Tuesday 17 March 2015

Tape by Steven Camden

Record a voice and it lasts forever…

In 1993, Ryan records a diary on an old tape. He talks about his mother’s death, about his dreams, about his love for a new girl at school who doesn’t even know he exists.

In 2013, Ameliah moves in with her grandmother after her parents die. There, she finds a tape in the spare room. A tape with a boy’s voice on it – a voice she can’t quite hear, but which seems to be speaking to her.

Ryan and Ameliah are connected by more than just a tape.

This is their story.


First off, I have to say I was expecting it to go one way, the only way I've seen this done, but it wasn't really time travel. It was refreshing and really sweet to see how it played out; very nice to see it wasn't the cliche I thought it was going to be. So, yes, I really liked that it wasn't a love story in the way I thought it was, it was about family and friends and getting through hard times the best way you can. 

The story was split over two timelines, one in the 90's, one modern. Despite having some issues with the style of speech - dashes instead of speech marks - it was surprisingly easy to get into. I didn't have to concentrate on much, there was no big twists or horrible surprises, just the mundane, normal lives of two people who have each lost someone. 

I don't want to say too much about how they are connected but let's just say I saw it coming but still really liked the unique twist. There was nothing corny or awkward, just Ryan and Ameliah leading parallel lives, decades apart. It was sweet, heart-warming, sometimes heartbreaking, but still really satisfying to see it all come together.


Published 30th January 2014 by HarperCollins. 

2 comments:

  1. I've had this on my shelf for an embarrassingly long time; I really should get around to it at some point!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've had this on my shelf for an embarrassingly long time; I really should get around to it at some point!

    ReplyDelete