Book Review: ‘The Long Distance Playlist’ by Tara Eglington

“Taylor and Isolde used to be best friends - before THAT FIGHT, 18 months ago. It’s been radio silence ever since - until Taylor contacts Isolde to sympathise with her breakup: the breakup that she never saw coming; the breakup that destroyed her confidence and ended her dreams of joining the National Ballet School.

Taylor’s had his own share of challenges, including a life-altering accident that has brought his hopes of competing at the Winter Olympics to a halt.

Isolde responds to Taylor, to be polite. But what starts out as heartbreak-themed Spotify playlists and shared stories of exes quickly becomes something more.

And as Taylor and Isolde start to lean on each other, the distance between them begins to feel not so distant after all...

A boy. A girl. A one-of-a-kind friendship. Cross-country convos and middle-of-the-night playlists. With big dreams comes even bigger challenges.“

There were two words in the blurb that attracted me to this book, Ballet and Olympics. (Any fiction that involves either of these topics and you can bet that I will throw myself into reading it cover-to-cover). But reading this story, I quickly found it was much more about the characters and their relationship with one another, and the people around them. And as a reader, it really made this book enjoyable.

As someone who has spent most of the last few months in a massive reading slump, it felt amazing to finally read a book that I was excited to finish, captivated by the storyline to find out what was going to happen next.

This book is not one of huge events, nor of angst filled tensions that tear your heart to pieces, but it is sweet and hopeful and a fabulous YA contemporary. It talks of teenage dreams, loss and finding your place in the world. I can imagine it being the sort of book that I would love to have read 6 years ago when my body told me no to anymore competitive sports.

The presentation of this book was written in some sections like a traditional novel, but in others it used the format of instant messages and email to convey the story and was complimented by the inclusion of playlists (I didn’t always recognise many of the songs, but the ones that I did definitely helped me to understand the mood the author was trying to express). The different ways that this story was presented definitely helped me to continue reading, and it was perfect for keeping my attention. It cut through many of the unnecessary details that often lose my enjoyment, but still managed to flawlessly move the story forward.

The characters were also very well written. On some level I related to both characters, particularly when they talked about their hopes and dreams, and everything that was happening in their personal lives that stopped them from attaining those desires. But both Taylor and Isolde still felt like teenagers, they didn’t always have it all together, their lives were still massively influenced on a day-to-day basis by their families and many of the cliche teenage woes were still in view.

I can‘t especially name what made this book work so well, but it did. And maybe I only picked it up for those two words in the blurb, but this story quickly transcended my expectations and made for a couple of hours of some enjoyable reading. If you love contemporary novels or are in the mood for a nice, sweet read, then I highly recommend checking this one out.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ISBN: 9781460755211

RRP: $19.99 AUD

Publication date: 30/12/2019

Publisher: Angus & Robertson (imprint of HarperCollins Australia)