Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Last night at the Telegraph Club

Enjoyed this a lot. I loved the story overall. The time period was very interesting to me (as a non-American I knew little to nothing about this bit of American history) and the pov from the Chinese-American community as well. I am a little disappointed about the ending. It felt kind of rushed and very open ended. And all though the ending is sweet in a way, I also just really wanted more for Lily and Kath.

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atreegrowsinbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The pacing at first was very slow until around the 3/4 mark, and then it sped up. Maybe this book would be better suited for me if I had read it instead of listening to the audio.

Because the pacing was slow at first, I found myself not wanting to pick the book up but was into it more once it sped up.

I liked learning about SF history and picturing the areas that I knew. It was also very interesting to learn more about the racism and struggles that Asian Americans dealt with during this time. While that was secondary to the story, I would have liked more.

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aubreyrae_m's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

The pace of the book is slow at the beginning, mainly to build the story of the main characters. Once the story progresses, the pace quickens.

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zeitfensterr's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

I adore this book a lot. SO well researched!! I adore the characters alot, ironically especially Lily's family :) And it was so interesting to read about the historical setting and the life of Chinese Americans in that time period as well. It genuinely felt so real and honest. Very glad I was able to read this story!

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hannaemilia's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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etpreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

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suzyvee's review against another edition

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hopeful 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

4.25

I thought this started off a little slowly, but by about halfway through, the pace picked up. This story was important to tell, as it provides insight to a topic that isn’t widely known.

The storytelling focus on the relationship dynamics between Lily and Kath, as well as Lily’s relationships with her family and Chinese friends, was very well done. It showed how conflicted and frustrated Lily was with her feelings toward Kath and how her parents’ and family’s opinion of her changed.

This was obviously very well-researched and meaningful to the author. I appreciated this story being written.

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