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Ohhhhh wow I was really captivated by this book! I loooooooved all the characters, and it did such an amazing job of being situated in a very specific place at a very specific time. San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1950's is so integral to the main character Lily's experiences, and it feels so lived-in to the reader - as does the Telegraph Club, the lesbian bar Lily sneaks away to.
And Lily's interest in and attraction to women (and especially to Kath!) feels so lived-in and grounded and alive too.
And there's so many other people in Lily's life too, and I love the complexities of all the other characters and their relationships with her! Her contentious best-friendship with Shirley, how much of a staple it's been for her all her life, and how she can barely bring herself to admit the ways in which that friendship stifles her and holds her back. Her aunt Judy, who's so supportive of her career dreams and her interest in science and space, but does not react well to Lily being a homosexual. All the other lesbians she meets at the Telegraph Club - Tommy, who first represents to her what she's been longing for but is kind of alarming in person, and Lana, who doesn't know Lily hardly at all but is still so welcoming and supportive of her when she most needs it even though it's not a good time for Lana either, and Paula, who's friendly at the club but acts as if they're strangers when they meet in regular life, and so many more. The lesbians are so good!
And of course Lily's identity as a Chinese American is just as vital to her experience as being a lesbian. She's constantly being othered and exoticised by the white people she meets, and her family is in real danger of deportation due to trumped-up accusations of communism, and her deep connection to her community in Chinatown is both overbearing and life-giving to her, and Chinese food is clearly hugely important to her.
Everything is connected, and everything is a part of Lily discovering who she is and what's important to her and how she wants to live her life. And I loved her so much!
My one and only frustration with the book is the pacing of the ending. I think it's the right ending to the book! But the pacing was all off, and the end felt so abrupt that it kind of left me feeling like I'd stumbled over the curb at the edge of a sidewalk instead of guided smoothly to the emotional resolution. I get it, endings are VERY hard to write, and I don't know what I'd tell the author to do differently, but I do wish the ending had been smoother.
But honestly that's a pretty small complaint given how wonderful the rest of the book was. And also the book as a whole is so clearly written by a more skilled author than the only other book I've read by Malinda Lo, her debut Ash, and I'm always delighted to see that kind of real growth in an author.
All in all: I loved it!!!
And Lily's interest in and attraction to women (and especially to Kath!) feels so lived-in and grounded and alive too.
And there's so many other people in Lily's life too, and I love the complexities of all the other characters and their relationships with her! Her contentious best-friendship with Shirley, how much of a staple it's been for her all her life, and how she can barely bring herself to admit the ways in which that friendship stifles her and holds her back. Her aunt Judy, who's so supportive of her career dreams and her interest in science and space, but does not react well to Lily being a homosexual. All the other lesbians she meets at the Telegraph Club - Tommy, who first represents to her what she's been longing for but is kind of alarming in person, and Lana, who doesn't know Lily hardly at all but is still so welcoming and supportive of her when she most needs it even though it's not a good time for Lana either, and Paula, who's friendly at the club but acts as if they're strangers when they meet in regular life, and so many more. The lesbians are so good!
And of course Lily's identity as a Chinese American is just as vital to her experience as being a lesbian. She's constantly being othered and exoticised by the white people she meets, and her family is in real danger of deportation due to trumped-up accusations of communism, and her deep connection to her community in Chinatown is both overbearing and life-giving to her, and Chinese food is clearly hugely important to her.
Everything is connected, and everything is a part of Lily discovering who she is and what's important to her and how she wants to live her life. And I loved her so much!
My one and only frustration with the book is the pacing of the ending. I think it's the right ending to the book! But the pacing was all off, and the end felt so abrupt that it kind of left me feeling like I'd stumbled over the curb at the edge of a sidewalk instead of guided smoothly to the emotional resolution. I get it, endings are VERY hard to write, and I don't know what I'd tell the author to do differently, but I do wish the ending had been smoother.
But honestly that's a pretty small complaint given how wonderful the rest of the book was. And also the book as a whole is so clearly written by a more skilled author than the only other book I've read by Malinda Lo, her debut Ash, and I'm always delighted to see that kind of real growth in an author.
All in all: I loved it!!!
