivid and accurate manner. This very well may be the first time I have seen my struggles as a teenager reflected in a novel.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Deportation, Outing, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Racism

Minor: Toxic friendship

knockoffrainbow's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Alcohol, Biphobia, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Racism, Hate crime, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: War, Abortion, Deportation, and Alcohol