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thatchickengirl23's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Deportation
Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Blood, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment
mostlykenny's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
5.0
This book was amazing !! If you’re into historical fiction and into queer discovery then I’d recommend this !! Also I’d recommend to read the Authors Note because it gives out some inspiring and informative information and history about what is like to be queer, Asian America, and most especially lesbian in the 1950s plus nineteen century. Please read this book. It is outstanding and beautiful. 5 stars. ⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage
ottercorg's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
It always feels strange for me to call a book that wrenches my heart "a delight" but that's what this was. From beginning to end, I delighted in getting to know Lily through the pages and see her grow into herself, no matter the cost. Young love, finding one's identity, taking risks, figuring out who your friends are - it's something we all have to go through, but the circumstances make it all the more difficult for our main character.
I truly love Lo's writing style, especially the callbacks to earlier moments via parentheses between text. It's a simple detail that I just ate up. I admire Lo for her commitment to research in writing this book, and then for sharing her findings after her story ended. I think I'll definitely find myself reading more of her books in the future.
I truly love Lo's writing style, especially the callbacks to earlier moments via parentheses between text. It's a simple detail that I just ate up. I admire Lo for her commitment to research in writing this book, and then for sharing her findings after her story ended. I think I'll definitely find myself reading more of her books in the future.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Deportation
amare_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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? No
4.75
such a beautiful read!!! my only complaint is that the author often used a lot of descriptions of streets in san francisco, it gets quite confusing and difficult to picture if you're not from there. besides that I really liked the writing style. as someone who's the age of lily and kath, I thought their relationship was realistic. not too sexual in nature but also not completely clean. the pacing was great, the short chapters made me feel like I was making progress. had no filler chapters, it felt like each one had a part in moving the story forward. and THAT scene with tommy andrews and lily was SO HOT!!! I'm definitely gonna go buy her perfume so I can get ladies 🏃🏽♀️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Racism
Moderate: Miscarriage and War
Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol
creolelitbelle's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
My rating greatly differs from the masses, but the slowness of this book had me consider DNFing multiple times throughout it. The audio narration is greatly done, but very little happened. Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a solid queer awakening story. It simultaneously fails at trying to be more while also needing to be more dedicated to that purpose and needing to develop more facets that are only flimsily introduced and barely dived into. Lily learns of her own lesbianism and deals with the closedmindedness of her friends and family during an umaccepting time period for anyone LGBTQIA. The snippets of history connections and family pasts of Lily's relatives that are offered could be beneficial somehow, but as written those pieces felt distracting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
dev921's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, War, Classism, and Deportation
pinetree_reads's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I found that the book was a good middle ground but not something I was obsessed over.
In the beginning I found it quite boring, since it had too much description of things for my taste and I nearly put it down. Only around chapter 8 I felt like it was going somewhere.
I know that the relationship between Lily and Kath is not the only focal point of the story but I still found it quite short. It didn't feel rushed but was missing.
Making it okay to continue reading but not a necessity born from curiosity about how the story would end.
That said I know I'm not the target group since I'm white so take everything with a grain of salt.
In the beginning I found it quite boring, since it had too much description of things for my taste and I nearly put it down. Only around chapter 8 I felt like it was going somewhere.
I know that the relationship between Lily and Kath is not the only focal point of the story but I still found it quite short. It didn't feel rushed but was missing.
Making it okay to continue reading but not a necessity born from curiosity about how the story would end.
That said I know I'm not the target group since I'm white so take everything with a grain of salt.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, and War
pantslint's review against another edition
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? No
5.0
I don't often read historical fiction, but a close friend gifted this book to me and boy am I glad she did.
This book made me cry. It made me do further reading, too. I knew about the insanity of McCarthyism and COINTELPRO from schooling, but didn't know the extent of the effects that the Red Scare had on the Chinese-American community (which aren't surprising, honestly). I didn't know about Dr. Hsue-shen Tsien. Or about the Chinese Confession Program. Or how the Chinese Exclusion Act meant that Chinese immigrants and Chinese-American communities were largely men.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a beautiful coming of age story, and also a diaspora story. It encompasses a lot of what I feel for my own immigrant parents—compassion for the difficulties they've endured and the trauma they harbor, and yet anger for their refusal to see outside of themselves and their community's perceptions. I have so much to say about this book, but I think that's all I can manage for this first read.
All I have to say left is that I have a personal vendetta against Shirley.
This book made me cry. It made me do further reading, too. I knew about the insanity of McCarthyism and COINTELPRO from schooling, but didn't know the extent of the effects that the Red Scare had on the Chinese-American community (which aren't surprising, honestly). I didn't know about Dr. Hsue-shen Tsien. Or about the Chinese Confession Program. Or how the Chinese Exclusion Act meant that Chinese immigrants and Chinese-American communities were largely men.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a beautiful coming of age story, and also a diaspora story. It encompasses a lot of what I feel for my own immigrant parents—compassion for the difficulties they've endured and the trauma they harbor, and yet anger for their refusal to see outside of themselves and their community's perceptions. I have so much to say about this book, but I think that's all I can manage for this first read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
maecave15's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Deportation
bo0ks_are_cool91's review against another edition
informative
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
Wow good book love the aesthetic and the characters Yaey (I will edit this I swear)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Deportation
Minor: Cursing