Reviews

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

nabaraditi's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

Synopsis: Frances is very serious about her studies and has one goal to get into Cambridge University. Her friends see her as a studious girl. But nobody is uni-dimensional. She befriends Aled who is a twin brother of Carys, Frances' crush and who ran away from home. Frances can be herself around Aled. So, this book is about finding who you are, figuring out your sexuality, your emotions, loss. Its a very emotional and realistic coming of age story.

I get why this book is soooo adored. I was going to give to 4 stars until I reached 80%. The ending didn't seem realistic at all and it ruined the book for me. It also stopped being about all the characters and became just about one and when I think about why the book is named Radio Silence I get it now.  I like Aled and I was reading the book FOR Aled but I wish the book would've been from his eyes and not Frances. I also wished the book explored more of the academic pressures, pressures of choosing conventional careers/ professions, the pressure to be uni-dimensional and just show only one side of you to your friends, identity issues, racial issues. But the whole book instantly by 80% turned into Aled's issue and how horrible his mom is. I believe nobody is 100% good or 100% bad. And she was shown as totally Cruella Devil bad. It may make sense for the story but its soo unrealistic. By the end of the book the only problem I had was that the book started of being sooooo relatable but ended up being unrealistic. 

aarnireads's review

4.0

God this book is so important.

And I wish it had come out when I was a teenager, I would have felt less alone. But oh well. I felt for these people, teared up for them, laughed with them. I had been them.

Aled <3

laursmovingcastle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

vishaka's review against another edition

5.0

five stars. deserved nothing less. let me just say, NO OTHER BOOK has made me cry this way. this book AMAZING. sometimes, authors do the mistake of not writing teenagers correctly, but alice oseman did it so perfectly. i could really relate to some of the things that Frances and Aled were going through and oh. My. God. I’m not okay. One of the best books ive read in my entire life, and this is not an exaggeration.

jojothefool's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Very cute, pretty fun, I enjoyed myself. The podcast plot made sense and was fun but idk it didn’t keep me super hooked or amazed or anything. I think I sometimes struggled to understand some of the deeper themes just in that there were a lot of them kind of all over. We have a major one with Frances and her schooling and the importance of grades but then there’s also the plot of the podcast but also their friendship and then Carys is missing and Aled’s mom is like cartoonishly villainous idk. Just seemed a bit scrambled, but again I did ultimately enjoy myself and had some fun. So very British too lol but reading the book was much easier to understand than listening to the audiobook

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Animal death

Moments and descriptions of intense depression

graceolsen's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective

3.0

fmmiller88's review against another edition

emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

 This book features Aled from the Heartstopper series but the main character is Frances. Oseman focuses on building a platonic friendship while trying to navigate the path to University and beyond. Both Frances and Aled have two sides of their identity and struggle with the put together image that they have created. This was an interesting read. I did feel like it was a bit simple at times but I liked that it dove deeper into serious topics. It touched on topics of loneliness, abuse, sexual identity and depression. It also dealt with what it means to be internet famous and the troubles that can come along with it.

Check out a podcast that I host with my boyfriend where we talk books and book related things:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xjyht7...

and our Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/talkbooky/ 

feyasyl's review against another edition

5.0

“I wonder- if nobody is listening to my voice, am I making any sound at all?”

I dare to say that this is my favorite contemporary novel I have ever read. I could relate to Frances so much, it honestly hurt at times and got me really emotional. I never had friends from school that shared my passion for books, so no one ever understood me in that way, which is the reason why I could relate to the whole concept of school Frances and real France. It was done so well!

“Everyone's different inside their head.”

The friendship between her and Aled was beautiful and I am really glad it stayed platonic during the whole book. Their friendship reminded me of the friendships I have with some amazing girls I met on Instagram who are all just obsessed with books as I. With them I always feel like ME. They are all my Aled and this book made me appreciate them so much more.

“He smiled and looked away. 'Sometimes I think we're the same person...but we just got accidentally split into two before we were born.”

Don´t even get me started on the educational pressure that I feel like everyone at some point in their life has experienced.

In conclusion: This book is a gem and everyone should read it!

hannahrose_99's review against another edition

5.0

 

one of the most beautiful books about friendship i've ever read, maybe one of the only books about friendship i have ever read! it reminded me of how i've felt every time i've met one of my best friends for the first time, that feeling of falling in love with someone purely platonically. it made me want to go and hug all my friends! i was thinking so much about the ways my friends and i have shown up for each other during our hardest moments and how that's the best love i've ever felt! i love my friends!

also loooooved the discussion on the pressures of university. having graduated college already, i found i related these struggles more to just the idea of a capitalistic society in general, and the struggles of realizing that what everyone expects of you isn't maybe what you actually want. i related it to how now, as a twenty four year old, my level of success has so much less to do with my job and more to do with just making art and trying to be happy.

as i felt with heartstopper, i couldn't stop thinking about how much i would have LOVED this book in high school. wish i could send it back to 2014 tumblr hannah.

rashmi_taylorsversion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0