Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

25 reviews

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

tessvosper's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Hate crime, Racism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Alcohol, Colonisation, Lesbophobia, Xenophobia, Outing, and War

Moderate: Classism

some_random_person_hi's review against another edition

challenging sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It's an important book due to how it tells the stories of people who previously only existed in the margins of history and gives them a voice but I personally did not enjoy it. It's probably due to how I usually don't read historical/romance, didn't ship the main couple and personally would not make some of the major decisions the main character did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, and Racism

Minor: Police brutality, War, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Confinement

Underage drinking & underage smoking. (Not explicitly condemned in text.)

iheartb00ks's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

4.5

AMAZING 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Toxic friendship

quillreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative fast-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

4.75

 

Blurb: 

Lily Hu is a high schooler living in Chinatown, San Francisco in 1954 whose life changes when she visits a homosexual bar, The Telegraph Club. As she learns to understand her own desires and identity, she develops a relationship with a female classmate. On top of the regular social pressures and strains that come with coming of age, Lily must navigate the complicated and complex pressures that come with being a queer Chinese girl with big dreams in 1954 San Francisco. 

 

Review: 

There are very few books that meet my stringent standards for historical fiction, but I’m delighted to say that Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo passes my scrutiny with flying colors. Lo obviously did her research; the extensive biography in the back confirmed what I knew from reading her writing. The details are immersive and luscious; there was not a single moment that I was drawn out of the story due to a historical inaccuracy or anachronism. Books like this one are the closest we will get to time travel, and for that they are special.

 

Last Night at the Telegraph Club would already earn a high rating just for its historical immersive quality, but Lo’s storytelling is equally skilled and compelling. The prose is accessible and easy to read, the plot is balanced and well-structured, and the characters feel like real people. Lo captures the nuances and imperfections of real-life circumstances, interactions, and relationships while crafting a focused, hopeful, and touching central storyline. I especially liked reading about the relationship dynamics between Lily and her longtime friend, Shirley. I did not want the book to end. 

 

The only part of the book that I did not absolutely ~love~ is the chapters between sections from the point of view of Lily’s family members. I could not see how these vignettes added to the central story, and consequently, I found them less compelling. I think that Lo should have either put them at the end of the book as “bonus material” or left them out altogether.

 

Despite this minor quibble, Last Night at the Telegraph is a wonderful read on every level and deserves all of the recognition it receives.

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like Last Night at the Telegraph Club if . . .

·      You grew up reading the American Girl Doll historical books

·      You appreciate slice-of-life storytelling

·      You are curious about learning about life from a perspective not often seen in historical fiction

 

You might not like Last Night at the Telegraph Club if . .

·      You dislike books that take time to describe lots of details to set the scene

 

A Similar Book: 

Good Luck, Ivy by Lisa Yee. Although Good Luck, Ivy is written for a significantly younger audience than Last Night at the Telegraph Club, similarities between the books include:

·      A Chinese American female protagonist who lives in twentieth-century San Francisco

·      Themes of understanding your identity and following your passion

·      Historically immersive storylines

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Toxic friendship, Lesbophobia, Sexism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Child abuse, Outing, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Miscarriage, Classism, Deportation, and Drug use

bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

3.0

I wanted to like this more than I did. The historical detail is incredibly impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed the author's note, but I struggled to invest in the characters and found the ending a bit of a disappointment. I'm bummed I didn't dig it more because the ingredients—coming-of-age, untold histories, first love, etc., etc.—are all there!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexism, War, Cultural appropriation, and Deportation

Minor: Bullying and Miscarriage

arlaubscher's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic friendship, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Outing, Police brutality, Sexism, Misogyny, Alcohol, Racism, Racial slurs, War, Xenophobia, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Classism and Colonisation

hannahrogers's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Medical content, Lesbophobia, War, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Racism, Racial slurs, Infertility, Colonisation, Homophobia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Deportation, Gaslighting, Bullying, Hate crime, War, Cursing, Genocide, Sexism, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Misogyny, Outing, and Vomit

funkylitchick's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Xenophobia

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Cultural appropriation, and Deportation

lisa_m's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This was an interesting book. It deals with important topics and I especially enjoyed the authors notes at the end of the book.
There she writes about lesbian culture and especially the role Asian-American and other marginalised groups played. 

Sadly the story just didn't grip me. I really wanted to love this book but I didn't. I liked the story and I think it's a really important one to tell. It was just not a very enjoyable read for me.

I guess I just don't want to read about queer people being seen as abnormal and gross. I get that at the time that was normal but it still just made me uncomfortable and mad.
Also the author uses some words that made me uncomfortable because of their negative connotations. She also addresses this at the end of the book and that she used those words because it's what would have been used at the time.

I also didn't really connect to any of the characters. They all felt a bit shallow and like just a way to portrait the story. If I liked the characters more I might have been able to overlook the rest..

Edit:
For me it was probably a 2 star read. I did not enjoy it and the weird terms like calling the Asian protagonist 'china doll' multiple times just made me uncomfortable. I do think that this book is important though. It is not catered towards me and I cannot identify with the mc very much but maybe I'm just not meant to and that's okay. There are so many books written about girls I can identify with extremely well so I don't think that this is a bad book just because it's not for me. Actually I would maybe even recommend this to a very niche group of people. Queer people (of colour) with historical interests or interest in the LGBTQ movement.
For those reasons I have decided to give this book 3 stars instead of the 2 it was for me. it would just feel unfair and not do this book justice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Hate crime, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Outing, Police brutality, Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and War