I really wanted to love this book. It's about LGBTQ+ rights in the 1970's AND it includes the birth of the punk scene in San Francisco. However, the letter-writing format drove me nuts and made the story less believable. A lot of the story seemed to be lost to this format, and I wish it had been told without it. But the ending is beautiful, and it's a wonderful story to tell.

A fantastic historical fiction novel set in the 1970s, following a compelling main character as she navigates sexuality and identity while trying to find herself.

Tammy and Sharon become pen pals as part of an assignment between their religious schools. The girls write and slowly start to reveal some of their secrets to each other. The girls also both write in their journals and the book is made up of diary entries and the letters the two girls exchange. Both are good Christian girls with secrets. When Sharon accidentally stumbles into gay rights march it changes something in her. It expands her horizons, and she starts to see the world differently.

I really feel for Tammy. Her aunt and uncle are fundamentalist Baptist leaders, and her aunt makes her life a living hell. Tammy has to maintain this good girl image, including pray-a-thons for anti-gay legislation to pass all while being a lesbian herself. I can only imagine how difficult being gay in the 70's would be. This was a time when girls were sent to mental institutions or to conversion camps as it was seen as something wrong and bad. Tammy must hide who she is. She lives in fear of her secret being discovered. I cannot imagine having to get up and lead a youth group in prayer against essentially who you are inside.

Sharon goes to Catholic school and the nuns (teachers) refuse to discuss the movement that is happening. We see Sharon as someone who is struggling with the things she has been taught were right and wrong her whole life. She's just come to terms with finding out her brother is gay and keeping his secret when the proposition passes. She gets swept up in a protest after an anti-gay law gets passed in Florida and this first step changes her life. It teaches her to question the status quo. She ends up helping with some grassroots activism at a feminist bookstore and discovering punk music. All this time she's still coming to terms with what she believes, what she feels, and what she will stand up for.

I really felt there was a lot of growth between the two girls and Sharons brother, Peter as well. They all learn things about themselves and learn to stand up for themselves. The romances in the story don't feel like they are the main point of this book. The history and activism play a huge part and the romances are slow to build and not without their rough patches. I love that it focuses on the history and how tough things were for the LGBT community at that time and the struggles they went through to get us to where we are now. Things have a long ways to go, but we have come so far from 1977. I think that history is important. I also love that this book shows there are bits of magic and love and courage to be found even in the face of persecution.

I enjoyed lots of aspects of this Robin Talley novel, however, I didn't find the chemistry between the main characters entirely convincing. The concept is really compelling and I love the representation, but, as I said, I didn't really feel connected to the main characters.

I didn’t expect this to make me tear up a little but here we are. What a beautiful story about friendship, self discovery and standing up for yourself.

Robin Talley really is a star of creating historical fiction that absolutely leaps off the page. Music from Another World is another such novel. I feel like not only do I meet compelling characters that I want to succeed, but I always learn something about queer culture as well.

Firstly I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was just ok for me. I was excepting to enjoy this a lot more

Robin Talley is an auto-buy author for me. This book was so important because queer history is so often forgotten or swept under a rug. The dual perspective format really helped make the stories alive in a way that will resonate with young adult readers today.

DNF - did not finish. I decided to not keep reading this young adult title. It was not for me. Thank you, Netgalley and publisher for the early copy!

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

This one started off awkward as I tried to find my rhythm with the writing style and the word/time period that everything takes place in. But as I kept reading, the words and story began to soar. The novel tackles what it was like to be closeted during the 1970s, and I honestly wish there was a story like this when I was growing up.

The characters felt real and raw as the story blends the struggles of that era with music. Tammy and Sharon are like A1 steak sauce. It felt like I was transported back, and I could feel every emotion that they were facing.

"Robin Talley, an emerging goliath presence in the LGBTQ+ young adult fiction community, is back at it again. Put on some Patti Smith and sit back for “Music From Another World,” which makes for a surprisingly fun (albeit sometimes tear-jerking) popcorn read, a rare achievement for epistolary historical fiction.

Most surprising about the novel’s lighthearted touch is that this charm endures despite “queerphobia” being a central theme. Set in 1970s California, the story is told through letters exchanged between Tammy Larson and Sharon Hawkins, both of whom are high school students at private Catholic schools that pair the two together for a pen pal project. Interspersed between the letters are the girls’ diary entries; for Tammy, these take the form of unsent letters addressed to Harvey Milk, the late gay rights activist and San Francisco city supervisor."

(Full review was published via The Daily Californian; link attached)

I haven't read anything by Robin Talley before (I do have a few of her books on my to-read list though), but this book converted me. It's a historical novel taking place during the queer rights movement. The novel hits on a lot of big/common themes to queer people living at the time, particularly young queer people.

Robin Talley *continues* to impress me. Music From Another World is an exploration of gay experience, identity politics, sexuality, identity, and religion set against the background of the 1977 fight for gay rights. Harvey Milk is extremely prominent and this book will work as either an introduction or a refresher on his importance for LGBTQ+ youth in our movement. Additionally, there is a wonderful discussion on the importance of gay pride parades as well as underground punk movements to the queer community. This book is powerful, well-researched, entertaining, and heartfelt. Robin Talley has written another winner.

this was a really good read, I enjoyed the two main characters and their romantic. It was a great read with realistic characters and I look forward to more from the author.

The Review
This book is unique in that it speaks of the fight for equality for the LGBT community in the ’70s, yet can easily speak to the struggles facing that very same community today. The battle against hatred and violence not only from the outside world but the people who are supposed to love you most is felt strongly throughout this novel from both protagonists and those in their lives.

Novels need to have an emotional component to a tale such as this, to keep the readers invested and to showcase the very real struggles facing the LGBT community, and the author does a fantastic job of creating a setting and characters that do just that. The conflicted feelings of identity, love, and friendship during this era that demonized anyone who didn’t fit into a specific box really drove the narrative forward, crafting a unique story that really speaks to the heart.

The Verdict
An emotional evenly paced read with an impactful cast of characters, author Robin Talley’s “Music From Another World” is a stellar read that captures a gripping era of social change and the fight it took to get there. The brutal struggle of being surrounded by religious-based hatred towards an entire group and fighting to understand themselves, the protagonists bring readers on a whirlwind journey that many can get behind. If you haven’t yet, grab your copy today!

This story is told entirely through letters and diary entries. I generally enjoy stories in this format, though some scenes are a bit more detailed than the average diary entry would be.

The primary relationships revolve around Tammy and Sharon and the letters they write to each other. Sharon also has her brother Peter and her mom, Tammy has her family, but her primary relationship for this story is with her aunt.

At the time the book starts, I was 6, so I don’t have a first hand memory of the events that take place surrounding Prop 6 in California, even though I was living in Southern California at the time. The other aspects of the book feel real and match my memories of the era.

Starting as stranger pen pals in different cities, Tammy and Sharon slowly become friends, then closer through their letters to each other. When they finally meet in person, there is definitely some tension, but their friendship is honest and close. The interactions feel real to me, and how I think I would have felt meeting a pen pal in person when I was 17, and before all of the modern technology today’s teens experience.

For me, Sharon felt like the lead character, though maybe that is because I identified with her a bit more. He has a great relationship with her brother, loves her mother even though she is keeping things from her, and questions a lot about what is right and wrong, not taking what she’s been taught at face value.

Sharon, while unsure about some aspects, embraces the movement for gay rights and supports her brother, who is gay, as well as Tammy. And even as she questions her own life and choices, volunteers to help with mailings and canvassing.

Tammy, on the other hand, has to hide everything about herself and feels completely separate and unwelcome in her own family. Her relationships are based more in fear than love. She is actually forced to work against the movement as her aunt is one of the driving forces against gay rights in the area.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and the look it gave us into the fight for gay rights in the 70’s.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book for a book tour through Net Galley on behalf of Inkyard Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an eARC of Music From Another World from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Music From Another World needs content warnings for extreme homophobia, extreme transphobia, main and side character outed without consent, underage smoking, underage drinking, bullying, a main character running away from home, and gaslighting.



The story is in epistolary format, which means that it is told via letters and diary entries.This may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it works really well for this story, especially because the reader gets to be a degree removed from the violence and erasure that is so deeply embedded in the world they live in.

Sharon and Tammy have very different personalities and probably would never have become friends if they’d known each other in real life, but the way they grew together and fell in love was beautifully organic for the world they lived in. I loved the way they both kind of found themselves through a love of punk music and through activism.



Tammy’s arc as she questioned her sexuality was really well done. Talley explored it through lived experience, learning from other people and by reading up on the topic – something that felt very familiar to me.

I also loved the small bit of justice that Sharon got at the end. It didn’t change the world, but it changed her world in a big way. I don’t think Music from Another World is something every reader will love, but it will captivate the readers searching for it. You can pick up a copy from Bookshop, Amazon or The Book Depository.


ABOUT MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD
Title: Music From Another World

Author: Robin Talley

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Length: 304 Pages

Release Date: March 31, 2020

Rating: Recommended

Genre: Historical Romance (1970s)

Representation: white lesbian MC, white bisexual MC, white gay side character, Black and Asian queer women as minor characters, white queer men as minor characters

Two young women in 1970's California become pen pals through their Christian high schools-- a project that is supposed to only last through the summer, but Tammy and Sharon become close friends, able to talk about things they can't tell anybody else. Tammy is in the closet, and so is Sharon's older brother. It's not an easy time to be gay, but Harvey Milk is proving to be an inspiration to LGBT teens across the country. Beautiful, historical, and empowering.

I struggle with how to rate or explain my feelings towards this book. Which is mostly because I started reading it in April while I was still somewhat burnt out from everything that is 2020 and then didn't read it or anything else for a full three months.

The two things I enjoyed the most about the novel, and are the reasons I recommend it if it sounds like your thing, are 1. the setting, which is in amidst the queer rights movement during the Harvey Milk era, and 2. is the representation of someone who assumed they were straight only because they hadn't thought about the possibility of being anything but, but through interactions with the queer community, second guesses that initial assumption and comes into their own queer identity. While it's not exactly how it worked for me, it's the closest to my journey that I've read.

I found that the epistolary format made the book very hard/slow to read, and I don't know if it's because it was all letters (my favourite book of all time is epistolary, but there are 1st person chapters thrown in throughout), or if it was how the letters bled into a very descriptive 1st person narrative, and therefore wasn't really either, but the writing style did not work for me.

My only other not-quite-qualm, more like mild disappointment, with the book, is that for how much the description espoused the San Francisco punk scene, I kind of wish there had been more of it? I loved the scenes that were in the book, but I would have been okay with at least 50 more pages to have fleshed it out a bit more.

All in all it made for a reading experience that for me was 'fine' but nothing special.