This was the first book I've read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The story was different from anything I've read recently and really captured my attention. It was so well written and the characters were fantastic.

This book both surprised and delighted me, and I inhaled every word. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone, it is a wonderful read.

A wonderfully charming and nostalgic read, I really enjoyed reading this and felt like the characters could be people I knew from my youth. Heartwarming and full of charm.

Music is powerful; hearing a particular song can transport you right back to your youth, and evoke vivid memories of times gone by. Alison and Dan reconnect, after more than thirty years, by sending each other links to songs with memories from their youth, and new ones they’ve heard since. Mix Tape is a clever idea – using songs to convey emotions. If you are familiar with the songs used in the book, you will have a deeper understanding of what is going on. On the other hand, there is a Spotify playlist that you can listen to as you read. Being of a certain age, I knew most of the songs (and remembered making mix tapes on cassettes) but I did discover a few new ones.
Alison and Dan fall in love while still at school; drawn together by their love of music. When Alison just vanishes one day, Dan is heartbroken and unable to find out where she has gone. She had always kept her horrific home life a secret from him, preferring to spend time at his house.
We only find out what prompted her flight quite a lot later, and it is shocking. Jane Sanderson deals sensitively with some fairly serious subject matter in this book – alcoholism, domestic violence, rape, homophobia. There is also the theme of too many people thinking they know what’s best for others, and their actions having far-reaching consequences.
Mix Tape is well written with believable characters that you care about (mostly). I loved Alison’s relationship with Dan’s father, Bill, and how they bonded over his love of his homing pigeons. Right from the start I took a dislike to both Michael and Katelin; I’m not sure if this was the author’s intention, or it was just me. There are also several quirky characters that add colour to the narrative – Sylvia and Dora, and Dan’s neighbours at the houseboat.
Told from the alternating points of view of Dan and Alison, both in the past and present day, the various locations are brought vividly to life – Sheffield, Adelaide, Edinburgh and Little Venice (where the houseboat is moored). Dan’s life as a music journalist has obviously been well researched as it is completely convincing. This would make an interesting film – great locations and the soundtrack is already in place.
I had not read anything by Jane Sanderson before but I will definitely be on the lookout for her other books. I really enjoyed Mix Tape; it was heartbreaking in places, but also joyful and uplifting. It shows the power of music and memory, and I can’t imagine living in a world without music.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed this. It reminded me of Starter For Ten and One Day in its premise. I'm a bit young for some of the references but the overriding story still won me over. I love a 'will they, won't they?'. This was a nice break from my usual thrillers. I am terrible at reviewing things that aren't thrillers, so sorry about that. A couple of sensitive topics touched upon so *trigger warning* for those but overall, a lovely little nostalgia fest.

Really enjoyed this story. Set around my era, referencing music from my youth, the soundtrack to the beginning of my own love affair with music.
I really did not know how this book was going to end, or even how I wanted it to end, but I felt the ending was true to the story that had captured my interest for a few hours.

Nostalgic and inspiring at the same time. There must be many of us with 'if only' that we wish could have been. This novel shows that that isn't always the end.

really enjoyed it. will do a reread soon so i can gather my thoughts and write a proper review on goodreads.

Dan and Ali's romance comes to an abrupt end when Ali runs away. Years later, they have both moved on and are married with children, living on opposite sides of the world. When Dan hears about Ali's latest novel, he sends her a message, and a musical conversation ensues leading them both to question the choices they've made in life. I found myself rooting for them both, essentially wanting them to cheat on their families - a very strange feeling!

I enjoyed the music at the centre of the story and the way their lives present and past unfolded, finding out why Ali ran away and trying to guess what choices they'd each make.

Amazing love story

This book will touch your heart. It is a love story spanning 30 years. As a child of the 80’s the music made it even more special for me.

Alison Connor is a character you love from the beginning, you want to tell her that her life will get better, she just needs to trust Daniel but how can she believe that when everything else in her life goes against her?

A superb story.

Please can we have a sequel?

If you like music with a healthy dose of nostalgia you will love this. It took me back to being a teenager, to first loves, that all consuming feeling. A brilliant book, light and fun, that makes you wonder if your choices at each turn in life. A brilliant uplifting story.

It took me a little while to get round to reading this, but I absolutely loved it. I honestly couldn't put it down, and I loved hearing about Ali and Dan's lives both in the present, and back when they were together when they were younger. It was full of nostalgia and so much warmth. I'd definitely pick it up again!

I massively underestimated this one, on the face of it I assumed it would be a standard romance about your first love...how wrong I was!

The emotion and intensity throughout keeps you gripped. We switch between 1979 and 2012/2013, learning about Ali and Daniel's school romance and then their lives now. When Ali becomes a famous author and is made to have a social media presence, her and Daniel start to reconnect by only sending song links to each other. Music is a key bond for them.

Their backgrounds could not be more different and on 2 occasions I actually gasped out loud at the events as they unfolded. So many heart wrenching topics are covered and the author does this so respectfully. There was a scene with Daniel's father that brought tears to my eyes.

I won't give anything away, this novel will make you think "what would I have done" on a number of occasions.... Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the opportunity to review.

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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*

I absolutely adored this book .

Ali and Dan first met in the 1970s, when they were teenagers in Sheffield. Gradually, they lose touch - only to reconnect through their shared love of music some 30 years later.

After reconnecting, they exchange songs across different oceans and time zones - and then one of them sends a message which changes everything.

I loved the way that we were introduced to the lead characters through their relationship when they were teenagers and their lives now. The mix of past and present day, of first loves and the what if's, of the idea of the one that got away - it was hard not to fall in love with their story.

While it started off a little bit slow, Mix Tape grew into a gorgeous and memorable love story - and is one of those books that I've found myself recommending to everyone.

I was really drawn in by the description of this book - I really loved the idea of music and nostalgia breathing life into these two central characters.

This is one of those stories where the characters stay with you for days, weeks and months after you finish reading - Dan and Ali seem like two very real, fully formed people, and so their emotions and struggles almost feel like they're happening to friends.

One really lovely aspect to this book is the Spotify playlist that I managed to find - it really makes everything seem a lot more 'real' when you're listening to the music that Dan and Ali are sharing with each other.

I'm not usually a massive fan of sequels but I feel like this book is crying out for one. I'd love to know what happens next.

Highly recommended!

Immediately I was drawn to this book because there was a music vibe with it, obviously in the title but who does not love a mix tape? I loved the way there was a real music nostalgia vibe through the book and I loved how these two characters then found their way back to each other after all that time. It did get a bit repetitive though and whilst I really did like the two main characters I found that I didn't really fall 'in love' with them. Some of my favourite characters were more the people along the way, especially the elderly neighbours, I could see this book being made into a film though, it's just got that vibe and the soundtrack would be awesome too. Great for those who love a bit of music mixed in with their romance stories.

It also really made me want to make a mix tape! I suppose the modern day version is a spotify playlist.

Alison found a refuge from the horror of her homelife in Daniel’s arms and in the safety of his home. She could never let him know about the reality of her life, she tried to keep that from tainting what they had together. They were on the same wavelength sharing their love of the music that was the soundtrack to their lives. But Alison had to escape leaving those she loved far behind. I loved being immersed in the music that brought all those memories back. Heartfelt and gripping. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

You never forget the one that got away. But what if ‘what could have been’ is still to come?

Daniel was the first boy to make Alison a mix tape. But that was a long time ago. They've been living separate lives, until one day, they aren't. And so we enter their story at two different times.

An enthralling story of nostalgia and first loves, Mix Tape weaves a tapestry of their memories and experience across differing eras with ease. Through the lighter highs, darker topics, and a thorough love of music, the bonds of the characters shine through. A slow burn but nice read.

One of the novels I’ve had on my to-be-read pile for several months now is Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson. Although romance isn’t a genre I usually gravitate towards, the idea of a story primarily driven by music intrigued me—especially one set in a place I know very well—so I gave it a shot. Before getting into this review, please note that trigger warnings for sexual assault, alcohol abuse, homophobia, and abortion should be applied to the book.

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Back in Sheffield in 1978, Daniel and Alison were meant to be. Young and in love, they lived out their teenage romance through a shared love of music until one day when Alison simply disappeared leaving Daniel behind and broken-hearted. In 2012, Daniel/Dan is a successful music journalist living in Edinburgh while Alison/Ali, now living on the other side of the world in Adelaide, has recently broken into the limelight with a bestselling novel. Both are happily married with adult children and have mostly avoided thinking about one another for the intervening decades until an old friend tags Dan on Twitter to show him what Ali is up to. On a whim, Dan sends Ali a Direct Message with a link to a song from their shared past, and Ali responds in kind. The pair continue sending one another links to songs until eventually, the links are not enough and the pair realize they both need to see where this is leading.

I found myself feeling torn about Mix Tape. On the one hand, the book kept me coming back for more, wanting to read just one more chapter until I suddenly found myself still awake well into the early hours of the morning. On the other, I found the conclusion somewhat inevitable and struggled to know whether or not I even liked the main characters by the end. Personally, I found myself drawn more to the peripheral characters, who were some of the most interesting characters in the whole book. I especially loved Dan’s elderly London neighbors who lived on a nearby houseboat. The exception to my love of the side characters was Dan’s wife and Alison’s husband, who both seemed to be written to be somewhat unlikeable, presumably to make the burgeoning friendship between Dan and Ali more palatable to readers.

Mix Tape shifts perspective between Dan and Ali, and also between the “present-day” of 2012 and the late ’70s when the pair were dating in Sheffield. In the past sections, Alison’s reasons for disappearing so suddenly are gradually made clear—as are the reasons why she never got back in touch with Dan. The picture of their lives back then and what could have been between them becomes all the more tragic as these details are filled in. It’s what makes the present-day chapters harder to judge.

I ended up really enjoying Mix Tape, and wanting to listen to the songs mentioned throughout—the publisher has made their shared playlist available as a Spotify playlist if you’d like to listen as well. The book made me think about the role of music in my own relationships, and the songs that brought me closer to others over the years—the way that certain songs make me think of people I was once close to but who I otherwise rarely think of today. I’m still not sure how I feel about the conclusion (especially about one part that took serendipity to a ridiculous extreme), but the story was thoroughly enjoyable and I’d love to hear your thoughts if you decide to pick up a copy.

GeekMom received a copy of this book for review purposes.