Last Night at the Telegraph Club

"WINNERS LOVE WINNING🔥🔥"

"This is my favourite book I've read by Malinda Lo. A coming of age about a Chinese American lesbian in the 1950s. More about self-discovery and identity than romance."

"All the sweetness of a coming of age story, with the added challenges of being Chinese, and a lesbian, in the 1950's. I adored Lily, and this whole book. ❤️ "

"immediately one of my all times. flawless writing and superb historical context/research."

"I loved this book so much, the reason it’s not a five out of five for me though is cause sometimes I found myself a little bored. However, those few moments are worth it. It’s such a heartbreaking yet realistic story about two girls falling in love with one another in the fifties. "

"One of the most beautifully written books I’ve read in a while. Vivid descriptions with great feeling infused in Lily’s perspective. I don’t read historical fiction often and am glad I gave this YA a chance."

"Last Night at the Telegraph Club was so well-researched. You could tell Lo was paying attention to meticulous detail and really wanted her book to feel real. At the start, I kept forgetting it was set in the 1950s because there is some overlap with modern times, but then a detail about communism, homophobia, or just the gender norms at the time would pop up and I would remember. As I got further into the novel, I became more aware of the time period because the reception of the LGBTQ+ community was so different than it is today. <br/><br/>I loved the scenes at the Telegraph Club because the imagery was so rich. I felt like I was in the room with Lily and I loved the inclusion of a male impersonator. It made the forbidden nature of Lily's adventures feel more present. In the 1950s Lily was risking a lot by attending a lesbian night club, but Tommy was risking a lot by being a woman dressing as a man. I think in these scenes it was also clear that Lily was just a teenager trying to find herself. <br/><br/>At times I found myself confused by the characters because several of them felt underdeveloped. Kath seemed like a character that only existed to further Lily's awareness of her sexuality. She did not have a lot of personality development outside of her interactions with Lily. For example, we never meet her family until the very end of the book (and we only meet her sister), we only know about her interest in airplanes, and that she is a lesbian. Kath does not have any wants or dreams other than flying a plane. With Lily, we know she wants to go to space, go to college for math, and potentially follow the path of her aunt. This underdevelopment of Kath is so confusing because she seems like she should be the second main character to Lily since their relationship is a huge part of the book. Much of the storyline and themes explored are about self-discovery, sexuality, and first love. Honestly, Shirley is more developed than Kath. Although she is an antagonist, we are told why she envies Lily and we just know more about her personality in general. The book would be a different story if it followed Lily and Shirley more closely because there would be less queer exploration, but it seems like the author was more interested in Shirley than Kath."

"Beautiful story, from start to finish. 10/10!"

"I really enjoyed reading this book and it had an element of realness that I have not found in many other books. The blend of historical fiction with the forbidden romance really accentuated how difficult it was for people at that time who were viewed as “not normal”. The author did a great job of expressing the internal and external challenges for multiple characters throughout the novel. "

"OH MY GOSH. I literally cannot say enough good things about this book. It’s has it all. It has coming of age, lgbtq in the 50s, the 50s, historically accurate red scare + Chinese-American culture + lgbtq, women in stem, San Francisco! Characters were lovable and compelling and made you feel the challenges of living through circumstances. "