A review by jashanac
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
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.
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.
Graphic: Homophobia and Xenophobia
Moderate: Racism, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Miscarriage