This book was the perfect read for Pride Month! It centers around two queer characters: Abby, a teen girl living in modern-day Washington, D.C., and Janet, another teen girl living in Washington, D.C. in the 1950's. While Abby deals with her feelings for her ex-girlfriend Linh and the disintegration of her family, Janet is dealing with coming to terms with her own sexuality during the era of McCarthyism while also living in the geographic epicenter of the Lavendar Scare. Although their lives are separated by more than 60 years and profound societal changes, they are both impacted in a big way by their discovery of lesbian pulp fiction. This novel demonstrates how easily one book can change a life, all while exploring themes of prejudice, change, and relationships (both familial and romantic). It is extremely well-written, with strong, clean prose and complicated characters that are grounded in reality. And it made me add "The Price of Salt" to my to-read list!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel.
4.5 stars, rounded up to 5

Having read Robin Talley’s earlier work, I had high expectations for this title, and it did not disappoint. The focus of the book alternates between two main characters: Abby Zimet, researching lesbian pulp novels for a senior project, and Janet Jones, a lesbian teen in the 1950s. The book also includes excerpts from Women of the Twilight Realm by Marian Love, the novel with which Abby becomes increasingly obsessed as she tries to avoid her problems: her parents’ fraying marriage, a painful crush on her ex-girlfriend, and looming college applications.

Talley does a superb job bringing the 1950s vividly to life, and she weaves LGBT history – particularly the “Lavender Scare” of the 50s – into the narrative in a way that mostly feels organic. I think readers will come away with a much richer sense of the history of the era.

I found the plotting of the book to be quite effective. The book solves what I initially thought to be the central mystery – who is Marian Love? – relatively early on. In answering that question, however, it sets up new questions about Love’s life. I found that this technique, which is used throughout the novel, helped to propel the narrative along and added nuance what might have otherwise been a fairly straightforward mystery. Likewise, the contemporary portions of the novel upend expectations for how a romance typically plays out in YA fiction.

I had some minor quibbles with the book. I thought the character of Linh was rather flat, and Abby’s parents’ utter indifference to the breakdowns of their high-performing kids didn’t ring quite true to me, even in the midst of their own relationship troubles. I also found the prose to be a little more workmanlike than in Talley’s previous novel, As I Descended, which was gorgeous. Overall, though, the book was deeply engaging and historically rich; it was the kind of book where you simply enjoy spending time with the characters and don’t quite want to let them go. I think it will inspire many readers to track down some classic lesbian pulp fiction. I recommend this book enthusiastically.

Robin Talley's last couple books have been misses for me. This one was a bit better, but Lies We Tell Ourselves still remains my favorite of hers. At times I felt like she was trying to do too much with the interwoven plots, and then wrapped it all up much too quickly. Overall though, a quick and enjoyable read.

Abby lives in present day D.C.; she has great friends, supportive (albeit absent lately) parents and she is out and proud. When she stumbles across a pulp novel from the 50s all about lesbians that had to hide their relationships, Abby becomes obsessed with the author..especially when she learns of her tragic, early death. As Abby begins to hunt down this author, she also begins to repair her relationship with her parents and work through the complicated feelings she has towards her ex.
All the while you learn Abby's story we are introduced to Janet, a young woman living in D.C. in the 50s who is struggling to hide her feelings towards her best friend, Marie. When Janet finds a pulp novel, she becomes determined to find more women like her and determined not to live in fear. An engrossing read that had me rooting for both Abby and Janet!

(3.5 stars) This is a decently good book. I only sound a little disappointed in it because with that amazing premise I expected SO MUCH from it — I've been looking forward to this book for quite a while.

The story follows two plot lines. Janet, in 1955, discovers a lesbian pulp fiction book and begins to understand her sexuality, write her own book, and begin a tenuous romance with her best friend. Abby, in 2017, discovers the book Janet wrote and becomes obsessed with finding its mysterious author, while dealing with still being in love with her ex-girlfriend.

I like the mirroring of the story lines and the sense of hope it gives. While Janet's life is constricted with the fear of anyone finding out she's a lesbian, Abby is an out and proud activist with an entirely queer friend group. Her part of the book is a lot of fun in that respect, and I think would appeal to any fans of Leah on the Offbeat.

The book also emphasizes getting what you need in the end, even if it's not what you thought you wanted. Neither plot line is free from heartache but both girls learn more about themselves and what they want.

But the skipping back and forth can get confusing. There's two plot lines in two different time periods, with excerpts from both the book Janet writes and the book Abby writes for her project. Sometimes it took a second to get my bearings from chapter to chapter. The writing also could be more polished. But other than that, I'm pleased with the book, its diversity, and the vibrancy of book Janet and Abby's lives.

Review published on goodreads on June 7th. Review will also be posted on the-knights-who-say-book.tumblr.com and Barnes & Noble website on November 13th.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC of Robin Talley's Pulp in exchange for a fair and honest review.

First, let me just say that I really enjoy Robin Talley. She is incredibly good at writing authentic YA characters. That was the biggest strength in this book: the characters were not always likable (something I fully support), but they acted like teenagers who were genuinely struggling to navigate the struggles of becoming adults.

First, a short summary: Abby lives in the present in a relatively average imploding family. Her parents are increasingly more absent and no longer get along and her brother acts out. In the midst of all this, she's trying to puzzle out her relationship with Linh, her ex-girlfriend. Janet is a teenager in the fifties. She has recently come to terms with her sexuality, but is struggling with the reality of McCarthyism, family pressure, and the desire to protect those she loves.

PROS:

Like I said, both protagonists are incredibly authentic. They have ideas about love that completely line up with everything we've all seen: they believe love should be able to make miracles, that first loves should be forever, and, of course, that real love always lasts forever. Abby often copes with her problems by delving into her phone, but it's not exaggerated or dumbed down. She dives into an obsession with a literary genre rather than being lumped in with this sort of composite teen who breathes social media. Janet is making her own path, but often finds it really hard to assert herself. Neither girl can find the words for their emotions because they don't know everything. They fumble and it's an amazing thing to read.

This book portrays the struggles of being queer in the 50s in a way that I've never witnessed. Talley's research was on point and she makes the 50s come alive. Not only was it fascinating to digress into my own google searches on Lesbian Pul Fiction while reading, but the sub-plot of Marie's struggles at work really showed a struggle that just hasn't been handled in depth.

The message is so good: love changes and that's okay because we change, too. Life is about developing, changing, and growing, and even if it hurts in the moment, it's often better than you could have imagined.Even with this great message and the focus on being social aware and all the positivity, there was never a moment when I felt like I was being preached at. It was never heavy handed, but totally natural and illustrated by the actions of the book's characters.

The characters were well developed. Yes, ultimately a large part of this book was a love story, but there was so much going on besides romance. Both Janet and Abby were working to become writers. They were both struggling with finding out what they wanted versus what they thought they wanted. They were politically active, aware, and plugged into the world around them.

CONs:

There were some typos and formatting issues, but I assume those will be handled before the release. That's literally it. This book is amazing.

https://bibwithblog.blogspot.com/

The book was amazing. It kept drawing my attention and making me do research into pulp fiction myself. It was so well written. I can’t wait to have a final edited copy in my possession.

Few books make me feel as giddy as I felt when I learned that Robin Talley penned a young adult novel set in the world of lesbian pulp fiction. Washington D.C. High School senior Abby Zimet struggles with a shaky home life, a complicated relationship with her ex-girl friend, and a nebulous future. When she stumbles across a lesbian pulp novel by Marian Love during research for a creative writing project, her thoughts become increasingly consumed by it and with finding the elusive woman behind the story. 

Tracking down an author, especially a writer of 1950s lesbian fiction, is a near impossible task. Abby learns this lesson quickly: not everything is available online, but human connections remain a powerful channel. If you were a queer female author, you cloaked your identity behind a pseudonym. You didn't want to be found. Pulp shares the impact of lesbian pulp novels within the context of their time. Queer people were hunted out of government jobs, blacklisted from future employment, and exiled from families they were born into. Authors like Ann Bannon, who later revealed her identity as a pulp writer, wrote their first novels from dens of crumbling heteronormative domesticity.  Patricia Highsmith published The Price of Salt under the name "Claire Morgan", so as not to derail her nascent mainstream writing career.

Told in parallel narratives, Pulp traces Janet Jones’ pivotal year in 1955 as a teenager in D.C., and Abby’s present-day travails and literary sleuthing. As the story builds, readers see more than just a chasm of differences between the modern teen’s openness with her family and friends as a lesbian, and Janet's furtive attempts at secrecy. Readers discover threads that not only connect the characters through time, but also reflects the continuity of history and social activism in our own lives. 

Robin Talley delivers an immersive and emotionally engaging novel that rewards repeat readers. Sprinkled throughout are Easter eggs for lesbian history enthusiasts and those eager to learn more about this period in our history. I believe that fiction can be a powerful draw in pulling readers of all ages into a deeper examination of historical events. Talley again creates a compelling story that intrigues and informs. I'll leave most of the trivia for you to discover when the book is released in November. Hint: Start with Abby Zimet's name.

Pulp, a historical fiction novel, was not only well written, but extensively researched- which made it fascinating to read-especially the stories within the story. There was so much going within this novel that you cannot help but become invested in the characters’ lives and their actions, both in the present and the past. I also loved how the students were encouraged to protests, along with teachers, to have their voices heard, just as many are doing now in terms of gun control.

I'm just as obsessed with this book as Abby is obsessed with Women of the Twilight Realm. Seriously. This was my MOST anticipated 2018 read, and I'm so lucky and grateful to have gotten the opportunity to read it before it's released. This book by far exceeded my expectations, and from the moment I laid my eyes on it's synopsis, the highest expectations had already been set in my mind. But this book turned out to be just as amazing as I imagined it would be.
This book is about queer women, 1950s Lesbian pulp fiction, and growth and mourning. There is so much more here than the synopsis would have you believe. This book is brimming with character development. I can't even describe just how much I loved this book, but I can certainly make an attempt.
We've got the main character, Abby, who's mourning the recent loss of her relationship with her "friend" Linh, as well as her unstable family dynamic and the clear tension and lack of presence of both of her parents. She one day discovers lesbian pulp fiction from the 1950s-1960s, and she is absolutely hooked on one book in particular, Women of the Twilight Realm by infamous author, Marian Love. Fuelled by so many other aspects of her life she cannot control, she begins an obsession with the book, and more importantly, with the author, who no amount of googling can dig up anything about. Marian Love has written nothing else since her first and only book, and Abby is determined to find out the real identity of Marian Love.
Meanwhile, we've got a dual point of view with another character, Janet, who is a queer 18 year old in 1955, a time in which was extremely dangerous to be homosexual. Janet, too, finds solace and comfort in a lesbian pulp fiction novel she'd found at a local bus station, a book that showcases to her that there are other women just like her, she feels less alone knowing there are other women that feel the way she does, women who write stories of characters similar to her for all to read. Under pseudonyms, of course. Which is how Janet determines that she wants to write to the author of her favourite book, to let her know just how much her book his impacted her. After getting a letter back from her, she is encouraged to write a book of her own. And so that's exactly what Janet begins to do, with her father's typewriter, alone in the attic during the late hours of the morning. And so this is how the story intertwines Janet's story, Marian Love, and Abby's, dual points of view written in 1955, and one in 2017.
The change of atmosphere between the two time periods is extremely present, we as readers get a look at just how drastically different it was living as a queer person in 1955 than it is in 2017. As usual, Robin Talley did her fair share of research for this novel, to bring a queer historical fiction to our eager hands once more. Thank you, Robin Talley, please never change.
This book is full of culture reference, and I loved the presence of other queer identities, and not just lesbianism. It is increasingly important to be sure other queer voices are heard over the abundance of lesbian and gay voices who have steamrolled over trans, bi identities and the like for years, especially now that the demand for more diversity in novels is increasing. And I can see that this is acknowledged in this book, which I cannot begin to appreciate more than I do.
The characters are a central part of this story, and every side character has a purpose and a personality, no character is out of place and barely any are not integral to the story overall, I really appreciated this. I liked that we were also treated to the trials of other characters besides Abby and Janet, and not only do the main characters go through changes and development throughout the story, but a lot of other characters do as well. (Except Janet's grandma, I'm not going to say I'm sad about how she ends up).
There was just… so much to learn in this book. We got so much ample knowledge. It is also obviously unfortunate to read about how it was to be gay in the 1950s, and the necessary steps in order to be able to write lesbian fiction, now I see where the killing off gay characters trope comes from! It used to be the only way to be able to produce media revolving around queer people, tragedy had to strike, and in most cases the characters had to die, as referred to as "necessary resolutions."
I like the way that love and loss is portrayed in this book. The big question seems to be if love is even real, and if it can survive. The theme explored throughout the book is mourning, and moving on. Change can be good, in some cases even life-saving. I love that most of the character development here revolves around changing life events, both characters have to deal with a life-shattering change of scenery, but both learn to grow and adapt towards it. I love the bigger, underlying message. This book was really enjoyable to read because of the many dynamics and themes explored, this book is so much more than what the synopsis entails.
This is by far one of the best sapphic books I've ever had the pleasure of reading in my life. I'm so beyond grateful our world has adapted and changed for the better, for the most part. But it is still interesting and enlightening to read about what it was like years ago, even more so in a fictional sense. Think of all those who came before us, the lesbian pulp novels that were only allowed to be published at the promise of tragedy, the various people risking their lives every day just to live as their true selves, and be increasingly grateful that we are now able to read books like these with little consequence.

Talley, Robin. Pulp. Harlequin Teen, 2018.

Abby's magnet school requires every senior to complete a special project connected to one of their classes. Abby chooses her creative writing class and delves into the world of 1950's lesbian pulp fiction. She begins researching one particular author and is captivated both by her story and by the story she writes. Abby is determined to meet this author, if possible, but since she wrote under a pen name, this is proving to be very difficult.

The best word I can use to describe this book is "meta." There is Abby's story of living in 2018 and going to protests and working on her senior project, and then there's the story of Marian Love, the author she is researching, and there is the story that Marian herself is writing in the 1950s. There are times when it feels a bit like one of the holodeck episodes of Star Trek: the reader is not always sure which layer of story they are reading.

I loved Abby's research and the disparity between the world Marian was forced to live in and the world Abby is growing up in. I, too, am now tracking down as many of these pulp novels as I can get my hands on. Although there aren't many teens who can relate to attending a school where they are encouraged to attend protests (or where their teachers join them at protests) or where they can work on such a large capstone project, I think most teens will be drawn in by Abby and her group of friends and will enjoy reading about Abby's research into the "ancient history" that is the 1950s. Highly recommended.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: homophobic language, particularly in the scenes of Marian's life; quite a bit of sexism as well in Marian's life - all of this is appropriate for the time period described
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell