Last Night at the Telegraph Club

This book was all kinds of awesome. Explores lesbian culture in SF yet it's fictionalized, but still brings you back to the 1950s in a way that feels real. Really cool historical fiction and exploration of an important time period for LGBTQ+

Theoretically this sounded great but it failed to deliver. The characters were not believable, the plot not compelling enough to make finishing worth my time. I feel like Malindo Lo wanted to write something set in a particular time and place but lacked a good story to bring it to life.

CW: racism, micro aggressions, usage of slurs, homophobia, xenophobia

I don't usually gravitate towards historical fiction; even when I do, it's been largely limited to romances or WWII European settings. But when I realized this book was about a queer Asian American girl in the 50s, I knew I had to pick it up immediately. And this was just wow.

I have always heard a lot about the author Malinda Lo, how she is a pioneer in both bringing Asian American authors as well as sapphic fiction to YA mainstream, but I never got around to reading any of her works before. However, I now realize why she is considered to be such an inspiration. The writing in this book is beautiful and stunning - I felt transported to 50s Chinatown in San Francisco because that's how powerful and vivid the author's descriptions are. It's both an exciting coming of age story of a young lesbian girl as well as a daily chronicle of life of Chinese American high school girls of the time - and I really loved how the author did justice to both aspects of the story. The story might feel mundane at times, but it's still high stakes and there were so many moments where I was scared, happy, devastated and hopeful - it takes us through a gamut of emotions and it's a true testament to the author's skill.

Lily is a typical Asian American child in many ways. She is a dutiful daughter like her parents expect, concentrating on her studies and socializing with kids whose families are acquaintances. But she is also an American who wants to be free and is ambitious enough to want to go to space and just wants to create her own destiny. In the midst of this turmoil of trying to fit in with both worlds, especially when she is not completely welcome in one, she also grapple with the realization of her sexuality - which is both thrilling and scary. But the author does such a brilliant job of bringing all these aspects of Lily's personality to life and I loved her so much. Her complicated friendship with her childhood friend, a budding forbidden relationship with another young girl and just wanting to know more about this new community that she could possibly belong to - it's all very vividly captured and made it very easy to empathize with Lily. The way the author explores various relationships, especially the ones between lesbian women whom Lily meets, who are trying to live their life and find places where they can be themselves, left a very deep impression on me.

Having recently read a couple of books about Asian American history, it was very intriguing to read more about McCarthyism and the red scare of the 50s, and the author shows us how terrifying it must have been for the Chinese Americans of the time, who had dedicated their lives to be good citizens but still had to prove that they weren't communist sympathizers, sometimes while realizing that anything they did would never be proof enough. What really surprised me was that there was also a fear during the time that homosexual was related to communism, and the author deftly explores how this would cause even more chaos in the life a young queer Asian girl, who is now doubly scared of being deported (or of her family being subjected to it) both for her sexuality as well as her ethnicity. The author's note at the end goes into much detail about what inspired her to write this story and how difficult it is to find more information about the lives of girls like Lily.

In the end, this is a coming of age tale of a girl whose stories are usually missing from the historical fiction genre - queer Asian Americans. As we all know that it's even more difficult to be openly queer in Asian families, it's really important that we get to read more of these stories - so that young Asian kids know that they aren't alone. If you like YA or coming of age stories or just historical fiction, I highly recommend this book.

while this book had its faults, it featured three things that matter so much to me: 1) queer coming of age 2) discussions centering immigrants/asian-americans vs. the american government 3) san francisco, my lovely little hometown

i was hooked by the setting alone, partially because i'm homesick but also partially because how can you not be romantic about roaming the streets of san francisco (even on a windy day)? but the story pulled me in, with all of its rich layers and the main character, lily, not only having to grapple with being chinese-american during the 1950s, but also being queer and a girl who thinks in equations and the laws of physics. lily's entire existence is “non-traditional” and seeing her confront this throughout the book hit close to home but also felt like a warm hug. 70 years later, it's still kind of scary to be a queer asian girl in america for many reasons, but to see lily (& kath!) persevere was wonderful

i'm so glad this book had a semi happy ending, i wouldn't be able to live it it didn't

anyways loved this book and how it incorporated queer/lesbian history. such a good read.

Thanks Penguin Teen and NetGalley for both the digital ARC and finished physical copy. This has not influenced my review one way or the other.

While I don't tend to read a lot of historical YA or even YA romance, I really loved this book. Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a love letter to San Francisco, a cautionary tale about xenophobia and homophobia, a young woman's coming of age, and more. I thought Lo did a great job weaving in historical elements by showing instead of telling, and Lily's character development as she navigates friendships, family, and love felt very organic and rich.

A beautiful book that sucked me in with excellent world building, a complex and compelling main character and a sweet romance with painful spots but ultimately an ending with promise and love. I loved dreaming with Lily in this world, her journey to reach tenaciously for what and who she loves.

Definitely a historical novel and very well written. Different from the style of books I usually read. Different but very good. More serious feeling but not too heavy? The setting felt so real.

This book was my first finished read of 2023 and what a delightful start to the year it was. The writing is beautiful, the characters are compelling and it really felt like it could have been a real story.

The book ends on extensive notes by the author regarding the research she did and the language she used in the book which I found really interesting.

This is a book that has been recommended to me more times than I can count. I went into it with no knowledge of any of the plot, besides the fact that it was sapphic. That is the best way to approach a book like this.

I'm always nervous about reading a book when I see how high of a rating it has but Last Night At The Telegraph Club lived beyond any expectations that I had. This is the perfect example of a book that deserves more hype despite having lots already.

When I'm reading historical fiction, this is what I have in mind. I want to learn about the past and read how it is incorporated into the story. This touched on identity, sexuality, race, deportation, communism and many other heavy topics. I felt like I learned so much just by reading this. I also love that it included the translations at the bottom of the pages in scenes where the characters would speak in Chinese.

The love, the self-discovery, the found family...

It's not often that a book from the Young Adult genre hits me so profoundly but I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come.

I wish I could give this more than five stars.

A friend recommended this one and I held off for a while, thinking it might feel a bit too YA for me.

But oh god, no, its so great!! The historical and cultural context is so well done. The characters are deeply loveable. I had nostalgia for the SF bay Area, where I grew up.

Its because of this book that I've started delving into queer YA as a genre.

Was a great book, just not in the mood for this type of read. Will definitely revisit as some point! 

Die Geschichte von Lily wurde so gut erzählt, man fühlt sich, als wäre man selbst in San Francisco in den 50ern.

Wirklich ein sehr gutes Buch, das einen am Ende schon zu Tränen rühren kann

Perfectly readable queer coming of age in San Francisco. Easy recommend, tons of great history but never feels stodgy or overwhelming. The human element is always prioritized.

i really enjoyed this!! i loved how real all the characters felt and i especially enjoyed the flashback chapters we would get from lily's parents and her aunt judy. it's also incredibly clear how much research and thought malinda lo put into these characters and this story, truly a peak into what life was like for a queer chinese american teen girl in a time where one half of who she was made her an outcast to the other half.

4.5/5 stars

This was a fun book to read, some parts were a bit too slow for me with not much going on and the end left a lot of things unresolved which didn't bother me too much but it's still somewhat.. noticeable? I loved that the protagonist is Chinese-American and lives in Chinatown because although that was not the main focus of this book, I feel like it was something different from the usual books you might find and read. It's clearly YA and sometimes I feel like it moves a bit too fast other times a bit too slow but overall it was really enjoyable.

4.75

This book was wayyyyyy too good. This was some of the most authentic, nuanced high school portrayals and characters that I've read. It rarely fell into some of the cliches of high school romance (apart from some Shirley stuff) and it deftly handled so many complex topics within its characters. The LGBT community, high school drama, Red Scare, women in science, San Francisco, and Chinese American identity were all elegantly interwoven within Lily's life in a way that made her feel so alive and real. Her struggle really opened my eyes to perspectives that I had never really considered and it managed to do so with a compelling narrative that kept me invested.

My only issues came from some overly dramatic bits in the beginning that felt very “floaty” and the places where the book meandered a bit too much.

Just beautiful! Hopeful while being realistic for the 50s Lo does an amazing job with the setting - glamorous and secretive clubs! - and Lily is a great character.

I remember being at the YALSA ya lit symposium in 2014 or 2015 and listening to a panel about LGBTQ teen books. Some ignorant librarian asked whether a book that had a character with multiple identities was “too much for teens.” People literally gasped. Without missing a beat, Malinda Lo was like, “Well no, I exist and I'm not too much.” I'll always remember it because the applause was thunderous. Iconic.

THIS BOOK WAS SO CUTE!!!!!!!!! I love love love Lily and her story and development and all the little lesbians. I feel like there could've been more historical context? Like they brought up communism a lot but it seemed like it should've been more important but then it wasn't??? Anyway the ending was SO SAD but then it wasn't????? Which was beautiful because if they didn't get a happy ending I think I would riot. Love love love

Really enjoyed this one! Lo does a great job of introducing you to the culture of 50s Chinatown in San Francisco as well as the culture of underground queer clubs in a way that you can absolutely understand what's happening and what things are big deals, while not dragging the book down with long infodumps. It's a tough balance! And Lily and Kath are an adorable couple to root for.

Mild spoiler:
I appreciate also that this conveys the serious societal risks LGBTQ+ folks faced in the 50s while also showing the potential for happy endings

A cute, sapphic historical romance. I appreciated all the history and research woven in, you can tell the author really wanted to the Chinese American and the LGBTQ+ experiences in the 50's and 60's justice. Lily's journey of self awareness and acceptance was inspiring and well done.  But sometimes the plot would veer off course, and we get stuck with filler chapters of relative's backstories. There were also a lot of minor plot points that don't get resolved. 

Really good, although I feel like the end should've been longer as it left me a bit confused and rather disappointed.

This book was so so so good. I loved the cultural references both to queer culture and Asian-American culture during this era. An absolutely beautiful love story and a fantastic piece of historical fiction. I wish I had this when I was a queer teen.

Killed me, I am dead