I really like Lily and Kath and the women they meet. Lily's family presents diverse lived experiences but they still all react badly to her revelations. On the other hand, I am very glad of how this ended and adored the descriptions of San Francisco. The city really became its own character.

While I appreciated the research and nuanced presentation of multiple perspectives, sometimes things felt a bit drawn out.

Shirley was awful, though. I almost wish she had faced a few more consequences of her actions and attitudes. The Telegraph Club gang was kind of unevenly sketched, but that seems realistic from Lily's observations as a teen and how unsafe it would be for these women to be closer or more honest and open with Lily and Kath.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club was terrific! I really enjoyed Lily's story, watching her slowly stretch out of the societal and familial expectations placed upon her. It was often a stressful read, and I worried constantly what might happen to her if anyone from her tight-knit community realized what was going on. The romance was a delicate slow-burn, and the ending bittersweet but realistic. The historical details were rich and helped set the scene perfectly. I highly recommend this book!

Engaging sapphic historical novel containing many well crafted, interesting characters. Explores the difficulties of being a lesbian in the 1950s overlapped with also being Chinese. Well done plot that introduces the reader to these issues but doesn't deter you with hardship, but instead leaves you wanted to know more.

Marketed to young adults, but I think more adults will be reading this. I just don't see many teens wanting to learn about LGBTQ history. Perfectly suited to both age groups.

I loved this book so so much.

It was so tentative and gentle but simultaneously rough to read at times and heartbreaking. It not only tackles what it was like to be an Asian queer woman (lesbian) in the 50s, but it also tackles the issues the Chinese community faces back then, head on. So it's a pretty well rounded story.

I loved the way Lili and Kath's relationship was explored, as well as Lili's relationship with her queerness. How she was so oblivious to it, or tried to be, for so long that she only faced it once it came bubbling up. How even though she had feelings for a girl, when to an underground gay club that made her FEEL things she still tried to persuade herself out of it. But once she faced it and embraced it, there was no going back and no way for her to shove it back. Nor did she want to.

https://www.instagram.com/readjennread/
Thank you thank you @netgalley and @malindalo for this wonderful book. I am way overdue in reading and reviewing, but it was the perfect #pridemonth read! Loved this great story of an Queer Asian American teenager discovering herself and the lesbian community in 1950’s San Francisco. Much like #onelaststop, one of my other #pridemonthreadingchallenge books, I loved learning about LGBTQ history in a novel. Great story, great characters! #malindalo #lastnightatthetelegraphclub #netgalley #pride

Last Night at the Telegraph Club gets all of the stars!!! The historical setting and accompanying events proved to be an extremely fascinating backdrop. My heart ached for Lily and Kath. I am desperate for a movie adaptation.

I picked this one up in May because it worked for both AAPI Heritage Month and the YA reading challenge I was participating in that month. Thanks so much to Penguin Teen for my finished copy of Last Night At The Telegraph Club!

Historical fiction reads are all about the setting for me, and Lo definitely delivered with this one. Set in San Francisco in the 1950s, there was so much attention paid to details that kept you immersed in the story, from the clothing that was worn to the political sentiment towards countries like China and Russia. I always enjoy reading the author's notes in books that are based on true events, and this one was especially informative, as Lo explained how Lily was an homage to Asian American lesbians like Crystal Jang, Merle Woo, and Dr. Margaret Chung. While Lily's story is fictional, the struggles these women faced were real and shouldn't be overlooked.

I also loved the few chapters that showed the perspectives of Lily's parents and aunt, and their views on being Chinese immigrants in America. It would have been easy to focus on Lily and Kath while villainizing Lily's family, but people are more complex than that. I do wish more attention was paid to Lily's younger brothers, and I would have loved more Kath instead of the focus on Lily's friend, but there was already a lot packed into this beautiful story. I think this would be be great book club pick! Please give this a try if you're looking for a tender sapphic romance that deals with identity, first loves, and pursuing your dreams.

Oooooooooh my god. This is by far one of the best books I will read in 2020. It was one of the first books I read in the new year, two weeks before it came out, and it was breathtaking. The classroom scene? THE CLASSROOM SCENE???????? I’m unwell. It was incredible. This was such a stark look at both racism and homophobia then and how far we still have yet to come since. Stunning piece of historical fiction.

This is such a wonderful story. Lily and Kath's romance, and Lily's blossoming into her true self was mesmerizing and so well told. It was one of those stories that lingered even when I wasn't reading it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also really appreciated all the cultural details of time and place, and the extended explanation at the end of the author's reasoning for including them. Highly recommended.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For some odd reason, I had thought I was walking in to a mystery but I was way off base. Instead I was dropped into a historical novel involving 1950's lbtqia San Francisco. I loved Lily and Kath. I loved the 50s vibe and how both of the girls were in to science. Lo painted a vivid time and place. I felt like I was in Chinatown. I could smell the cigarettes and perfume and alcohol in the Telegraph Club. And I didn't want to let the story go. Highly recommend.

While the writing in this book was great I just couldn’t get into the story.
Maybe I need to come back to it later and try again.
But right now this book wasn’t for me.

Blurb: Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the feeling took root—that desire to look, to move closer, to touch. Whenever it started growing, it definitely bloomed the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. Suddenly everything seemed possible.

But America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

My opinion: I was blown away by Malinda Lo's wonderful writing style. It is such a cute love story and I cried together with Lily. It must have been a difficult time to grow up in the 1950s and to realize that people do not accept queer people even less when you are supposed to be a good Chinese girl. Can't believe that there are some societies where it is sill nowadays difficult to be accepted a as queer person. I think anyone with an south east asian or pan-asian background can identify herself with Lily.

If you take a look at books like "Last tang standing", Chinese women are still struggling with the expectations of the Chinese society to be a hard-working career woman and a lovely wife and mother at the same time. Malinda Lo's has really outdone herself in this novel. The beginning relationship of Lily and Kath is told so tender and subtle and Lily is such an adorable heroine. Driven by youth rebellion and passion, she stand up against the will of her mother. Another thing is, I didn't know that Chinese Americans were deported back from the US to China in the 1950s. So I also learned some historical knowledge from this book.

If you like lovestories with strong, female heroines, you should definitely read this book!

I'm incredibly grateful that so many publishers have been sending digital ARCs during the pandemic💜 @penguinteenca sent me a copy of this one, but my ereader is a bit old and had some formatting issues, so I unfortunately couldn't read it.

HOWEVER, I am excited to get my hands on a copy of this book and read it as soon as I can! Despite the formatting issues, I wanted to highlight this book on my account because I've heard nothing but amazing things, and want to let others know that this book is out in the world. When I read the synopsis I knew it'd be an amazing story. Check it out for yourself, and snag a copy from your local indie or library!

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.

America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

High school senior Lily Hu lives in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1954 with her medical professional parents; she behaves obediently and dreams of working at the Jet Propulsion Lab like her aunt Judy. But she hides a secret yearning...https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=review-of-last-night-at-the-telegraph-club

I wasn’t totally sure what to expect going into this. But I was actually pleasantly surprised! Lily Hu was an amazing character and I loved the setting of 1950s San Francisco. This book explored the queer scene of the 1950s and Lily discovering that, along with her sexuality. As well, Lily and Kath’s friendship was beautiful. Lo’s writing flowed very well and made for an easy reading experience. The book just seemed to fly by, especially in the second half! The only complaint that I have is that the first 30-ish% dragged a bit and it took a while to get into the guts of the story. That didn’t really affect my overall opinion of the book, as I thought it was well-researched, well-written, and well-executed. I had a very pleasant reading experience overall, and I would recommend it!

Rating: 4*

I have not read many YA historical fiction, but this one is a perfect representation of the genre, as we explore what it is to be a teenage Chinese American in the 50s. And to be queer also! Lily brings us with her in her life, the daily school, the balance between being born in the US and coming from a Chinese family, the racism and prejudices she has to face, for who she is, but also who she discovers herself to be. And the historical setting is so well done! We can really picture life at that moment, in the US, while the Red-Scare paranoia is spreading!⁣
I really liked also the timelines changing, allowing us to see also the story of Lily’s parents and some of their experience years before!⁣

I recently finished Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo – thanks @PenguinTeen for the gifted book – and recommend it for YA historical fiction fans.
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Sometimes it feels like every historical fiction book is about a war. I know that is not the case, and I know that many of the historical fiction books set during war are excellent reads. But Last Night at the Telegraph Club felt fresh and unique. It felt like I was getting a point of view I haven’t experienced in fiction.
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Lily is a Chinese American high school student growing up in 1950s San Francisco. People are being accused of Communism and threatened, and immigrants are being targeted.
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Lily loves rockets and dreams about going to the moon, but that doesn’t quite fit with who some people believe she should be. Of course, she also isn’t supposed to be falling in love with a girl and going to a lesbian bar where male impersonators perform, and Lily worries about what will happen if her family finds out.

What a powerful story. I felt like I wanted to continue watching Lily move through life even after the epilogue. I wanted to know exactly what her happy ending looked like.

We follow Lily, a senior in high school, in the 1950's who is slowly realizing she's a lesbian and what that would mean if her Chinese American family were to find out. As she gets closer to Kath and starts secretly frequenting a homosexual bar, she continues to gain confidence in who she is.

Malindo Lo made the decision to stick with terms that were used from the time period, and also did her research on making sure the various lettering for the different Chinese languages were true to the time period. As a linguist nerd, I loved reading her informative background on this at the back of the book.

The relationship between Kath and Lily was so wholesome, and I absolutely loved the slow build of their romance. It was so freaking cute.

The one thing I felt was slightly lacking is I would have loved to see more of how Aunt Judy treated her as time goes on (if you get what I mean). I also was confused by the Tommy scene (again, I hope you know which one I'm talking about. The significant one) I would've liked more on that following the moment.

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars.

I don't know how I feel about this book. I wanted to love it, but just ended up liking it. There were a few too many threads that never were explored and some chapters that didn't seem to be relevant at all, so that took away from Lily's story.

Lily is an Asian American teen in San Francisco during the 1950s. She begins to recognize her feelings toward girls, and her schoolmate Kath, especially. But at that time, homosexuality was illegal and considered a mental illness, not to mention being unacceptable to her parents and friends. She and Kath begin sneaking out at night, going to the Telegraph Club to watch a male impersonator and becoming welcome members of the gay community.

That main story was really good and I wish the whole book had been more of that. There were a couple chapters that told of Lily's parents' early relationship, and some about the communist scare and people being deported, but those had little bearing on Lily's story, so I'm not sure why they were introduced and not more fully explored.

My thanks to Dutton Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TW: racism, homophobia, miscarriage
Disclaimer: Huge thanks to PRH International and NetGalley for my free e-arc. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book.

I'm often skeptical when it comes to young adult historical fiction. But then I read that this is about a 17-year old queer Asian-American, which is not very common in historical fiction genre, and I just knew I had to read it.

Lily knows that she's different. She is just trying to ignore it because she has to be a "good Chinese girl" for her family and her community. But that changes when she finds out about the Telegraph Club and starts meeting people who are the same like her.

First of all, let's take a moment to sppreciate how stunning the cover of this book is! It's just perfect. I really loved Lily's character. Following her story as she discovers and explores more about herself were both powerful and heartbreaking to read. I wished we get to know more about Kath, who is, by the way, queer and also has the same name as me. Their romance felt very intimate and real. I genuinely wished them both happiness in life!

Aside from Lily's POV, some chapters are told from her parents' and auntie's perspectives. We get to see their own stories as Chinese immigrants in the U.S. during the time. This book is set in 1950's San Francisco and the author did an incredible job making the setting as a character itself. Her description of Chinatown, the Telegraph Club, and other places in San Francisco is very rich and vibrant. She is undeniably an amazing writer. I highly advice you not to skip the author's note at the end. It's very well-researched. You can definitely see how much effort and love the author has put into the story.

This is a beautiful story of self-discovery, staying true to yourself, and doing things that will make you happy. It's also about first love, found family, taking risks, and following your dreams.