It’s a YA book but anyone will enjoy this book. I enjoyed reading this. Thank you to both NetGalley and publishers for gifting me this book

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

I loved Robin Talley's debut, Lies We Tell Ourselves, but unfortunately I haven't enjoyed any of her other books as much since and haven't been able to get into this one, so I have to officially DNF it.

Wow. If I don't read another book in 2022 then Music From Another World by Robin Talley will definitely have been the best book of the year and I will be happy for it to stay that way. I know it is a little early to tell this but I can already see this being in my Top Ten Books of 2022. It is glorious.

Set in 1977, Music From Another World looks at the change in culture and the rise of the LGBT community and the fight for equal rights. The story focuses on the burgeoning pen pal friendship of Sharon and Tammy. Both are dealing with secrets and both only have the other to confide in. But just how much can they say to each other without their worlds falling apart?

I really loved this story. It has so many elements - a love story, social history, familial bonds, religion. It just ticked so many boxes for me. I bought into the story so much and was desperate to see how things turned out with Sharon and Tammy. I think that the story had such an iconic historical backdrop along with the struggles of our main characters really compounded a historical social issue and made it accessible for a new generation.

I cannot speak more highly of this novel.

Music From Another World by Robin Talley is available now.

For more information regarding Robin Talley (@robin_talley) please visit www.robintalley.com.

For more information regarding HQ (@HQstories) please visit www.hqstories.co.uk.

Excellent YA read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

An absolute joy. Life and self-discovery in San Francisco during the late 70s. Acutely painful, this had me rooting for the characters right from the first page.

I enjoyed this! At times I was a bit confused by the letter format as it was written like a novel, with the sort of details you wouldn't include in a letter. Probably would have made more sense to have some letter chapters and some narrative chapters. However I enjoyed it, and I love queer stories so that is always a plus.

"It’s 1977, and the USA is tearing itself apart. And so is Tammy Larson. Seventeen and scared, Tammy has a secret that her strict community and conservative family must never find out; one that she’s only ever shared in unposted letters to her hero, Harvey Milk. She’s gay.

Hundreds of miles away, Tammy’s new pen pal is dealing with a few secrets of her own. Sharon Hawkins lives in foggy San Francisco, an exciting city full of protests and punk music. But as the letters pile up in her desk drawer, Sharon begins to realise that her world might not be that different to Tammy’s after all…"

Books about music can be so visceral, and so consuming, capturing an era and place in time. But only if they're done well. Too often it feels clunky or clichéd, but not here. Wrapping the reader in Bowie and Patti, it's a story that seeps beneath the skin and sits with you long after.

loved this!!

set during the 70s it covers some history that i hadn't read much surrounding the rise of harvey milk and the surge of anti-gay movements from various groups

following two girls, one from orange county and one from san francisco, they are randomly paired up for a school pen pal project and hit it off much more than expected. they treat each other as diaries, pouring out secrets that they would never tell anyone else as they are both awakened to the punk music around them as well as the sorts of people they are

it took some twists i didn't expect and i really liked the epistolary style, both between the two girls and their respective diaries

a lovely look at friendship and sexuality and being exactly who you are. would recommend to anyone interested in the gay rights movement in the 70s, female friendships, and strong characters

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

I wanted to enjoy this, I really did but I found this incredibly hard to get through. I think it may have been the homophobia and the anxiety that the characters endured because I remember feeling anxious for them as well. Both Tammy and Sharon are interesting and hopefully, when I am in a better mental health place, I will get to read this again.

'Rating: 2.5/3⭐
Would I Read It Again? Not sure
Would I Recommend it? Just read the warnings before you get into it

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Young Adult for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book, I loved the 70s setting and the journey of self-discovery for each of the characters. The plot following gay rights was really interesting and it was an incredibly unique tale of two pen pals across two sides of a state, with totally different lives but very similar world views. But both were intertwined beautifully and the dialogue between the two was perfect. Including Harvey Milk in this narrative was a really interesting choice which brought a lot to the book, as the two main characters found something to be united over.

Overall, I rated this book four stars, it was really interesting and although I am not an own voices reviewer, I found the portrayal of the LGBT community to be really moving and I just really loved this book. I'd love to see more from Robin Talley in the future.

My freaking heart!

This is the fourth of Robin Talley's books I've read:
Lies We Tell Ourselves was another historical queer story and another 5 star read.
As I Descended was a queer retelling of Macbeth - which I enjoyed but was let down because of how much I loved Lies We Tell Ourselves.
What We Left Behind was a contemporary and more than disappointing.

So I didn't know quite what to expect going into this - I guess my hopes were quite high, and I was not let down! I prefer this over Lies We Tell Ourselves.

An epistolary novel and dual POVs are two things I love, so while others didn't like it for these reasons, I loved it. The letters and diary entries weren't amazing, but you should see my 16 year old diary if you want bad diary entries (I think I burned then because they were so cringey). You got the inner thoughts of both characters, and what both were hiding from each other (for valid reasons). The slow burn bi realisation was breaking my heart.

It incorporated queer history, and an author's note at the end which added a little more after the events of the book. Christian focused homophobia is obviously a big topic in this book, and I loved the subtle (and not so subtle) focus of the hypocrisy of those showing it - divorce, affairs, premarital sex (Catholics using contraception!), stealing etc. I loved the main characters finding their place in punk rock/angry music, bands specifically with women and just their own community after feeling alone. I loved all the side characters in the queer and punk community, even though some of the bookshop women blended together at times.

I loved it so much, I''m so happy it ended non tragically

What an interesting read this was! Not only was it written in an unusual style (letters between pen pals and fan mail to a gay icon), the setting was inspired (gay rights movement of the 1970s) and all the characters were interesting (although some were definitely not likeable). I felt like I learnt a lot as well as enjoying the writing and storyline, which is always a bonus. Well worth a read.

a sweet sapphic romance with some political bite behind it, in the vein of ‘the miseducation of cameron post’ 🌈🎼
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in 1970s california, at a time when harvey milk is campaigning against proposition 6 (a ballot initiative to ban gays and lesbians from working in schools) tammy and sharon are put in touch via a christian pen pal project. in their letters, they bond over punk music and tell each other things they can’t say to anyone else. but each is keeping one secret from the other: sharon has to protect her gay brother from being outed, and tammy has to protect herself from the same thing
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as anti-gay sentiments come to a head in the state, tammy and sharon have to decide whether to trust one another and put their long-distance friendship to the test. and sharon has to confront whether she feels so strongly about gay rights just because of her brother, or whether there’s something even more personal behind it
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i swept through this book in one sitting – i just kept needing to know what happened next! it’s a compulsive read that manages to set up a cute YA romance without watering down its political context

Trigger warnings: homophobia, internalised homophobia, religion, talk of discrimination again the LGBT community, threat and talk of conversion therapy.

Music from another world is a novel told through letters and diary entries which I didn’t know going in and was nervous about at the start but I ended up absolutely loving this book. It was so incredibly important and had so many conversations that even now are important and need to be talked about.

This book made me cry multiple times during my time reading it because it hurt me and cut me so deeply. As someone who is queer, it really hurt seeing so much homophobia from people. Religion is something that makes me so deeply uncomfortable because of my sexuality so getting through this book was genuinely hard for me but I’m glad I read it.

I really enjoyed both of our main characters, I loved their connection and their own journeys of self discovery which I think will be important to so many people.

I just appreciate Robin Talley and the books she writes so much and this one was no different.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review. (although I already had a paper copy of it on my bookshelf!)

I was sucked in by the Patti Smith reference on the blurb, but as a general fan of Talley's previous books, this was always going to be high on my TBR pile!!

Written in the form of letters to each other, or in their respective diaries, it gets a little 'sorry, who am I reading right now' - and I swapped out from the ARC pretty early on due to formatting issues, and opted for my paper copy.

I felt it was a little clunky in places, and I'm not sure if it's because of the style, or because the characters just weren't well rounded? Other than the main characters, the parents, the siblings and the Aunt just seem a little flat?

Otherwise, it's a typical Talley novel, a 'will they, won't they' with added 1970s politics and LGBTQIA+ awesomeness

Music From Another World is written in the form of hesitant letters and confessional diary entries and I loved every page! Mention good old snail mail and I am there, I adore writing and receiving letters so a book featuring letters heavily is something I will always love reading. Closeted lesbian Tammy is paired up with Sharon in a pen pal scheme between two Christian schools, what begins as a forced school assignment turns into a lifeline for both girls to share their true selves with each other without fear of judgment or retribution. Thi was such a beautiful story about two queer girls finding their space in the world where they could love whoever they wanted to.
Robin Talley has created two strong, individual main characters with a passion for life and equality, I really enjoyed learning about a small part of LGBTQ+ history in America alongside Tammy and Sharon as they played their parts in the protests and campaigns. The foundation of the love story in this novel starts off as a tentative friendship between pen pals, there's disagreements, misunderstandings, heartbreak and heart warming scenes, all adding up to create a wonderful romance between two queer girls. Tammy is a closeted lesbian due to living with a very religious and homophobic family whereas Sharon's sexual identity is a lot more of a journey throughout the book as she questions her feelings for both boys and eventually, Tammy. To balance out the homophobic characters there's also a whole load of supportive queer side characters who help organise protests to campaign for LGBTQ people's rights.
Queer historical fiction is definitely a new type of novel for me, but they blend two of my favourite things together, queer characters and historical events. I find history fascinating and I'll never know enough to sate my hunger for knowledge. I haven't read anything by Robin Talley prior to reading Music From Another World so to see the author described as a master of award winning queer historical fiction makes me desperate to read every other book this author has written! Music From Another World blew me away, I switched between the audio and the eBook and the dual narratives told by two narrators over audio was amazing, it clearly defined the two main characters. I would hugely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read more queer fiction as it is brilliant!

As an adult who didn't see them self represented in novels as a young person I love diving into young adult novels with queer representation.

Music From Another World introduces the reader to the developing relationship between Tammy and Sharon, as well as exploring the impact of religious hate, homophobia and the positive contribution of Harvey Milk to progressing LGBTQ+ rights in the USA.

In addition to exploring the relationships between the two main characters, their blood relatives and chosen family, Robin Talley really set the scene in 1970's San Francisco. You could really feel the energy coming through the page as the characters explored the Castro and visited punk shows.

This is a gorgeous read for Pride month!

As soon as I read this synopsis I knew this was a book I needed to read, and whilst it wasn't the total winner I was hoping for it was still a fantastic YA novel.

I loved that this book was set in the 1970's in what was such an important time for the LGBTQIA+ movement, and also that Tammy was always writing to Harvey Milk. It felt like the author did a lot of research into this time period so it felt like an authentic novel to me - from what I know of this time anyway. I also loved the focus on music in here. I love music and genuinely think it's such an important thing that truly can influence and change peoples lives so I loved seeing how well that was explored here.

This book is told in epistolary format - the whole novel is told through letters and diary entries - which is something I haven't really read before but i'll be honest that I don't think it's quite for me. I just never felt that connected to the story or the characters which is disappointing when reading a novel that I knew should be definitely packing an emotional punch.

I also didn't find myself believing in the romance between Tammy and Sharon. I could see how their relationship developed over the letters as they were the only people who they could be honest with but it felt more like friendship than a romance to me - I think I just expected something deeper to develop when they met but instead they just appeared awkward to me.

Overall, I think Music From Another World in an important novel about acceptance and finding your place which will be fantastic for younger readers who are struggling with who they are but it wasn't quite the novel I was after.

I'm a fan of Talley's work but I think this might be her finest book yet. A sapphic love story set in the seventies, where two girls fall in love via letters against a background of punk music and rebellious thought against the regime. Really beautifully written. Perfect for pride month too!

“All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.”

This translated Victor Hugo quote, which Harvey Milk copied out and hung on his office wall, is how the author opens her acknowledgements at the end of this beautiful novel. It’s an incredibly moving sentiment, especially at this current moment in history, and sums up the transformative effect that the gay rights movement had on the lives of LGBTQ+ people in the 60s and 70s.

The entire book is told through the eyes of Tammy and Sharon, two Californian high school students. They’ve been assigned each other as penpals for a school project and we see their letters to each other plus Sharon’s diary entries and Tammy’s letters to Harvey Milk. We see them bond over Patti Smith and punk music followed by the revelation that both Sharon’s brother and Tammy are gay. I adored this book and the way it is carefully crafted to weave moments in history into the personal lives of these characters. I especially loved the parts that take place at the women’s bookstore, as both characters are embraced by a community of feminist queer women.