Loved this book! At times it's reminiscent of Nick Hornby in the music geekery, with very sympathetic central characters and an engrossing story. A thoroughly good read.

I did really like the idea with song exchange and how it ties into the story, however the whole picture wasn't quite as great.. it was a very slow start to me, but then it picked up and I did enjoy it. Although ending really ruined it for me. Book felt very unfinished and lacking closure on so many levels.. I think it would make a great film, but as a novel it felt incomplete to me.

This isn't your usual chick lit romance. The story of Daniel and Alison shows real hard emotions from when they were kids in love in the late seventies for them finding each other in the present. Music flows through the book and the choices are brilliant. So much so I'm currently trying to make my own playlist of them. You feel their emotions through the music and the story with the brutality of some scenes is spattered with scenes of peaceful serenity usually in the form of a pigeon loft. I have never felt so heartbroken for a character as Peter, and never disliked a character as much as I did Michael. I loved both Alison and Daniel and find myself rooting for them until then end. This has pain and betrayal, an amazing adorable little dog, and the unyielding The story was a brilliant read and I enjoyed the more emotional writing that sets this apart from other books of this genre.

Mix tapes were a HUGE thing for me as a child of the 80s so I was really looking forward to this book. It was very slow to get into and I thought of not continuing but I’m glad I did because the development of the characters was great and I actually really enjoyed the story. In the end I was sad it finished - persevere through the first part!

I can not recommend this book enough.I was a magical musical journey through time which was threaded through a very thought provoking storyline .
I could not read this book quickly enough and the author clearly put a great deal of time and effort into creating an emotional rollercoaster .Highly recommended.

This is a story that starts with Alison and Dan in the 70's when they are teenagers and both experience their first proper relationship. We learn Alison has a really hard home life which she completely hides from Dan. Alison experiences two significant traumas - one after another - and takes off leaving Dan heart broken. 30 years later they reconnect via Instagram and find that it's not always possible to simply leave the past behind.

I struggled to get into this. The start was slow and I wasn't really interested in Alison or Dan. I left it for a while before coming back to it and then read it pretty quickly. Alison's story is sad and I felt really sorry for her... but the whole thing about reconnecting via social media after 30 long years when lives and families are established just makes for a bit of an uncomfortable read. The author does a brilliant job in explaining the connection between the two of them - I get it, but I don't know if 30 years is just too long to have such a reunion as we get here. I'm 40 (ish!) and the music references were lost on me as I'm a bit too young to appreciate them so didn't get the full impact of the music theme that runs through the story.

This is a well written book with some very likeable, down to earth characters. I liked them all apart from the ones the reader isn't supposed to like and I disliked them thoroughly! There are some major themes in here that can make for difficult reading - alcoholism, homosexuality, rape, illness and death... but they are sensitively managed and draw out the real complexities about our relationships, the difficult choices involved in parenting and what truly makes us connect with other people.

I think this this us a personal issue for me - I don't like the main premise of reconnecting via social media after 30 years when so many others are involved. I get it, I understand it but I don't like it... but I'm sure plenty of others will love it. It is really well written and emotionally evocative and tackles some massive issues. This is also a bit of a slow burner... the start is slow but it picks up pace.

If I could, I'd give this three and a half stars but would say my main reason for this about personal feeling about the subject matter and it's not a reflection of the quality of the writing.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I started to read this book and was quite hopeful but found myself unable to get into it. I liked the music references but didn’t find myself picking up my kindle to finish it.

This is the story of young love between Daniel and Alison, which is set in Sheffield. The story goes between the past when they were young and modern day when they find each other again.
The music references were a real blast from the past and brought back memories of my own childhood and my love of mix tapes.

I gave this book 3 stars as I just didn’t grip me as I hoped it would

Thank you to Netgalley... the author and publisher for allowing me to read.

I really enjoyed this book. It follows the lives of Dan and Alison who were teenage sweethearts in Sheffield back in the 70's. Now 30 years later Dan is in England & Alison is in Australia, both with partners and leading very different lives. They reconnect over the exchange of songs. The love of music has always been a special bond between them. The book goes between the past and the present. We learn more about why Alison left Dan and how she ended up in Australia, the effect this had on Dan and how he never quite got over it. As they continue exchanging songs and memories resurface you wonder how this is all going to end!

This is a well written, easy to read book. I particularly liked the use of musical references to connect with people - the songs took me right back to my youth! It is amazing how music can take you back to places, people and events in your life.

A highly enjoyable read with very likeable characters. Thank you to Random House, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A brilliant tale of music love and breaking the rules, which has a real beauty to it. A narrative a younger version of ourselves could connect to.

I started to read this book but I had to give up because I didn't connect to the characters or the story. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book with my honest opinion.

A love story but not the usual boy finds girl, boy loses girl and then finds her again. This is a love story set in Sheffield, Adelaide and Edinburgh and covers 30 years. I was torn. I started off with No, No and then Yes, Yes and now I don’t know. Should they shouldn’t they. Usually I am on the lovers side, go for it but by being together how many innocent people will they hurt. You may ask yourself who are the good guys.

I really enjoyed this book. Alison and Daniel - from their childhood romance to how they meet again three decades later. The characters were very beleivable, and the way music plays a central role in the book is very enjoyable. There is love, laughter, and heartbreak and I would recommend this as a great read.

This was a very easy to read, sweet, whimsical and romantic book.
I enjoyed the journey of Dan and Alison BUT couldn't quite get over my disbelief that such a brief and young relationship was enough of a spur for either of them to overturn their lives and travel across the world to find each other.
I get the modern obsession with being able to seek out old loves thanks to social media and it's an enticing and exciting thought... but as I say I couldn't quite believe that something that happened 30 years ago - for such a short time and whilst so young was enough to make such an indelible mark on either of them.
And I did feel the other characters were being coerced into roles that make it easier for Dan and Alison to do what they wanted - their partners for example suddenly became 'bad people' meaning it was ok to leave them.
Also it was convenient their children were old enough to leave without anyone thinking badly of them as parents etc etc.
So as I say it was an enjoyable journey but I did feel I was being manipulated a bit too much and the outcome of this book far too fantastical to feel real.
It felt like some knowledge of music was needed but other than that easy to read and enjoy.

I loved everything about this story apart from the ending. The music had me reminiscing and remembering my own teenage years. I really like how music and song lyrics were used throughout the book. The dark topics in the book are sympathetically written about and made this book so much more than chick lit.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Brilliant! Loved this from start to finish, and totally reminded me of when I was a teenager making Mix Tapes!

Thank you very much for the chance to read this novel. I enjoyed both the story and the characters presented, it was a humorous, yet also sad in part, read and one that I would happily recommend to others.

I loved this. As a fellow music lover I really enjoyed the way Dan and Ali use the medium of songs to communicate with each other. I’d have loved a ‘set list’ for each chapter so that I could listen along - maybe a Spotify playlist? I also loved that their story isn’t predictable. Their happily ever after is hard fought and messy and painful at times, but completely realistic. Highly recommended.

I loved a good mix tape back in the day and the one that tells this story is a cracker!
Ali and Dan are very much together and then suddenly they are not .Dan has no idea what happened or where Ali has gone and he cant track her down as he never really knew where she lived, or anything much about her family.
The story is told from the perspectives of Dan and Ali both in the past and the current time and the truth is slowly revealed via Ali's chapters as to the whys and wherefores of her ending up in Australia in a less than perfect marriage.
Meanwhile Dan finds himself in a similar situation in the UK and a chance encounter via the author photo on a book bought for his wife leads Dan and Ali to reconnect.
This is pretty gritty for what is ultimately a love story, with lots of very powerful descriptions of the suffering Ali went through and the clever juxtaposition of Dans' charmed-in-comparison upbringing. The scene setting in Sheffield and Australia are really well written and put you in the thick of the action and able to clearly picture the steel works, the grimy streets and then the sunshine, kangaroos and the exotic birds.
The use of musical references throughout the story to first connect and the reconnect the characters is a brilliant one and it drove me to re-listen to some old favourites, discover some new and dig out some old mix tapes of my own!
A great read!

A nostalgic read, with memories of youth and a first love - with lots of musical memories.

The story is set in two timelines and does flick to and fro but is easy to follow.

Timeline 1, set in the late 70s when Alison and Dan are dating.

Timeline 2, life has moved on their both married with kids. A chance glance at Twitter and their reconnected through their love of music.

I loved dropping back to the past, I'm more of an eighties girl but I know lots of seventies tunes mentioned. The author described life back then so well, before mobiles ruled and we all caught buses, not ferried around by taxi of mum and dad!

The story doesn't run at 100 miles an hour, which is good as it's partly a family drama set around two long lost lovers. The beginning was character building and a trip down memory lane, half way through there's 2 pages that hit hard and take Alison and this story on its course.

A reminder of teenage years of time gone by and how a chance encounter decades later that can shake your whole world!

I really enjoyed Dan and Alison's story.

#firstloves #familydrama #romance #secondchances #nostalgic