Radio Silence

rating- 4/5buddy read with pratha < 3 book trigger warnings: depression, anxiety, emotional abuse, animal cruelty(review might contain minor spoilers)!“I wonder- if nobody is listening to my voice, am I making any sound at all?”― Alice Oseman, Radio Silencesometimes it takes me a while to really understand how much i like a book. this is one of those books. i bumped this up on my tbr so I could do a buddy read. (never done one before and loved it. absolutely recommend). Going into the book, I expected a thriller (just me?) with plot twists and surprises. There were surprises for sure, but the book was far from a thriller with out of the world plot twists. Ironically, realism was one of the things that stood out to me in this book. The author was able to portray themes of teenage emotions, depression, anxiety and academic pressure in an extremely genuine manner (probably the best i've seen in any book). I loved how different this book was from anything else i've ever read. A podcast based sci-fi show? diversity and representation that didn't seem forced? layered characters with unstructured thoughts and real emotions who don't have everything figured out? also wait for it: platonic male and female relationships. it had it all.Honestly though, this is something i have to say: if you relate with everything Frances and Aled had to go through, i'm sorry. i'm sorry that the education system has brainwashed you into believing your grades define you, and low grades would mean you're destined for failure. that is absolutely not true. grades are just letters at the end of the day, and that's about it. it's upsetting how grade oriented our learning is. I'm indian, so throughout the years i have been judged only on the basis of my grades, so much so, that i didn't really see how it affected me. Like Frances, i put all my energy into just proving my academic potential and later struggling to meet those high expectations i set for myself. Needless to say, this book resonated with me. It truly makes you feel like somebody's listening:) “I got four A grades [...] I expected to be happy about it. I expected to be jumping up and down and crying from joy.But I didn't feel any of that. It just wasn't disappointment.”“It must be useful to be smart,” she said and then laughed weakly. She glanced down and suddenly looked very sad. “I'm like, constantly scared I'm going to be a homeless or something. I wish our whole lives didn't have to depend on our grades.”The only reason it was a 4 star read for me was because of the simplicity of the plot (but looking back i think this adds to the realism aspect of the book)In my opinion, [b:Radio Silence 25322449 Radio Silence Alice Oseman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1448470869l/25322449.SY75.jpg 45055773] is one of the most realistic and authentic contemporary books i've read. I couldn't put it down and was constantly thinking about the characters, who are again extremely well written. I would recommend this to anybody who has struggled or is struggling with anxiety and academic pressure (which, let's face it, is pretty much every teenager ever.)edit: also found out that this existed, months after reading the book and now i like it even more:- https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRHhZ2y6V9ygqpZpCByznhvnVCrPMJ8Aq