A Scatter of Light

"I *loved* Last Night At The Telegraph Club. The author writes incredibly and I was looking forward to the companion novel. The writing was just as incredible, but the plot took a turn I did not like. I went into the story knowing it was more coming-of-age, gay realization rather than romance, but the romance aspect was incredibly frustrating. The main character Aria falls for Steph, who is already in a committed and long term relationship with Lisa. This results in a cheating. And not even a one time occurrence, a full blown two-way affair. This was so frustrating and hard to read because I was mad and did not agree with the characters the whole time. Aria, Steph and Lisa all took turns playing the role of the victim and the antagonist. I found myself angry at Steph and Aria for having the affair and enjoying it, but later feeling sorry Aria for having her heart broken. Besides that aspect, I loved all the side characters and subplots. The author writes in a way that is somehow easy to read while describing complicated emotions and situations, but my favorite thing is how realistic she is. The emotions, the situation, and way Aria handles them are realistic. The sex scenes and the thoughts during them are realistic. I found myself relating to Aria and the other characters, and seeing myself in their situations that I have been in myself. The flashbacks were all relevant to the story and enjoyable to read, unlike some authors who make you just want to get back to the story. Watching Aria compare her experiences with girls to those with guys and realizing that relationships don’t have to be so complicated felt very relatable. I also loved seeing the update on Lily and Kath’s lives, almost 60 years later. Whether you end up loving or hating this book, that small part makes the entire thing worth it. The ending jump from 2013 to 2023 was mildly disappointing. After such an emotional end to Aria’s summer, the ending did not update on any aspect of her life."

"I read this as a fan of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, but I didn’t care for the cheating aspect nor the age gap, which made the character’s dynamic difficult to support or relate to. I still liked knowing what happened to Lily and Kath, as well as the relation between the characters."

"This was really good, and I definitely enjoyed it a lot. The romance was pretty unrealistic though."

"I started out really liking this book and I loved the ending, but there are so many inexplicable writing decisions made in the middle that it wound up disappointing me. The parts about Aria learning to appreciate the perspectives of the adults in her life, going to the dyke march and the music festival, and trying to make art were really compelling but the romance was just... it was bad. The LI is older and already has a girlfriend and it's impossible to see what she could possibly see in this bland 18 year old that would make her act out like that. Aria is also like... there is a scene where she finds out a relative might be dying and all she can think about is cheating with this woman again. Also imo the sex scenes were way too graphic - yeah I'm an adult and I read adult books but also I do not want to know what is going where in YA."

"3.5 stars <br/><br/>I enjoyed this for the most part except I’m not a fan of cheating storylines and since that’s basically the second half of this book it kind of knocked it down a few stars; I think the part that got me most excited was when we saw how Lily and Kath from Last Night at the Telegraph Club ended up (and they weren’t even the main focus of the book so"

"This companion novel/sequel to Last Night at the Telegraph Club is another wonderful coming-of-age story set nearly 60 years after the events of the first book. It follows Aria, who gets sent away to spend the last summer before college with her aunt, and ends up having complicated feelings for her aunt’s gardener Steph.<br/><br/>I was hesitant about picking this book up initially. I liked the Telegraph club well enough, and thought it was a complete story that didn’t need a sequel. I’m glad I decided to read it anyway, because this was a pleasant surprise. <br/><br/>I’m a sucker for a good coming-of-age story, and Malinda Lo has proven herself to be great at them. The way she wrote Aria’s developing feelings that were both confusing and overwhelming, and her journey to accept them was phenomenal.<br/><br/>What I also loved was that the relationship between Aria and Steph, while sweet, was messy and not straightforward at all. It made for an even more compelling and emotional read. I cried several times reading this."