I haven’t read anything written by Jane Sanderson before reading Mix Tape - what have I been missing??
This is a book which grips you and holds you all the way through.
The Story begins in Sheffield with two teenagers, who both love their music and soon, each other and The girl, Alison has an horrendous home life with only her beloved older brother Peter to love her and look after her. Their father left years before and their mother is an alcoholic who will sleep with anyone for the price of a drink.
The boy she falls in love with - Daniel - has a loving home and Alison loves to be there with his family, especially his father who who realises how damaged Alison is and becomes someone she can just sit with and be peaceful
Daniel makes Alison her first mix tape of songs that mean something to them both
This is how the story starts, but a dreadful event in Alison’s life has her fleeing the country with her brother’s help.
Thirty years later, in Adelaide Australia where she now lives, Alison’s phone pings and one of their songs pops up, sent by Daniel, she sends one back and so starts a conversation made of music but no words to each other.
What follows will have you wanting to keep reading and ignore everything else. The characters are so realistic, the emotions so real and I can’t recommend this book more highly.

As soon as I read the synopsis for this book I knew it was for me and was happy to be accepted to read it. I truly loved this book. It took me right back to my teenage years where life was simple and music made things seem better.

Set in the past in Sheffield and the present in Scotland and Australia the book flows between the time periods seamlessly. From making a mix tape to using modern day technology and sending music via the Internet. To me this book was about the emotion, memories and bonds that come from music. The bonds that last over the years, over time and distance.

I found myself wanting to listen to the old songs mentioned and to make my own mix tape/playlist. I really didn’t want this book to end. It was beautiful and is up there among my favourites. It’s a book I’ll return to again and again and will most definitely recommend it to others.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion. And thank you to Jane Sanderson for taking me back to the music of my childhood.

A gentle flowing book that made me smile. As a lover of music myself I loved the fact that songs meant so much to the main characters and that’s how they conversed when apart. Well written and loved the differences between Sheffield and Adelaide the author researched well. A happy ending too

It was well written and it was a good story. But I have to say that I found the main characters irritating. And slightly unbelievable. I find it hard to believe that a couple - who had a brief relationship as children - would really throw everything else away to be together later in life. I find it hard to believe that such a deep love could really form in such a short time. I found the man to be particularly annoying - he was actually happy with his wife and with his life. They had a good life together. So for him to abandon everything at the first glimpse of his first love, just made me mad to be honest! But that's not to say that some people will find it a lovely romantic story!