I received an ARC from NetGalley and Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars

I truly do not have the words to describe how utterly fantastic this book was. It just . . . wow. WOW. Wow a million times. I adored this book with my entire heart, and I want to go back and read it again from the start. I stayed up til three in the morning reading this, and had tears streaming down my face by the end. (good tears. despite the dark tone, this book is ultimately hopeful)

I don't even know where to start when it comes to reviewing this book. It was so rich with emotions, and so real, and so beautiful. It's not by any means a light or easy book to read: it deals very heavily with homophobia and religion. But the way it handles it is so, so thoughtful and powerful.

The writing was so compelling, I found myself sucked so completely into the story. I don't usually love epistolary novels, but it worked so well in this context, and it really gave the characters' voices a chance to shine through.

Speaking of the characters! They were absolutely wonderful. Each and every one of them was so fleshed out, and I just felt all the feels over them.

- Tammy: Tammy's character . . . holy fuck y'all. I loved seeing how she grew from this scared ashamed closeted gay kid to this really badass girl who was PROUD of her sexuality. It was such a hopeful storyline. And I absolutely loved how it showed her feeling so passionately that her identity wasn't wrong, but still being too scared to fight. It really showed the complexity of her character, and of the queer experience.

- Sharon: Sharon was . . . a complex character. I honestly really hated her at first, but as the book progressed I realized that was because I saw so much of myself in her. (catch me regretting admitting to that later hfghhjhkgfhg) She was incredibly flawed, but her flaws were't overlooked. And she grew into such an incredible person. Her journey from a slightly homophobic brat who made it all about her to a very self-aware person to realizing she was bi was just . . . so well done. I saw so much of my own experiences in her, especially the way she was drawn to the queer community even before realizing she was queer. (
- The side characters: the side characters were so wonderfully fleshed out! I especially loved Sharon's brother and the girls at the bookstore, but every single one of the side characters felt like a living breathing person, and it was masterful.

Overall? Read! this! book! It is such a gorgeous work of art, and I was absolutely entranced. Please do your eyeballs a favour and read it.

TWs: homophobia, internalized homophobia, death threats, brief mentions of anti-gay violence, outing, threat of outing, panic attack, sexual harassment, threat of conversion therapy ( )

It's 1977 and Tammy and Sharon, students from two different Christian schools are assigned as summer pen pals. Tammy lives in Southern California and Sharon lives in San Francisco, the hotbed of gay activism. Tammy is gay but can't come out because her uncle is a pastor and he and his wife are totally anti-gay. Sharon's brother is gay but he can't come out because his mother wouldn't understand.

Told in their pen pal letters to each other and their diary entries (Sharon) and never mailed letters to Harvey Milk (Tammy) these two girls who thought the other was totally different from themselves reveal how much they have in common. Tally, author of Pulp, recounts the atmosphere of the time bringing in gay rights activist Harvey Milk,anti-gay activist Anita Bryant and others to make her point.

Readers will love both Tammy and Sharon and understand the emotions they each have. I'll admit that the ending was a little too pat, but I didn't really mind because it was the ending I wanted. Talley is a top tier author and her books bring recent periods in our history to life (Pulp jumps between current day and the 1950s). Highly recommended. ( )