Last Night at the Telegraph Club

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.