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.
Wow. What a beautiful historical piece about queer romance. This is my second Malinda Lo book, and I am once again just blown away with the detail to her writing. The amount of times I read a really small piece of description and said “wow I know exactly what the feels like” was incredible. I know this book is highly regarded, but I don’t think Lo’s writing is talked about enough.
She also just really knows how to hit you in gut with love and queerness. I felt so seen with this novel. Lily was so sweet and brave—I wish I could be brave like her. I wish we could’ve seen a little more of Kath and her backstory, but that was my only complaint.
The historical 50s San Francisco vibe was everything, and I loved the pages she included on queerness and Chinese Americans in the 50s at the end of the story. I honestly just think Malinda Lo is brilliant, and I can’t wait to read more of her work.
If you’ve read this one, let me know what you thought!
Louise Reads 