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Mix Tape
'This grown-up love story is gorgeously written and romantic without being sentimental' Good Housekeeping'This tender tale of second chances... is a nostalgic delight' Sunday MirrorYou never forget the one that got away. Daniel was the first boy to make Alison a mix tape.But that was years ago and Ali hasn't thought about him in a very long time. Even if she had, she might not have called him 'the one that got away'; after all, she'd been the one to run.Then Dan's name pops up on her phone, with a link to a song from their shared past.For two blissful minutes, Alison is no longer an adult in Adelaide with temperamental daughters; she is sixteen in Sheffield, dancing in her skin-tight jeans. She cannot help but respond in kind.And so begins a new mix tape.Ali and Dan exchange songs - some new, some old - across oceans and time zones, across a lifetime of different experiences, until one of them breaks the rules and sends a message that will change everything...__________Readers have fallen in love with Mix Tape!'I laughed, I cried, I listened to the music. I wanted to know the characters in real life.' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This book is beautiful. The writing is so emotive and evocative.' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I LOVED this book - the music in it brought back so many memories from my teenage years.' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Mix Tape is is my idea of story heaven. I loved it. Really loved it. I'm telling everyone I know about it.' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'What a wonderful book! Tenderly written and with characters that are so different but all make their own mark.' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
411 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 23, 2020
476 people are currently reading
6115 people want to read
About the author
Jane Sanderson
7 books118 followersJane Sanderson was born in South Yorkshire in 1962. She studied English at Leicester University, then after graduating she became a journalist. After a series of jobs with local newspapers she joined the BBC where she worked as a producer for Radio 4, first on the World at One, and then on Woman's Hour. She lives with her husband, the Independent journalist and author Brian Viner, and their three children in rural Herefordshire.
Jane's first novel, Netherwood, is published by Sphere. She is now working on the sequel, Ravenscliffe, to be published in 2012.
Jane's first novel, Netherwood, is published by Sphere. She is now working on the sequel, Ravenscliffe, to be published in 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 618 reviews
April 25, 2020
Daniel is a Sheffield lad, lifelong Sheffield Wednesday fan and very much into his music. We first meet him in 1978 at his mate’s Christmas party - packed terrace house, cheap booze and Blondie and Elvis Costello blaring from the stereo. He’s with his new girlfriend Alison, sixteen, to his eighteen - she takes her music seriously too, wants to go to uni and become a writer. Alison has a troubled home life which she doesn’t like to talk about. It’s their first proper date and their first proper relationship. They spend the night together under coats in the spare bedroom.
Thirty three years later Alison and Daniel live on different sides of the world. They have settled down, both have families, friends and successful careers. Daniel a music journalist, Alison an author.
By chance, Daniel stumbles on Alison’s name on social media. Unable to find the right words, he sends her a link to a song, a song that meant a lot to them both back in 1978 .......
Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson is a book about relationships, awkward moral dilemmas and music - about a first love, so intense that echoes reverberate up through the years and about how certain songs create little bridges of memory, taking us back to the past, to people and places, to aching sadness and euphoria.
The story switches back and forth in time and explores the excitement and pain of youth and the people we become in later life, looking back over our lives, worrying over ‘what ifs’ and missed opportunities.
Although the book is about a relationship the writing is never cringy, cloying or sentimental and the descriptions of 1978/79 Britain with its red brick terraces, pubs, chippies, footie, homing pigeons, shepherds pie and wonderful music are spot on.
The cultural references and ‘feel’ of the period are also authentic - I’m the same age as Daniel and experienced several shivers of recognition :)
The songs mentioned throughout are subtle and well chosen - there’s even a playlist on Spotify to accompany the novel which is a lovely touch.
Mix Tape is realistically written and very moving. Much recommended!
Thirty three years later Alison and Daniel live on different sides of the world. They have settled down, both have families, friends and successful careers. Daniel a music journalist, Alison an author.
By chance, Daniel stumbles on Alison’s name on social media. Unable to find the right words, he sends her a link to a song, a song that meant a lot to them both back in 1978 .......
Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson is a book about relationships, awkward moral dilemmas and music - about a first love, so intense that echoes reverberate up through the years and about how certain songs create little bridges of memory, taking us back to the past, to people and places, to aching sadness and euphoria.
The story switches back and forth in time and explores the excitement and pain of youth and the people we become in later life, looking back over our lives, worrying over ‘what ifs’ and missed opportunities.
Although the book is about a relationship the writing is never cringy, cloying or sentimental and the descriptions of 1978/79 Britain with its red brick terraces, pubs, chippies, footie, homing pigeons, shepherds pie and wonderful music are spot on.
The cultural references and ‘feel’ of the period are also authentic - I’m the same age as Daniel and experienced several shivers of recognition :)
The songs mentioned throughout are subtle and well chosen - there’s even a playlist on Spotify to accompany the novel which is a lovely touch.
Mix Tape is realistically written and very moving. Much recommended!
September 8, 2019
Jane Sanderson's novel is a huge nostalgia fest of a read with its central theme of how fundamentally music connects us to other people and so effectively evokes an era, personal histories, and past memories as if they happened just yesterday. Mix Tape succeeds in bringing back my past, of how I too made mix tapes to share with close friends, and some of them also made their own particular mixes. This novel takes the reader back to the late 1970s and the music I adored back then. Those mix tapes quintessentially captured an essential essence of who I and my friends were, with our differently flavoured collections of music, taking us back to what we were experiencing then and the intense feelings and emotions, and I still have many of those tapes. It is not surprising that this book resonated in so many ways for me.
In the present, it is 2012, and middle aged music journalist, Daniel Lawrence and novelist, Alison Connor live respectively in Edinburgh and Adelaide, Australia. Each is married, with their separate families, then Daniel sends a song via Twitter to Ali that immediately immerses her back to their shared past as teenagers. In 1978 in Sheffield, Dan and Ali got together with their love of music, but Ali had secrets, trauma and tragedy that cause her to disappear completely from Dan's life. She goes on to move to Australia with her partner, Michael, whilst Dan settles with Katelin in the beautiful historical city of Edinburgh. However, both feel a sense of vague dissatisfaction and an air of something missing in the lives they are living, and neither has forgotten the other. In a narrative that moves from the past and the present, with Dan and Ali's love be reawakened? Will they survive a path littered with obstacles and challenges to find each other again, and what will it cost each of them?
Sanderson gives us a great sense of varied locations and time in this well written story of love, friendship, family, rape, alcoholism, being a parent, and the integral theme of the power of music, I found myself getting engaged with Dan and Ali and their life stories. There is some unevenness in the novel, and it did inspire occasional feelings of unease, but overall its a great read. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.
In the present, it is 2012, and middle aged music journalist, Daniel Lawrence and novelist, Alison Connor live respectively in Edinburgh and Adelaide, Australia. Each is married, with their separate families, then Daniel sends a song via Twitter to Ali that immediately immerses her back to their shared past as teenagers. In 1978 in Sheffield, Dan and Ali got together with their love of music, but Ali had secrets, trauma and tragedy that cause her to disappear completely from Dan's life. She goes on to move to Australia with her partner, Michael, whilst Dan settles with Katelin in the beautiful historical city of Edinburgh. However, both feel a sense of vague dissatisfaction and an air of something missing in the lives they are living, and neither has forgotten the other. In a narrative that moves from the past and the present, with Dan and Ali's love be reawakened? Will they survive a path littered with obstacles and challenges to find each other again, and what will it cost each of them?
Sanderson gives us a great sense of varied locations and time in this well written story of love, friendship, family, rape, alcoholism, being a parent, and the integral theme of the power of music, I found myself getting engaged with Dan and Ali and their life stories. There is some unevenness in the novel, and it did inspire occasional feelings of unease, but overall its a great read. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.
January 23, 2020
This is the story of the love between Daniel Lawrence and Alison Connor who meet in Sheffield in 1978 aged 18 and 16 respectively and their later lives with their partners from 2012. They are united when they first get together by a love of music, in fact Dan goes on to be a music journalist. Alison leaves Sheffield suddenly a few months after meeting Dan, meets Michael in Spain and marries him, setting with him in Australia. She becomes a successful novelist. Dan meets Katelin in South America and they settle in Edinburgh.
Initially this story did not grab me as I found the switches of time from 1978 to 2012 did not flow well in the first part of the book, it felt a bit ‘clunky’. However, this story is a bit of a slow burner and I feel it got better and better as it went along. I really like the music references- Elvis Costello, Blondie, Buzzcocks and Human League, a Sheffield band. In fact, I admit to rather fancying Phil Oakley 😂! Dan makes a mix tape of music for Alison, hence the title! I like the depiction of the ‘70’s period the good and the bad, this is much prejudice as one of the unpleasant characters Martin clearly demonstrates. One of the sections I like the most is when Alison and Dan go to Hillsborough to watch Sheffield Wednesday play Arsenal which is famous for the fans throwing snowballs at Pat Jennings (Arsenal and NI goalie- huge hands- one of very few goalies who score a goal!). This is a very vivid scene and well described. I think the ‘70’s scenes work better than the later ones but that could partly be due to my dislike of Michael, Ali’s husband. His character is well portrayed but he is very arrogant, partrician, snobbish and domineering and around him Ali is almost obedient and certainly concedes to most of his wishes.
The settings are really good too. I joined Dan walking through glorious Edinburgh and wished I was in the Cessna with Ali and her daughter as they flew over a stunningly beautiful Australia. The houseboats in Little Venice is a nice setting too.
There are some lovely characters and a special mention should go to Beatriz, Sheila and Dora in Australia who are so kind to Ali and Stella - Ali’s daughter. Alison’s brother Pete is also a really nice character who always put Alison first, party because their mother is an alcoholic. Dan’s father is a delightful character too who develops a lovely bond with Alison who shows interest in his passion for racing pigeons. In London, Lisa and Frank the two aging hippies who are so kind to Dan, are especially likeable.
Overall, a really good read. The love and bond between Dan /Alison and Alison/Pete is heart warming. There is a lump in the throat scene where Pete and Alison meet up again after many years apart. I like the theme as music does so much that is positive and can transport you to a different time, place and a younger you! It evokes moments, memories and unites people in a shared love of a genre or group.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC.
Initially this story did not grab me as I found the switches of time from 1978 to 2012 did not flow well in the first part of the book, it felt a bit ‘clunky’. However, this story is a bit of a slow burner and I feel it got better and better as it went along. I really like the music references- Elvis Costello, Blondie, Buzzcocks and Human League, a Sheffield band. In fact, I admit to rather fancying Phil Oakley 😂! Dan makes a mix tape of music for Alison, hence the title! I like the depiction of the ‘70’s period the good and the bad, this is much prejudice as one of the unpleasant characters Martin clearly demonstrates. One of the sections I like the most is when Alison and Dan go to Hillsborough to watch Sheffield Wednesday play Arsenal which is famous for the fans throwing snowballs at Pat Jennings (Arsenal and NI goalie- huge hands- one of very few goalies who score a goal!). This is a very vivid scene and well described. I think the ‘70’s scenes work better than the later ones but that could partly be due to my dislike of Michael, Ali’s husband. His character is well portrayed but he is very arrogant, partrician, snobbish and domineering and around him Ali is almost obedient and certainly concedes to most of his wishes.
The settings are really good too. I joined Dan walking through glorious Edinburgh and wished I was in the Cessna with Ali and her daughter as they flew over a stunningly beautiful Australia. The houseboats in Little Venice is a nice setting too.
There are some lovely characters and a special mention should go to Beatriz, Sheila and Dora in Australia who are so kind to Ali and Stella - Ali’s daughter. Alison’s brother Pete is also a really nice character who always put Alison first, party because their mother is an alcoholic. Dan’s father is a delightful character too who develops a lovely bond with Alison who shows interest in his passion for racing pigeons. In London, Lisa and Frank the two aging hippies who are so kind to Dan, are especially likeable.
Overall, a really good read. The love and bond between Dan /Alison and Alison/Pete is heart warming. There is a lump in the throat scene where Pete and Alison meet up again after many years apart. I like the theme as music does so much that is positive and can transport you to a different time, place and a younger you! It evokes moments, memories and unites people in a shared love of a genre or group.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC.
January 18, 2020
I loved the premise of this book, late 70’s/early 80’s and mix tapes ( you had to be there ) and Daniel and Alison ‘refinding’ each other after many years
In practice it was long, drawn out, repetitive and indulgent of their previous lives and I felt sorry for their now ( pretty decent, non horrifying ) life partners and families who suddenly are thrown into this pairs revisited teenage love!
I DID love the retro parts, the feel and atmosphere of that era was brilliantly voiced and the fact that Daniel built a career in music meant this carried on into his present life but anchored back to the days of Echo and The Bunnymen and their ( to me ) wonderful co decade groups/singers
Pair of them though were unlikeable
in the main, Alison now a world famous author who regrets her success ( sigh ) and wants to give all her money away to those in need ( you get the picture ) and Daniel was wishy washy and child like throughout, neither had any allure
to me as a reader and found them selfish
I could go on but little point, wasn’t for me at all but lots will probably love it ( great descriptions of Australia and Sheffield give the book an extra point )
4/10
2 Stars
March 13, 2020
A wonderful and nostalgic experience of love, loss, fear & acceptance - all enveloped by music.
Dan and Alison's story is a difficult one. Separated in two timelines over 30 years apart we first meet them in the beautiful rock'n roll haze of the late 70's. In the basement of Kev's house, the impossibly beautiful and mysterious Alison captivates the cool and popular Dan. Their connection is undeniable, and this is written with such a gentle and careful style that it's inconceivable not to feel like a spectator to their rebel youth and young love.
However, life has other plans for the couple. Alison comes from the other side of the tracks and the harsh realities of her life will catch up with her eventually. It's heartbreaking and infuriating, sad and appalling, but in order to be free Alison needed to run away.
We first catch up with them many years later when they are both married and fully established in their careers. Dan works with new talents, Alison is a renowned author living in Australia. Through Twitter they find each other again and begin communicating in the best form that they know: sharing links to songs and building together a carefully composed playlist.
Their journey to be together again is painful. They both are married, they both have families, but sometimes, love is just stronger...
My only issue with Mix Tape was the pacing, I loved the characters, but the middle dragged a bit.
But the overall experience is a lovely trip down memory lane, a nostalgia-fest of good music, good vibes and a heartfelt romance that stood the test of time.
Trigger warnings:
PS: I would love to see the complete list of songs at the end of the book.
Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Random House UK, and Jane Sanderson for sending me an ARC of Mic Tape in exchange for an honest review.
Dan and Alison's story is a difficult one. Separated in two timelines over 30 years apart we first meet them in the beautiful rock'n roll haze of the late 70's. In the basement of Kev's house, the impossibly beautiful and mysterious Alison captivates the cool and popular Dan. Their connection is undeniable, and this is written with such a gentle and careful style that it's inconceivable not to feel like a spectator to their rebel youth and young love.
However, life has other plans for the couple. Alison comes from the other side of the tracks and the harsh realities of her life will catch up with her eventually. It's heartbreaking and infuriating, sad and appalling, but in order to be free Alison needed to run away.
We first catch up with them many years later when they are both married and fully established in their careers. Dan works with new talents, Alison is a renowned author living in Australia. Through Twitter they find each other again and begin communicating in the best form that they know: sharing links to songs and building together a carefully composed playlist.
Their journey to be together again is painful. They both are married, they both have families, but sometimes, love is just stronger...
My only issue with Mix Tape was the pacing, I loved the characters, but the middle dragged a bit.
But the overall experience is a lovely trip down memory lane, a nostalgia-fest of good music, good vibes and a heartfelt romance that stood the test of time.
Trigger warnings:
PS: I would love to see the complete list of songs at the end of the book.
Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Random House UK, and Jane Sanderson for sending me an ARC of Mic Tape in exchange for an honest review.
December 4, 2019
Oh, this had potential, but I ended up severely disappointed. Some stars for a believable love story, real emotion and a lovely concept about communicating through songs.
BUT, this story had a massive deal breaker for me. There is always an acceptable and adult way of going about reconnecting and choosing your first love even after decades of living the rest of your life. Once Daniel and Alison made their decisions, I couldn't stay with this. I finished it, but I wasn't happy. The protagonists were no longer protagonists for me.
The ending felt a bit rushed after a painfully slow story unfolding. A lot of authors just can't seem to get this balance down right. Slow burns are okay, but we deserve an equally impactful ending as well. I didn't feel like anyone was happy in the end - I was barely convinced of Dan and Ali's happiness. Everyone was on edge - this story needed to go on longer to give at least some of the main characters some resolution. We deserved to have at least some of our questions answered after sticking through this whole ordeal.
BUT, this story had a massive deal breaker for me. There is always an acceptable and adult way of going about reconnecting and choosing your first love even after decades of living the rest of your life. Once Daniel and Alison made their decisions, I couldn't stay with this. I finished it, but I wasn't happy. The protagonists were no longer protagonists for me.
The ending felt a bit rushed after a painfully slow story unfolding. A lot of authors just can't seem to get this balance down right. Slow burns are okay, but we deserve an equally impactful ending as well. I didn't feel like anyone was happy in the end - I was barely convinced of Dan and Ali's happiness. Everyone was on edge - this story needed to go on longer to give at least some of the main characters some resolution. We deserved to have at least some of our questions answered after sticking through this whole ordeal.
April 15, 2020
2 Stars
Trigger Warning: Alcohol Abuse, Attempted Suicide, Homophobia
O.W.L.S - Career Auror
Herbology - Book that starts with M
I don’t even know how this happened. It started off so well, I was honestly having so much fun going between past and present and learning about the lives of Daniel and Alison. I was thinking to myself this is going to be a 4 star read this is great and then disaster hit.
The basis of this book is following two different characters in the past and present and they are Alison and Daniel/Ali and Dan however you want to put it. It starts with them being young and at the start of a cute little romance while one was 18 and one was 16 (If I remember correctly) I genuinely didn't know what to think to think going into this, there were a lot of unnecessary full names thrown out from the start of characters that we never saw again, but I was like right okay. ANYWAY we see what Alison and Daniel were like and what they are now in their respective relationships with their new partners and children in their family lives.
It then proceeds to them then messaging each other songs on twitter, not really talking but just sending songs and I was like right okay... but then I can't really tell you what happened because it makes zero sense. Well okay... maybe? But not really. The marriages begin to breakdown for whatever reason. Apparently Daniels partner doesn't like the things he does (it would appear music) and is controlling and they don't have fun and Alison has lost her "spark".
I want to start off with the things I liked about this because there are some things I genuinely liked and want to praise. I think the relationship between Alison and Peter and that whole story arc was very well executed. It has two very difficult aspects within this, and I genuinely felt for the characters and that pure sibling love. There was then Alison and her daughter Stella and what happened with that and I loved how Alison reacted and respected her daughter in comparison to other characters who felt entitled to butt in their own opinion.
I think the thing that has completely thrown me for a loop in this was the meeting and the total disregard for their families and what followed. I think one of the things that truly wound me up was that Daniel was going to leave his partner, but then was told "no" he then went back to her waited TWO DAYS to tell her what had happened, and then was just like yeah I'll just stay... THEN UPPED AND LEFT... AGAIN! If that isn't selfish, I don't know what is.
What I couldn’t understand is that both of the opposite partners were made out to be something that they actually weren’t in particular Michael. You could see from pretty early on that he loved and cared for Alison but then when something happened he turned very very nasty and was even homophobic and it just put a sour taste it my mouth.
I think what made me even angrier was how Alison and Daniel reacted and how it all went from one thing to another. They haven’t seen each other in roughly 30 years and to be like that I was just left thinking this isn’t something that would actually happen. When I think about this, when we get the flashbacks, yes it was nice and super sweet, but it didn't feel like the "all consuming love" it was made out to be.
If the author wanted me to “root for them” then I absolutely did not, they were selfish and didn’t really think about their actions. By the time all this happened and I was left reeling with anger I was SO close to putting this as a DNF, but I only had 80 pages left and as much as I hate to admit it, I wanted to see if anything would happen with Peter.
Overall this started off great, I genuinely think it had a lot of potential, but the execution of things... no thank you. Even after all of the rant I am kind of happy that I finished for the ending but it's hard because I went from such a high of loving this, to literally the last portion of it just rage reading. This is just my opinion and this is the first time I've read something with this storyline so clearly it's not for me. I think if things had been handled better my rating would be a lot higher but sadly I can't justify it.
Trigger Warning: Alcohol Abuse, Attempted Suicide, Homophobia
O.W.L.S - Career Auror
Herbology - Book that starts with M
I don’t even know how this happened. It started off so well, I was honestly having so much fun going between past and present and learning about the lives of Daniel and Alison. I was thinking to myself this is going to be a 4 star read this is great and then disaster hit.
The basis of this book is following two different characters in the past and present and they are Alison and Daniel/Ali and Dan however you want to put it. It starts with them being young and at the start of a cute little romance while one was 18 and one was 16 (If I remember correctly) I genuinely didn't know what to think to think going into this, there were a lot of unnecessary full names thrown out from the start of characters that we never saw again, but I was like right okay. ANYWAY we see what Alison and Daniel were like and what they are now in their respective relationships with their new partners and children in their family lives.
It then proceeds to them then messaging each other songs on twitter, not really talking but just sending songs and I was like right okay... but then I can't really tell you what happened because it makes zero sense. Well okay... maybe? But not really. The marriages begin to breakdown for whatever reason. Apparently Daniels partner doesn't like the things he does (it would appear music) and is controlling and they don't have fun and Alison has lost her "spark".
I want to start off with the things I liked about this because there are some things I genuinely liked and want to praise. I think the relationship between Alison and Peter and that whole story arc was very well executed. It has two very difficult aspects within this, and I genuinely felt for the characters and that pure sibling love. There was then Alison and her daughter Stella and what happened with that and I loved how Alison reacted and respected her daughter in comparison to other characters who felt entitled to butt in their own opinion.
I think the thing that has completely thrown me for a loop in this was the meeting and the total disregard for their families and what followed. I think one of the things that truly wound me up was that Daniel was going to leave his partner, but then was told "no" he then went back to her waited TWO DAYS to tell her what had happened, and then was just like yeah I'll just stay... THEN UPPED AND LEFT... AGAIN! If that isn't selfish, I don't know what is.
What I couldn’t understand is that both of the opposite partners were made out to be something that they actually weren’t in particular Michael. You could see from pretty early on that he loved and cared for Alison but then when something happened he turned very very nasty and was even homophobic and it just put a sour taste it my mouth.
I think what made me even angrier was how Alison and Daniel reacted and how it all went from one thing to another. They haven’t seen each other in roughly 30 years and to be like that I was just left thinking this isn’t something that would actually happen. When I think about this, when we get the flashbacks, yes it was nice and super sweet, but it didn't feel like the "all consuming love" it was made out to be.
If the author wanted me to “root for them” then I absolutely did not, they were selfish and didn’t really think about their actions. By the time all this happened and I was left reeling with anger I was SO close to putting this as a DNF, but I only had 80 pages left and as much as I hate to admit it, I wanted to see if anything would happen with Peter.
Overall this started off great, I genuinely think it had a lot of potential, but the execution of things... no thank you. Even after all of the rant I am kind of happy that I finished for the ending but it's hard because I went from such a high of loving this, to literally the last portion of it just rage reading. This is just my opinion and this is the first time I've read something with this storyline so clearly it's not for me. I think if things had been handled better my rating would be a lot higher but sadly I can't justify it.
August 21, 2019
I absolutely loved this one.
It's a second chance story at its heart, but not an easy path. I got the feels but it was challenging too.
Ali and Dan met as teenagers in late 1970s Sheffield then lose touch. Thirty years later they reconnect through their shared love of music. As times have changed, twitter and spotify have replaced the function of the custom mix tape, but its purpose still holds true.
It started a little slow, but it gradually grew into a beautifully poignant story. What I loved though was that while I wallowed in the romance and the feels, their story felt authentic and their issues hit home. I was engrossed in this and found it difficult to let go of the characters and the story when I wasn't reading it.
The style reminded me of a Nick Hornby, especially the evocative music and cultural references that were so completely apt in this.
Standalone, complete story. Highly recommended, quality, thought provoking read.
Thanks to the publishers via netgalley for my arc.
It's a second chance story at its heart, but not an easy path. I got the feels but it was challenging too.
Ali and Dan met as teenagers in late 1970s Sheffield then lose touch. Thirty years later they reconnect through their shared love of music. As times have changed, twitter and spotify have replaced the function of the custom mix tape, but its purpose still holds true.
It started a little slow, but it gradually grew into a beautifully poignant story. What I loved though was that while I wallowed in the romance and the feels, their story felt authentic and their issues hit home. I was engrossed in this and found it difficult to let go of the characters and the story when I wasn't reading it.
The style reminded me of a Nick Hornby, especially the evocative music and cultural references that were so completely apt in this.
Standalone, complete story. Highly recommended, quality, thought provoking read.
Thanks to the publishers via netgalley for my arc.
September 9, 2019
I have mixed feelings about this book by Jane Harper. I loved the premise of the story with Allison and Dan and Dan instead of telling her of his feelings he makes Allison a mixtape to show her how he feels. Also, the relationship that she has with his parents, it was kind of sweet. Then twenty years later he sends links to songs that they once listened together was different to anything that I have read. They still had things in common.
Even though this book was written well. This book left me with questions. Why would you get back together with someone you haven’t seen in 20 years on a whim and split two families up? People may change in that time. Maybe I am a bit old fashioned. Sorry didn’t really agree with the ending. Three stars from me.
Even though this book was written well. This book left me with questions. Why would you get back together with someone you haven’t seen in 20 years on a whim and split two families up? People may change in that time. Maybe I am a bit old fashioned. Sorry didn’t really agree with the ending. Three stars from me.
January 15, 2021
I'm such a sucker for books like this. The minute I laid my eyes on Mix Tape in the shop, I knew I'd love it. Like Nick Hornby writes in The Polysyllabic Spree (about another excellent book, The Fortress of Solitude), "it wasn't just up my street; it was actually knocking on my front door and peering through the letterbox to see if I was in." And yes, I did love it!
March 27, 2020
I really enjoyed this one - ok, it helped that some of the book is set in Sheffield, where I am from, but that withstanding, it is a great book. Most of the reviews explain the synopsis, so I will concentrate on how it made me feel... I cried with sadness and happiness throughout the book and really recommend it to those of a certain age who either made mix tapes, or had them made for them... those were the days!
March 20, 2020
This book actually made me cry at one point.
You can’t help but fall in love with Daniel and Allison. Childhood sweethearts, that lose each other through events out of their control.
Will they ever get together or will they always be “The One That Got Away”?
Brilliantly written by Jane Sanderson and so easy to read. 4.5*
You can’t help but fall in love with Daniel and Allison. Childhood sweethearts, that lose each other through events out of their control.
Will they ever get together or will they always be “The One That Got Away”?
Brilliantly written by Jane Sanderson and so easy to read. 4.5*
January 17, 2020
I had been looking forward to reading Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson for a while before it finally came up in my schedule. I am of an age when mix tapes were common. I’d be listening to the radio on my boom box on a Sunday evening, a blank tape in the cassette deck, waiting for the Top 40 to start, with my fingers on the ‘play’ and ‘record’ buttons, poised to catch the opening bars of the whatever song I was hoping to record. We played mix tapes at parties, traded them among friends, and shyly gifted them to our boyfriend/girlfriend. I still have two or three of those tapes, though I no longer have anything to play them on.
Moving between the past and the present, this is the story of Daniel and Alison, who meet as teens in Sheffield, England in 1978. Their romantic relationship is brief, but intense, ending abruptly when Alison is compelled to flee her harrowing home life. Alison’s journey eventually leads her to Australia, and in 2012 she is a bestselling novelist, married with two near-adult daughters, when Dan, a music journalist whose home base is in Scotland with his wife and college bound son, receives a tweet from an old friend directing him to the profile of @AliConnorWriter. When Dan finally reaches out to the woman who has haunted his dreams for decades, he does so with a music video that speaks to a seminal moment in their relationship, ‘Pump It Up’ - Elvis Costello and the Attractions, 1978.
“No words, no message. Only the song, speaking for itself.”
Mix Tape is unapologetically a love story, a tale of soulmates forcibly parted, and then reunited after a separation of thirty years.
Sanderson wonderfully captures the intensity of Daniel and Alison’s connection as teenagers. Dan, sweet and steady, is infatuated with the beautiful and enigmatic Alison. Alison, whose home life is chaotic and neglectful, basks in Dan’s admiration and returns his desire. When she leaves they are both devastated, aware they have lost something special.
When Dan and Ali reconnect decades later, they initially communicate only by trading songs via Twitter that remind them of their relationship, and then songs whose lyrics speak to their growing desires. I’m in my mid forties so I wasn’t particularly familiar with a fair amount of the music referenced in Mix Tape, and I found myself having to stop and search through YouTube on occasion to listen to the song to understand its significance. It’s a delightful idea though, a modern take on those not so subtle cassette mix tapes declaring love
Without sharing a word, despite all the time that has passed, the physical distance between them, and being married to other people, Dan and Alison rekindle the flame. Here is where Sanderson lost me a little, because while the idea of a love that cannot be denied is romantic, that it comes at the expense of others, even if neither of their spouses are particularly likeable, is uncomfortable for me. Still the inevitable reunion is epic, and to the author’s credit I wanted it to happen.
Mix Tape is unapologetically a love story, but it’s also about heartache, nostalgia, loss, forgiveness, and the music. While my feelings about it remain a little mixed, it has its charms.
Moving between the past and the present, this is the story of Daniel and Alison, who meet as teens in Sheffield, England in 1978. Their romantic relationship is brief, but intense, ending abruptly when Alison is compelled to flee her harrowing home life. Alison’s journey eventually leads her to Australia, and in 2012 she is a bestselling novelist, married with two near-adult daughters, when Dan, a music journalist whose home base is in Scotland with his wife and college bound son, receives a tweet from an old friend directing him to the profile of @AliConnorWriter. When Dan finally reaches out to the woman who has haunted his dreams for decades, he does so with a music video that speaks to a seminal moment in their relationship, ‘Pump It Up’ - Elvis Costello and the Attractions, 1978.
“No words, no message. Only the song, speaking for itself.”
Mix Tape is unapologetically a love story, a tale of soulmates forcibly parted, and then reunited after a separation of thirty years.
Sanderson wonderfully captures the intensity of Daniel and Alison’s connection as teenagers. Dan, sweet and steady, is infatuated with the beautiful and enigmatic Alison. Alison, whose home life is chaotic and neglectful, basks in Dan’s admiration and returns his desire. When she leaves they are both devastated, aware they have lost something special.
When Dan and Ali reconnect decades later, they initially communicate only by trading songs via Twitter that remind them of their relationship, and then songs whose lyrics speak to their growing desires. I’m in my mid forties so I wasn’t particularly familiar with a fair amount of the music referenced in Mix Tape, and I found myself having to stop and search through YouTube on occasion to listen to the song to understand its significance. It’s a delightful idea though, a modern take on those not so subtle cassette mix tapes declaring love
Without sharing a word, despite all the time that has passed, the physical distance between them, and being married to other people, Dan and Alison rekindle the flame. Here is where Sanderson lost me a little, because while the idea of a love that cannot be denied is romantic, that it comes at the expense of others, even if neither of their spouses are particularly likeable, is uncomfortable for me. Still the inevitable reunion is epic, and to the author’s credit I wanted it to happen.
Mix Tape is unapologetically a love story, but it’s also about heartache, nostalgia, loss, forgiveness, and the music. While my feelings about it remain a little mixed, it has its charms.
August 22, 2019
4.5*
I could not put this book down. I found myself taking every opportunity to read it. I loved the way as a reader we got to see Alison and Dan’s lives in the present, how their relationships were. We got to know them today and with the flashbacks we get to know who they were. Their connection was strong and Alison had a very difficult upbringing and some horrible experiences but Dan was her safe place and then she disappeared on him.
Loved Dan - he was so strong and new what he wanted. Alison was strong in a different way and I was glad she got brave and went to Dan.
Loved the Britishness of this book and references to some great songs.
This is a book about what ifs and what happens when you reconnect with someone that was meant to be your one. I have docked half a star as I really wanted an epilogue. I wanted to see how they were in the future. I had no doubt they were together but I wanted to see it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I could not put this book down. I found myself taking every opportunity to read it. I loved the way as a reader we got to see Alison and Dan’s lives in the present, how their relationships were. We got to know them today and with the flashbacks we get to know who they were. Their connection was strong and Alison had a very difficult upbringing and some horrible experiences but Dan was her safe place and then she disappeared on him.
Loved Dan - he was so strong and new what he wanted. Alison was strong in a different way and I was glad she got brave and went to Dan.
Loved the Britishness of this book and references to some great songs.
This is a book about what ifs and what happens when you reconnect with someone that was meant to be your one. I have docked half a star as I really wanted an epilogue. I wanted to see how they were in the future. I had no doubt they were together but I wanted to see it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
February 18, 2021
I did not enjoy this book. The premise sounded interesting (mix-tape love letters?? cute!) and I fancied a Rom-com so I gave it a go.
First things first, this isn't a rom-com. It's barely even a romance! This book is about two incredibly selfish people imploding their own lives, and thus their entire families, based on a whim. Personally, I don't find drawn out affairs based on nostalgia romantic, but if you do this may work better for you.
This is the book version of those kids you knew at school who made what music they liked into their entire personality. The plot was repetitive, there was no humour and the main characters were very unlikable. The only thing of interest was the music element.
Also, it is worth noting that the blurb doesn't suggest this will be anything other than an easy read. TW for rape, abuse, alcoholism, homophobia.
Give this one a miss, especially if you want a light read!
First things first, this isn't a rom-com. It's barely even a romance! This book is about two incredibly selfish people imploding their own lives, and thus their entire families, based on a whim. Personally, I don't find drawn out affairs based on nostalgia romantic, but if you do this may work better for you.
This is the book version of those kids you knew at school who made what music they liked into their entire personality. The plot was repetitive, there was no humour and the main characters were very unlikable. The only thing of interest was the music element.
Also, it is worth noting that the blurb doesn't suggest this will be anything other than an easy read. TW for rape, abuse, alcoholism, homophobia.
Give this one a miss, especially if you want a light read!
April 13, 2020
Found this book soooooo long drawn out ,actually skimmed through it. Nothing new . Will they ,won't they ? Really didn't care by the end . . Read this for a change .... Think I'll stick to my thrillers 😆
January 19, 2021
I discovered this title on one of the many “Best Books of 2020”. I wasn’t familiar with it so I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did. I only wish I had listened to the mix tape songs as I was reading the book.
May 17, 2020
oh my gosh I got so many feels reading this book! It brought back so much nostalgia of the mix tape era of my youth (to be fair even today i'll make the modern day version of digital playlists)and is basically a story of a first love that ended suddenly and reignites many years later whilst our 2 main characters are on opposite sides of the world. Loved this so much I think i'll probably be rereading this again soon!
June 14, 2022
Lijepa pričica za jedno čitanje, svidjela mi se ljubav između Ali i Dana ,i način kako su se sporazumijevali samo pjesmama, bez ijedne izgovorene riječi.
February 11, 2021
Meh, it was a fine read. It would have been better had I been drinking cocktails in the sun on holiday though.
February 29, 2024
I've never written a book review or commented, good or bad, but for this one I decided I simply had to. Coincidentally, my first impression made me wonder if the author of the book (Jane Sanderson) has a substitute for Daniel somewhere. So let me clarify.
First about the Mixtape. I enjoyed the book. I loved the use of different time periods and how the music drove the story. An original idea without a lot of involvement in moral issues, for the main characters the ending with a happy ending, for the secondary ones not at all. The story itself and the characters are well developed. The book has its dark moments, some would say cheating is unforgivable, but in today's time it is also realistic. A story where the emphasis is on love and not on morality, because if love can't make us real, what can? The soundtrack itself is ok for me.
MixTape is a romance novel, and romance novels are a treat for many women. That doesn't mean men don't enjoy them too. Some read them to learn more about women and how they think because most are written from a female perspective. And that's where we come to "the book led me"
Facebook account named Anthony O'Hare. A friend came across him a few months ago and told me about him. I looked at the profile quickly, but didn't listen to it, because the profile only consists of published songs. After reading the MixTape and understanding the way of communication between Alison and Daniel, the profile caught my attention. A love story from beginning to end expressed from a male perspective exclusively through music. Unlike the book, this story does not have a happy ending. The first thing I thought was that Jane Sanderson got the idea for the book from a personal experience.
I looked at the publication date of the book and saw that it was written at the beginning of 2020 and the profile is set in the middle of 2021. Then I thought that someone tried to do something similar (perhaps the author of the book), but there is no indication anywhere whether it is just imagination or has something and more. The plot is similar, forbidden love, which can be read in a very good way from the music. According to the publication dates and the communication in mostly night hours, I lean more towards real adventure than written fiction. Both the book and the profile speak intimately and mercilessly about their own choices. I like the music itself or (let's call it the soundtrack) better on the profile, but that's a matter of personal taste.
Profile info: name Anthony O'Hare, cover image Fink: warm shadow (song), profile image invenient (I don't know the meaning). The profile itself follows only one page, The World Needs More Love Letters. By the way, in the book, the main protagonists communicate via Twitter.
In the end, every reading is an intimate act, not only in terms of interpreting the work, but also because reading a book turns into reading itself, and reading with music gives a completely different dimension. All of this together seems like some crazy experiment. In short 5 for the MixTape and I give 5 for the profile, whatever is behind it.
First about the Mixtape. I enjoyed the book. I loved the use of different time periods and how the music drove the story. An original idea without a lot of involvement in moral issues, for the main characters the ending with a happy ending, for the secondary ones not at all. The story itself and the characters are well developed. The book has its dark moments, some would say cheating is unforgivable, but in today's time it is also realistic. A story where the emphasis is on love and not on morality, because if love can't make us real, what can? The soundtrack itself is ok for me.
MixTape is a romance novel, and romance novels are a treat for many women. That doesn't mean men don't enjoy them too. Some read them to learn more about women and how they think because most are written from a female perspective. And that's where we come to "the book led me"
Facebook account named Anthony O'Hare. A friend came across him a few months ago and told me about him. I looked at the profile quickly, but didn't listen to it, because the profile only consists of published songs. After reading the MixTape and understanding the way of communication between Alison and Daniel, the profile caught my attention. A love story from beginning to end expressed from a male perspective exclusively through music. Unlike the book, this story does not have a happy ending. The first thing I thought was that Jane Sanderson got the idea for the book from a personal experience.
I looked at the publication date of the book and saw that it was written at the beginning of 2020 and the profile is set in the middle of 2021. Then I thought that someone tried to do something similar (perhaps the author of the book), but there is no indication anywhere whether it is just imagination or has something and more. The plot is similar, forbidden love, which can be read in a very good way from the music. According to the publication dates and the communication in mostly night hours, I lean more towards real adventure than written fiction. Both the book and the profile speak intimately and mercilessly about their own choices. I like the music itself or (let's call it the soundtrack) better on the profile, but that's a matter of personal taste.
Profile info: name Anthony O'Hare, cover image Fink: warm shadow (song), profile image invenient (I don't know the meaning). The profile itself follows only one page, The World Needs More Love Letters. By the way, in the book, the main protagonists communicate via Twitter.
In the end, every reading is an intimate act, not only in terms of interpreting the work, but also because reading a book turns into reading itself, and reading with music gives a completely different dimension. All of this together seems like some crazy experiment. In short 5 for the MixTape and I give 5 for the profile, whatever is behind it.
January 24, 2020
Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of this book for review.
Okay, maybe I didn’t appreciate this book because I’m not from the right generation. I didn’t feel nostalgic for the music or the places or the way of living. But I don’t think this was the case at all.
I actually really enjoyed the past in the book: it was a vibrant and fleshed out grimey city, filled with the music of thousands of people. We, the reader, were fed glimpses of Sheffield in the 80s, between lives from Australia and Scotland 30 years later. It was this part of the story that I felt a connection to first. Sheffield in the past was filled with people good and bad, lives that were perfect and ones that were hidden.
The present was much less nuanced. (Admittedly, Australia was vibrant and descriptive, but it wasn’t nuanced.) Like any romance of missed opportunities, we are told to believe that where people are at the start is not their happy ending. They may be playing happy families in a marriage with children and a comfortable house, but we’re supposed to see the cracks. We’re meant to accept that half the couple is unhappy...
...and it doesn’t matter that the other half is happy.
I couldn’t get over the fact that we were meant to be okay that Ali and Dan broke up their happy relationships because they were “meant to be with each other”. It’s not the finding each other again that I had a problem with, it was the ruining everyone else’s happiness for the chance. Maybe I’m the romance grinch (in fact, I’m sure I’m the romance grinch), but I think one romance shouldn’t be at the cost of other people’s unhappiness.
I also couldn’t ignore the fact that we were being encouraged to forget the unhappiness because we were being told how not good the partners were. Michael (Ali’s husband) genuinely seemed good, just not good for Ali. He cares about her and their family, but he just does it a little forcefully. Yes, he’s stubborn at times and yes, he refuses to listen to her, but she also fails to communicate with him. Likewise with Katelin (Dan’s wife? partner?), she gets obsessive and doesn’t stop asking questions after Dan tells her he cheated on her, but that’s *because* he cheats on her; who wouldn’t be upset and want to know what they did wrong? And then we just gloss over their reactions, say, “yeah they won’t stop calling” and move on.
What I did like about this book were the relationships the characters had with others (that they weren’t married to). Or the relationships Ali had at least. They were rocky at times and filled with secrets and betrayal, but her relationships seemed genuine; I’m very glad she found her brother and met Dan’s father again at the end.
I also appreciated the music part of it. Whilst I didn’t feel nostalgia towards it, I could appreciate what it did and how it played a huge part in the identity of Ali and Dan. Maybe my listening experience would have been improved by listening to the songs whilst I read.
Okay, maybe I didn’t appreciate this book because I’m not from the right generation. I didn’t feel nostalgic for the music or the places or the way of living. But I don’t think this was the case at all.
I actually really enjoyed the past in the book: it was a vibrant and fleshed out grimey city, filled with the music of thousands of people. We, the reader, were fed glimpses of Sheffield in the 80s, between lives from Australia and Scotland 30 years later. It was this part of the story that I felt a connection to first. Sheffield in the past was filled with people good and bad, lives that were perfect and ones that were hidden.
The present was much less nuanced. (Admittedly, Australia was vibrant and descriptive, but it wasn’t nuanced.) Like any romance of missed opportunities, we are told to believe that where people are at the start is not their happy ending. They may be playing happy families in a marriage with children and a comfortable house, but we’re supposed to see the cracks. We’re meant to accept that half the couple is unhappy...
...and it doesn’t matter that the other half is happy.
I couldn’t get over the fact that we were meant to be okay that Ali and Dan broke up their happy relationships because they were “meant to be with each other”. It’s not the finding each other again that I had a problem with, it was the ruining everyone else’s happiness for the chance. Maybe I’m the romance grinch (in fact, I’m sure I’m the romance grinch), but I think one romance shouldn’t be at the cost of other people’s unhappiness.
I also couldn’t ignore the fact that we were being encouraged to forget the unhappiness because we were being told how not good the partners were. Michael (Ali’s husband) genuinely seemed good, just not good for Ali. He cares about her and their family, but he just does it a little forcefully. Yes, he’s stubborn at times and yes, he refuses to listen to her, but she also fails to communicate with him. Likewise with Katelin (Dan’s wife? partner?), she gets obsessive and doesn’t stop asking questions after Dan tells her he cheated on her, but that’s *because* he cheats on her; who wouldn’t be upset and want to know what they did wrong? And then we just gloss over their reactions, say, “yeah they won’t stop calling” and move on.
What I did like about this book were the relationships the characters had with others (that they weren’t married to). Or the relationships Ali had at least. They were rocky at times and filled with secrets and betrayal, but her relationships seemed genuine; I’m very glad she found her brother and met Dan’s father again at the end.
I also appreciated the music part of it. Whilst I didn’t feel nostalgia towards it, I could appreciate what it did and how it played a huge part in the identity of Ali and Dan. Maybe my listening experience would have been improved by listening to the songs whilst I read.
February 12, 2020
I chose to read this book as the title was a blast from the past for me and reminded me of the many mix tapes I used to make. I wasn't really prepared for what I went on to read; thinking the book was going to be just a straightforward lighthearted retro look at the 1970s.
Alison was Daniel's girlfriend in Sheffield in the late 1970s - their ages were similar to my own, all the music they listened to was my music - apart from Daniel's favourite band the Comsat Angels who seem to have passed me by. But my fave band Echo and the Bunnymen and the Human League get lots of mentions - it took me right back.
The first hard hitting part of the book was when we find out the reason for Alison leaving Sheffield in the 1970s and more about her brother Peter. Never even saying goodbye to Daniel she left him at a loss as to what happened. I thought back to that time and how different things were then and how you had no way to contact someone with no mobile phones.
I was surprised and saddened by the events in Alison's young life wondering how in those different times I would have coped. We get to fast forward to 2012/13 to the lives of Ali as she has become, and Dan. On different sides of the world each with their own life to live, and yet through the power of music they become united once again.
I found it clever of the author to set the book in 2012/13 as it made the events more realistic at the age Ali and Dan would have been. I thought the book was very well researched even down to Huey Morgan being on Radio 6 at the right time of day!
The book is rich with dialogue and description, but not an unnecessary word appears. It was a joy to read and will stay with me for a long time to come.
Alison was Daniel's girlfriend in Sheffield in the late 1970s - their ages were similar to my own, all the music they listened to was my music - apart from Daniel's favourite band the Comsat Angels who seem to have passed me by. But my fave band Echo and the Bunnymen and the Human League get lots of mentions - it took me right back.
The first hard hitting part of the book was when we find out the reason for Alison leaving Sheffield in the 1970s and more about her brother Peter. Never even saying goodbye to Daniel she left him at a loss as to what happened. I thought back to that time and how different things were then and how you had no way to contact someone with no mobile phones.
I was surprised and saddened by the events in Alison's young life wondering how in those different times I would have coped. We get to fast forward to 2012/13 to the lives of Ali as she has become, and Dan. On different sides of the world each with their own life to live, and yet through the power of music they become united once again.
I found it clever of the author to set the book in 2012/13 as it made the events more realistic at the age Ali and Dan would have been. I thought the book was very well researched even down to Huey Morgan being on Radio 6 at the right time of day!
The book is rich with dialogue and description, but not an unnecessary word appears. It was a joy to read and will stay with me for a long time to come.
Read
December 29, 2020Abgebrochen auf Seite 288.
Das Buch ist ganz anders als ich erwartet habe, ich finde es sehr langatmig und ich hab das Interesse an den Protagonisten verloren. Schade, ich hatte mich wirklich auf das Buch gefreut.
Das Buch ist ganz anders als ich erwartet habe, ich finde es sehr langatmig und ich hab das Interesse an den Protagonisten verloren. Schade, ich hatte mich wirklich auf das Buch gefreut.
October 6, 2025
It's been a while since I last flew through a book as quickly as I did Mix Tape, reading 100 pages at a time without wanting to stop. There's usually something or other in a book that causes me to stop reading it every night in a sensible place: dense writing, deep meanings, uncomfortable content, 'end of part one' or other such blockages, etc. That's not to say that Mix Tape necessarily lacks those things: for example, it contains some deeply uncomfortable moments (those sensitive to depictions of sexual violence are advised to tread carefully). However, rather than deploying them in a way that makes you want to stop, Mix Tape makes you breathlessly want to read on - to get answers, to find out what they're going to do to fix the situation, or simply because you're enjoying yourself too much to give up here. There is no better trait that a book can have than compulsive readability. Fancy meanings and structures are all very well and good, but that feeling you get when you're living and breathing every word along with the characters that you've grown to love? Priceless. So, basically, Mix Tape is a 5 star read in the best sense: it's a book that makes reading fun. Sometimes - especially if you, like me, study literature - I think that the sheer pleasure of reading can be lost or taken for granted a little bit, and it's always so lovely when books like this come along to remind you of it.
It's taken me quite a while to get round to writing this review, not because I don't have anything to say about Mix Tape (I do! I have lots! Especially about Bill and his pigeons!), but because I couldn't think of anything grand to say, and my reviews, especially in recent times, tend to be structured around a few Big Important Things when they're not complete babble. However, at this point, I've given up trying to dig too deeply into this novel that I loved for everything which is on its surface. The whole point of Mix Tape is that we each attach importance to little, individual things that might not mean anything to the next person, but, to us, means the world. Ali and Dan manage to form a connection and a romance that spans decades and continents purely out of music and memories, and that's just beautiful to me. And I know that the circumstances of their romance weren't exactly perfect, but I felt like Sanderson got that. In no way did this ever feel like an idealised, over-sentimentalised, or unrealistic story that excused or belittled the hurt caused to other people. Instead, it felt like a complex, messy story about trying to decide what the best thing for yourself is and learning to live with that. It's not only about Ali and Dan finding each other again after so many years; it's about them finding themselves, and finding their way back home, and of course in an adventure of that sort there are bumps in the road and devastated people left behind. In my opinion, Mix Tape navigated the grey area between what is right and wrong really beautifully, questioning both without ever firmly coming to a decision about whether Ali and Dan's actions were one or the other. And I think part of the reason why it managed to achieve such subtlety and created so much sympathy on all sides was that it focused in on the little things. It really highlighted the differences between the little things that Ali and Dan found important and, say, what Katelin and Michael found important, or what their parents each found important. In doing so, it made you believe in the sense of rightness that Ali and Dan found in each other, even if you don't necessarily agree with their methods of getting to that. So, whilst this may not be a philosophical novel (and thank God for it), I think that it pitches its central conflict absolutely perfectly.
The other brilliant thing about Mix Tape is how driven by raw emotion it is. There's a little bit of everything going on in here. There's love lust, loneliness, longing really deep friendship, the most beautiful sibling relationship, complex relations with parents, and even more complex relations with children. And that's part of the reason why the pages keep flying by: you connect to and feel for these people because their experiences are so sensitively and movingly drawn. By people, too, I don't just mean the central characters. I mean lovely Katelin who deserves so much better. I mean poor Peter. I mean the children, who are, at the end of the day, caught in the middle of a tricky situation, and have their own problems besides. I mean Dan's mother who makes misguided decisions but only wants what is best for her son. The cast of characters that populate this book are so real and varied and rounded and complex, and I can genuinely say that I cared about every single one of them. Well, I say every single one. The only character that I disliked was Michael, but I think I was kind of meant to dislike him? The guy doesn't have a single redeeming feature, after all. Yet, whilst I didn't like him, I still felt sympathy for him, because this book just does such a good job of sensitively addressing the situation and attaching emotional significance to it. Mix Tape is a real emotional rollercoaster, but that makes it a pleasure to read.
I must also say that Mix Tape made me cry, and a book hasn't made me cry in ages and ages and ages. The contents of those last few chapters absolutely ruined me, but not in a bad way. Weirdly, it felt really nice to have a good cry at this book, both because I was happy that the events that I was crying about happened and because it made for a nice release after all the ups and downs beforehand. Overall, I don't really think that Mix Tape could have reached a better ending than it did. It was one that was heart-wrenching and happy in equal measure, and that kind of glorious bittersweetness (people who follow my reviews will know that bittersweet endings are my favourite kind of endings) befits a book as emotionally complex as this one.
My main reasons for wanting to read Mix Tape were that the partial 70s setting and focus on music of that era promised Daisy Jones & The Six vibes, and I'm still waiting for the book that will help me get over Daisy Jones & The Six, and the Sheffield setting, since Sheffield is a city I'm personally fond of (though, this book taught me, do not know all that well) and I hadn't read anything set there before. However, I got so much more out of it than that. I got to know some beautifully drawn characters. I got to see songs that I know in a new light. I got a truly moving romance. I got really dark, gritty realism and a hopeful story that promised that escapes from such situations can be found. I got Bill and his pigeons (honestly, the whole book is amazing, but Bill and his pigeons are the best part). And, most of all, I got a fantastic, absorbing, involving reading experience that made me feel everything that it's possible to feel. If anyone is looking for good pleasure reading recommendations, especially whilst we're all in coronavirus quarantine, then I can highly recommend this. It may not be all sunshine and rainbows, but it's great fun regardless, and that truly is the best thing that a book about the small pleasures in life and their importance to someone's individual happiness could be.
It's taken me quite a while to get round to writing this review, not because I don't have anything to say about Mix Tape (I do! I have lots! Especially about Bill and his pigeons!), but because I couldn't think of anything grand to say, and my reviews, especially in recent times, tend to be structured around a few Big Important Things when they're not complete babble. However, at this point, I've given up trying to dig too deeply into this novel that I loved for everything which is on its surface. The whole point of Mix Tape is that we each attach importance to little, individual things that might not mean anything to the next person, but, to us, means the world. Ali and Dan manage to form a connection and a romance that spans decades and continents purely out of music and memories, and that's just beautiful to me. And I know that the circumstances of their romance weren't exactly perfect, but I felt like Sanderson got that. In no way did this ever feel like an idealised, over-sentimentalised, or unrealistic story that excused or belittled the hurt caused to other people. Instead, it felt like a complex, messy story about trying to decide what the best thing for yourself is and learning to live with that. It's not only about Ali and Dan finding each other again after so many years; it's about them finding themselves, and finding their way back home, and of course in an adventure of that sort there are bumps in the road and devastated people left behind. In my opinion, Mix Tape navigated the grey area between what is right and wrong really beautifully, questioning both without ever firmly coming to a decision about whether Ali and Dan's actions were one or the other. And I think part of the reason why it managed to achieve such subtlety and created so much sympathy on all sides was that it focused in on the little things. It really highlighted the differences between the little things that Ali and Dan found important and, say, what Katelin and Michael found important, or what their parents each found important. In doing so, it made you believe in the sense of rightness that Ali and Dan found in each other, even if you don't necessarily agree with their methods of getting to that. So, whilst this may not be a philosophical novel (and thank God for it), I think that it pitches its central conflict absolutely perfectly.
The other brilliant thing about Mix Tape is how driven by raw emotion it is. There's a little bit of everything going on in here. There's love lust, loneliness, longing really deep friendship, the most beautiful sibling relationship, complex relations with parents, and even more complex relations with children. And that's part of the reason why the pages keep flying by: you connect to and feel for these people because their experiences are so sensitively and movingly drawn. By people, too, I don't just mean the central characters. I mean lovely Katelin who deserves so much better. I mean poor Peter. I mean the children, who are, at the end of the day, caught in the middle of a tricky situation, and have their own problems besides. I mean Dan's mother who makes misguided decisions but only wants what is best for her son. The cast of characters that populate this book are so real and varied and rounded and complex, and I can genuinely say that I cared about every single one of them. Well, I say every single one. The only character that I disliked was Michael, but I think I was kind of meant to dislike him? The guy doesn't have a single redeeming feature, after all. Yet, whilst I didn't like him, I still felt sympathy for him, because this book just does such a good job of sensitively addressing the situation and attaching emotional significance to it. Mix Tape is a real emotional rollercoaster, but that makes it a pleasure to read.
I must also say that Mix Tape made me cry, and a book hasn't made me cry in ages and ages and ages. The contents of those last few chapters absolutely ruined me, but not in a bad way. Weirdly, it felt really nice to have a good cry at this book, both because I was happy that the events that I was crying about happened and because it made for a nice release after all the ups and downs beforehand. Overall, I don't really think that Mix Tape could have reached a better ending than it did. It was one that was heart-wrenching and happy in equal measure, and that kind of glorious bittersweetness (people who follow my reviews will know that bittersweet endings are my favourite kind of endings) befits a book as emotionally complex as this one.
My main reasons for wanting to read Mix Tape were that the partial 70s setting and focus on music of that era promised Daisy Jones & The Six vibes, and I'm still waiting for the book that will help me get over Daisy Jones & The Six, and the Sheffield setting, since Sheffield is a city I'm personally fond of (though, this book taught me, do not know all that well) and I hadn't read anything set there before. However, I got so much more out of it than that. I got to know some beautifully drawn characters. I got to see songs that I know in a new light. I got a truly moving romance. I got really dark, gritty realism and a hopeful story that promised that escapes from such situations can be found. I got Bill and his pigeons (honestly, the whole book is amazing, but Bill and his pigeons are the best part). And, most of all, I got a fantastic, absorbing, involving reading experience that made me feel everything that it's possible to feel. If anyone is looking for good pleasure reading recommendations, especially whilst we're all in coronavirus quarantine, then I can highly recommend this. It may not be all sunshine and rainbows, but it's great fun regardless, and that truly is the best thing that a book about the small pleasures in life and their importance to someone's individual happiness could be.
August 5, 2025
I really loved this one and am glad I listened to it rather than read it as feel the narration brought it to life.
The book follows the emotional journey of the relationship between Sheffield-based teenagers Dan & Alison who then lose touch at 16 only to be reunited from different sides of the world through music 30 years later. The fallout of their new relationship implodes their respective families & this is skillfully handled by the author. None of us like a cheater but sadly it’s life- it happens- and I found myself rooting for this couple anyway.
Being an 80’s teen myself I LOVED all the music references & have played a few old favourites along the way. I also loved the characters of Bill & Peter & would like to have heard more of them as it wrapped up. A sequel to this would be awesome but in the meantime I shall watch the tv series & hope they haven’t changed it too much.
The book follows the emotional journey of the relationship between Sheffield-based teenagers Dan & Alison who then lose touch at 16 only to be reunited from different sides of the world through music 30 years later. The fallout of their new relationship implodes their respective families & this is skillfully handled by the author. None of us like a cheater but sadly it’s life- it happens- and I found myself rooting for this couple anyway.
Being an 80’s teen myself I LOVED all the music references & have played a few old favourites along the way. I also loved the characters of Bill & Peter & would like to have heard more of them as it wrapped up. A sequel to this would be awesome but in the meantime I shall watch the tv series & hope they haven’t changed it too much.
June 8, 2025
An interesting idea for a love story. Well written. A quite thoughtful background of the character. And generally, it was nice to read. But sometimes I had the impression that the author repeated herself. And I always regret when the characters become rich (one way or another). I mean, statistically speaking, how often does it occur?
If I were a fan or knew the songs from the novel, I would have enjoyed the reading more.
Solid 3 stars, but for how the main characters parted with life (long-term) partners, whom they also loved - 3.5 stars.
If I were a fan or knew the songs from the novel, I would have enjoyed the reading more.
Solid 3 stars, but for how the main characters parted with life (long-term) partners, whom they also loved - 3.5 stars.
April 13, 2025
Not worth it
January 9, 2022
Interesting take on a now & then story complete with curated playlist. Not that familiar with all of the music mentioned but I definitely think that music has a powerful emotional stimulus which can affect us in many ways.
January 6, 2022
3.5 stars really
There was lots to like about this book. I am old enough tohave made mix tapesfrom the radio,and I have lived in both Adelaide and Sheffield which are the two places where this book was set.
But, I didn't end up loving it. I think mainly because the happiness of the two main characters comes at such an expense for the people around them
See my full review here
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2022...
There was lots to like about this book. I am old enough tohave made mix tapesfrom the radio,and I have lived in both Adelaide and Sheffield which are the two places where this book was set.
But, I didn't end up loving it. I think mainly because the happiness of the two main characters comes at such an expense for the people around them
See my full review here
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2022...
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