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annaavian's review against another edition
3.0
2.5* rounded up
A nice coming of age story for the LGBTQ teen audiences. The epistolary format was nice at the beginning but later felt rather slow and unnecessary. I also would have appreciated more historical details in order to really feel the 70s vibe.
A nice coming of age story for the LGBTQ teen audiences. The epistolary format was nice at the beginning but later felt rather slow and unnecessary. I also would have appreciated more historical details in order to really feel the 70s vibe.
jugglingpup's review against another edition
3.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this book.
I keep reading Talley and thinking that things will go better. The issue is so far Talley and I have not clicked perfectly. I feel like one day we will, but today was not that day. The closest Talley and I came to clicking was the very first book I read by her that had so many trans issues.
This book did not have trans issues, but it had another large issue. If you read enough of my reviews you will see a trend. This is one of those things that comes up time and time again: dual narration. When it is pulled off, it is AMAZING. When it isn’t, it can sink a book. Talley was not able to pull it off in this one. I could not tell the girls apart. This hindered any shipping I could do and it made the story feel super slow and bogged down.
I LOVE slow burn romance that takes place solely through letters and texts. You would think that this would be for me, but it wasn’t. I just didn’t see how the girls fell in love. Was it because they were the only ones that they felt they could be honest with? Like I can understand that emotional intimacy can be difficult to distinguish from romantic love, but that was it. There was no other reason that I could see that they were into each other. They met out of nowhere and then were awkward (but then later in the book, it said that they couldn’t remember a time when they had been awkward which just further took me out of the book). The whole in person romance was just rushed and felt incredibly fake.
The religious abuse just felt over the top and annoying, which is pretty great. The people they were facing were caricatures. Anita Bryant would have been proud. So while I didn’t enjoy the plot, I have to say that it was handled pretty well.
I am getting real tired of queer stories being sad and miserable. I understand this is historical fiction, but come on. I didn’t need or want to sit through hundreds of pages of angst about coming out and being kicked out. There are already so many terrible fates for queer people written, I need happy stories. Bad things can happen, but when the bad things dominate the story I sort of check out now especially when the emotions aren’t coming through the writing in a way that actually makes me care that these things are happening.
One day Talley is going to write the perfect book for me. I can feel it. Once we get on the same wavelength there will be nothing stronger than that connection. We just haven’t gotten there yet.
I got an ARC of this book.
I keep reading Talley and thinking that things will go better. The issue is so far Talley and I have not clicked perfectly. I feel like one day we will, but today was not that day. The closest Talley and I came to clicking was the very first book I read by her that had so many trans issues.
This book did not have trans issues, but it had another large issue. If you read enough of my reviews you will see a trend. This is one of those things that comes up time and time again: dual narration. When it is pulled off, it is AMAZING. When it isn’t, it can sink a book. Talley was not able to pull it off in this one. I could not tell the girls apart. This hindered any shipping I could do and it made the story feel super slow and bogged down.
I LOVE slow burn romance that takes place solely through letters and texts. You would think that this would be for me, but it wasn’t. I just didn’t see how the girls fell in love. Was it because they were the only ones that they felt they could be honest with? Like I can understand that emotional intimacy can be difficult to distinguish from romantic love, but that was it. There was no other reason that I could see that they were into each other. They met out of nowhere and then were awkward (but then later in the book, it said that they couldn’t remember a time when they had been awkward which just further took me out of the book). The whole in person romance was just rushed and felt incredibly fake.
The religious abuse just felt over the top and annoying, which is pretty great. The people they were facing were caricatures. Anita Bryant would have been proud. So while I didn’t enjoy the plot, I have to say that it was handled pretty well.
I am getting real tired of queer stories being sad and miserable. I understand this is historical fiction, but come on. I didn’t need or want to sit through hundreds of pages of angst about coming out and being kicked out. There are already so many terrible fates for queer people written, I need happy stories. Bad things can happen, but when the bad things dominate the story I sort of check out now especially when the emotions aren’t coming through the writing in a way that actually makes me care that these things are happening.
One day Talley is going to write the perfect book for me. I can feel it. Once we get on the same wavelength there will be nothing stronger than that connection. We just haven’t gotten there yet.
haileyannereads's review against another edition
5.0
THIS BOOK. I don't even know where to begin. I loved the message, the character development, everything. I learned more about this era and the movement. I can see it being very relatable to a lot of people. I just loved it so much and will be talking about how amazing it is forever and ever.
***Now that it's been a few months and I'm comfortable saying this, I just wanted to come back and edit my review to add that this book helped me realize that I'm not straight and it holds a special place in my heart.
UPDATE: Just reread, 3 years later and still such an amazing book and it still holds a special place in my heart.
***Now that it's been a few months and I'm comfortable saying this, I just wanted to come back and edit my review to add that this book helped me realize that I'm not straight and it holds a special place in my heart.
UPDATE: Just reread, 3 years later and still such an amazing book and it still holds a special place in my heart.
alisares72's review
5.0
Ok, I LOVED this book. I read it in 3 days and it flew by so quickly. I loved the historical setting, all of the characters were there with a purpose (opposed to just being plot points), and the pacing was perfect. I always hate when a romance is either too drawn out or too sudden, but the way the romance was done here was just right. The plot was interesting the whole time, and I loved the intimate mode of using the girls' diary entries and letters to convey the story.
This book is an important WLW story that I recommend to everyone.
This book is an important WLW story that I recommend to everyone.
katrinaschaffede's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Too drawn out as a romance novel it kind of needs some better ending.
moonbites's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this story! There were some historical elements in here that really taught me more about the 70s Gay rights movement in California. This was a great story about friendship, acceptance, and learning more about yourself. I am also a big fan of seeing religion and queer intersectionality in books, so this was right up my alley. I think it was handled very well, especially considering the time period, however religion was handled a little more antagonistically.
The only gripe I had with this is the way it was written. It was told through letters from one MC to another but really didn’t feel like any letter I would write. Instead, it felt more like a first person narrative. This would throw me off now and then. Other than that I was thoroughly engaged and finished this in a single day.
The only gripe I had with this is the way it was written. It was told through letters from one MC to another but really didn’t feel like any letter I would write. Instead, it felt more like a first person narrative. This would throw me off now and then. Other than that I was thoroughly engaged and finished this in a single day.
dammit_jen's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
raeanne's review against another edition
5.0
I received this book for free from Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Heyyyy ya'll! Today I'm reviewing and pulling quotes from Music From Another World by Robin Talley. It's a not to historical w/w YA following two pen pal teens starting in the summer of 1977. That year Jimmy Carter is sworn in as president, Roots runs on NBC, the first Star Wars was released in theaters, and Anita Bryant campaigns to repeal the newly passed ordinance to ban discrimination against gays in Dade County, FL.
Music From Another World follows two girls in two vastly different families and communities as they come of age in the summer of Harvey Milk in California.
I really appreciate that each journal entry begins and ends differently so you can easily track who's who in the beginning and just get into the flow easier.
The romance is the slowest burn of friends to lovers and it's all very chaste.
Tammy and Sharon and Peter and the feminist bookshop crew and the punk clubs are all so amazing. I was swept up with them and finished this so quickly. My heart was in my throat for the last quarter of the book, I swear.
I love Talley's acknowledgements about how this book came to be. This feels so right and important at the moment, to show it's always been a fight of ups and downs, illustrating truly how far we've come and rejuvenating for the next battle.
The talk of how unfathomable it was then that mom could love her gay son wrecked me.
This review was originally posted on The Layaway Dragon
About Music from Another World:
IMHO: Music from Another World
Music From Another World follows two girls in two vastly different families and communities as they come of age in the summer of Harvey Milk in California.
I really appreciate that each journal entry begins and ends differently so you can easily track who's who in the beginning and just get into the flow easier.
The romance is the slowest burn of friends to lovers and it's all very chaste.
Tammy and Sharon and Peter and the feminist bookshop crew and the punk clubs are all so amazing. I was swept up with them and finished this so quickly. My heart was in my throat for the last quarter of the book, I swear.
I love Talley's acknowledgements about how this book came to be. This feels so right and important at the moment, to show it's always been a fight of ups and downs, illustrating truly how far we've come and rejuvenating for the next battle.
The talk of how unfathomable it was then that mom could love her gay son wrecked me.
This is the first book I've actually read by Talley, though several are on my virtual and literal to be read shelves. I'm now more motivated than ever to tackle her backlist.
FAv Quotes from Music From Another World:
I'd feel wrong calling you "Mr.Milk."
I was already worried enough about him without having to worry about how worried she was.
When the newspapers printed that the big hero who'd stopped the assassinations attempt was gay, his parents disowned him. He sued the papers for ruining his life.
But if this Curtis boy could make my brother smile that way...well, I didn't see how that could be a bad thing, whether or not it matched up with what my teachers said.
There are few things that terrify me more than my aunt being happy, Harvey.
It was the same energy I'd felt the night of the march. The sounds and smells and sensations of the club crawled inside my veins, exactly the way the chants had from the crowd that night.
And as I turned my back, pushed my way through the thrumming crowd and walked out into the nighttime chill, there was a buzz of pleasant, unfamiliar hope thrumming under my skin, too.
It's as though Patti Smith lives in a different world, and it's a scary world, but it's also realin in a way that this world isn't.
About the Author [NAME]:
Tour Schedule:
This review was originally posted on The Layaway Dragon
novelesque_life's review against another edition
4.0
RATING: 4 STARS
2020; Inkyard Press
I loved the cover art of Music from Another World. Most of Robin Talley's novels have gorgeous covers so it makes me want to read them all. Two young teens in California, in the late 1970s are stuck between faith of their family and expressing who they are and being happy. Sharon lives in San Fransisco with her single mother and older brother. Tammy is from Orange County, and lives with her large extended family. The two are matched for a pen pal project through their separate religious schools. This project is to help them learn about one another and their faith and family.
Tammy is from a highly religious family, where her uncle is a pastor. Her aunt, the pastor's wife, is looking for fame and fortune and finds it through having her family fight against the "militant" homosexuals. Little does the aunt know that Tammy is a lesbian. She needs to keep her sexual orientation a secret so writes her secrets and thoughts to Harvey Milk in a diary. Sharon mother also believes homosexuality is a sin. Sharon and Peter must keep Peter's sexual orientation a secret as well. When Anita Bryant has a big win in Florida, Tammy's aunt and uncle rev up their "cause" to get more donations and air time. Tammy's aunt is looking to be like Bryant, and not just helping the cause. Peter starts to attend the protests, as does Sharon. As everyone in California is starting to take sides and come "out" for the cause, Tammy and Sharon start to wonder what is important to them.
I feel like this is a book that Judy Blume could have written...it feels like her novels, Forever and Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, but a bit more modern. It is well written and researched. You can sense the time and all that was going on at that time. Yet Tammy and Sharon's concerns could be in any decade. I think that is is an important novel for teens but also adults - parents or not.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***
2020; Inkyard Press
I loved the cover art of Music from Another World. Most of Robin Talley's novels have gorgeous covers so it makes me want to read them all. Two young teens in California, in the late 1970s are stuck between faith of their family and expressing who they are and being happy. Sharon lives in San Fransisco with her single mother and older brother. Tammy is from Orange County, and lives with her large extended family. The two are matched for a pen pal project through their separate religious schools. This project is to help them learn about one another and their faith and family.
Tammy is from a highly religious family, where her uncle is a pastor. Her aunt, the pastor's wife, is looking for fame and fortune and finds it through having her family fight against the "militant" homosexuals. Little does the aunt know that Tammy is a lesbian. She needs to keep her sexual orientation a secret so writes her secrets and thoughts to Harvey Milk in a diary. Sharon mother also believes homosexuality is a sin. Sharon and Peter must keep Peter's sexual orientation a secret as well. When Anita Bryant has a big win in Florida, Tammy's aunt and uncle rev up their "cause" to get more donations and air time. Tammy's aunt is looking to be like Bryant, and not just helping the cause. Peter starts to attend the protests, as does Sharon. As everyone in California is starting to take sides and come "out" for the cause, Tammy and Sharon start to wonder what is important to them.
I feel like this is a book that Judy Blume could have written...it feels like her novels, Forever and Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, but a bit more modern. It is well written and researched. You can sense the time and all that was going on at that time. Yet Tammy and Sharon's concerns could be in any decade. I think that is is an important novel for teens but also adults - parents or not.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***