Radio Silence

I LOOOOVE ALICE OSEMAN'S BOOKS!!!! The emphasis she puts on friendship makes me so happy!!

El libro está bastante bien aunque el pacing es un poco confuso. Lo peor es la traducción de mierda que tiene fandom books

This book is not a happy one, but it has some very important messages about friendship, family, the education system, choosing your path in life, the over performative culture etc.
I loved that there was no romance in the center of the story and it also had great representation (gay/bi/demi). Just be careful, because it can be very triggering (suicidal thoughts, depression, mental abuse, family abuse

Something about Oseman's books, the main character always seems familiar. It's funny to me how you get to write about nerds in books and are guaranteed to have all the readers identify with the protagonist in some way. So like, yup gone through that, glad that phase is over.

Also her books don't feel like a creepy adult being voyeuristic about teens falling in love. No romance in this one, not a spoiler, they're clear about it early on. It's a puzzle you get to figure out, about the backstory of the characters how they fit with each other, a definite page turner and it does get emotional.

My only problem was that the ending felt rushed. I like a long last chapter where i get to enjoy the characters being happy for once, most books seem to give us barely a blurb.

I was obsessed with this book for the last 2 days and I finished it in 2 days so it is thinkable how much I was in this book.

i literally read this book in one sitting help

anyways i'm gonna talk to my therapist about this book brb

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

LOVE IT!!! It's really relatable and the story is just great! The things that happen are kinda predictable but that's perfectly fine because it has all the wholesome vibes! If you love Heartstopper you will definitely love this!!!!

Everyone's different inside their head.

Such a soft book. My heart is full of joy.

This is your average YA book, and as such there is a serious amount of cringe in it. But it was still enjoyable, and heartwarming at times. The quote about the Tamagotchi nightmare still makes me laugh.

Finally! A book about friendship that doesn't get overpowered by romance!!

I loved this way too much. Might've cried a bunch of times because of the perfect narration in which the narrator sobbed so many times, I had a hard time controlling my own tears.

Plot: 5/5
Narration: 6/5
Characters: 6/5

Frances was so pure and sweet and lovely. Where do I get a friend like her? Aled was awesome. I read this book because he showed up in the Nick and Charlie novella and I wanted to read more about him.

Raineee was my third fav character. She was soooo niceeee. Also the scene with her stroking her car near the end made me laugh.I was mad at Daniel for half the story but then I just felt bad for him after listening to his side. Also, once again, the narrator cried during that one Cambridge scene and I just lost it too.

God, I hated their crappy mother. She genuinely scared me and I was so worried that it might end badly.I really liked the podcasts ☺️ The audiobook actually had different voices for different Universe City characters like the book mentioned.

* Also, so many Tumblr mentions. I guess this book was written during a time when Tumblr was famous and we didn't have Instagram yet? Because my god, I get annoyed when a book mentions social media over and over again. But this one did it just right.

Fav scenes:
The birthday night.The discussion at the very end in the university dorm.
Cambridge interview - before and after.Raine helping Frances - at the party and the train station.

okay, i literally don't even know what to say
it was so good????????
like omg???
like, holy shit, frances is just so relatable and amazing and i love her and i love everything and omg it was just so good what the hell!!!
also, side note, alice oseman is twenty five years old and has written like eight books, i am in literal awe, especially if all of them are THIS GOOD??????????
i'm just completely entirely wholeheartedly one hundred percent in love with this and i can't. oh my god i love it so much.
thank you, that's it
x

took a path of normalizing toxic dormant relationships and it really didn't work for me. Aled is a piece of garbo

Story: 6 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 6
Prose: 6

This is my first contemporary book and I've always read fantasy. I decided to give it a go because it was my fav booktuber's fav book. It was okay. Emm, I guess i just stick to fantasy.

man i've seen this book everywhere and when i started reading it i was like hmmm how good can this actually be??? and the answer is that this book is DEFINITELY worth the hype. the best way i can describe it that its similar to fangirl but with more diverse characters and more intense complicated (but very well done) plot lines. it is SO GOOD. pls read this. one of my new favourites :””))

4,5 stars.
I really really loved this book, it just read so quickly.

4'5*
i just,,,, i just finished it, i read it in a day, and i don't think i can make any sense right now cause im so emotional. i loved it so much, its so unique and deep and different, I've never read anything like this before. usually im not into contemporary stories but this was captivating and relatable. im so thankful a book like this exists, one that speaks about healthy f/m friendships!! we need more of that. i just wish i had found this book earlier and not now that im on my last year of college. beautiful.

perhaps it's because i listened to the audiobook, but i really didn't enjoy this much.

there were a lot of good take home messages, especially in terms of inhibiting creativity and personal passions for success and financial well-being (no, kiddies, college is not for everyone). i also liked how all the different romantic relationships were addressed and not overly highlighted.

however, i wasn't a fan of the use of social media and technology to convey parts of the story. call me old fashioned, but a description of these “tumblr asks” would've been less painful than having to hear the audiobook narrator slowly read the urls of some of the involved blogs. maybe it's because i'm totally over my tumblr phase but i could've done without it.

wanted to love this book a lot more than i did, but i fell asleep at several points and cringed a lot in others. i see why it's popular and it's definitely a great story to tell, but not my cup of tea.

Pros:

- Effortlessly diverse: There are bisexual, lesbian, gay, and asexual characters without those labels defining them. The discussions of these were handled so delicately as well. The main character is mixed race which contributes to her life experiences, again, without becoming her only identity. Depression and social anxiety are alluded to very authentically. I know I'm missing more forms of rep in this book, which is incredible to say because I'm usually hard pressed to find even one of these in some books. It was extremely well done, probably one of the best books in this regard. If this were all the book was being rated on, it would absolutely be 5 stars.

- The teenage characters felt very true to life, with the uncertainty of the future, the extreme waves of emotions, the way everything feels so hopeless at times and you feel like an imposter. These characters are trying to find themselves while trying to understand their friends as well.

- Most of the characters are very well developed, with their own motivations and desires that make sense. They were real people, even when they did asshole or selfish things.

- The dialogue was natural and realistic which I feel like is rare in YA.

- Excellent portrayal of academic pressure.

- Frances was able to reevaluate her assumptions of who Raine was and recognized that she was wrong about Raine, finally seeing her as the loyal, trustworthy, and selfless person she is. Loved this so much.

- The depiction of fandoms and internet culture was absolutely spot on. The invasion of privacy “YouTube famous” folks go through, the fan art/shipping/story theories that is constantly discussed and shared, and disgusting comments from internet trolls felt incredibly realistic. Kinda wish it had been explored more though.

- If I was allowed only one word to describe this book, it would 100% be “RELATABLE” (yes, in all caps).

- The authentic Englishness was fantastic. Reminded me of my family and our hometown in England!

Cons:

- Writing style: It was too casual and inconsistent for me. Sometimes it felt like I was supposed to be in Frances's head and other times it was like she was telling me her life story. I'm not one for random run-on sentences either unless the whole book is written in a stream-of-consciousness style. I also felt a disconnect with the more emotional parts of the story because of this.

- Carol Last is a fairly cartoonish antagonist. With how well developed the other characters were, I felt let down by her. She seemed a bit ridiculously villainous, specifically with her Scooby-Doo-esque “not so fast you mangy kids” arrival at Aled's uni. And the dog death... It was unnecessary and the same result could have been accomplished differently (she could have let it run away or dropped it off at a shelter, or the major issue could have been his room and destroying deeply sentimental items).

- Pacing: I think there could have been a little bit more trimming in the first half of the book in particular. More time could have been spent developing the main conflict and resolution. The end was very abrupt.

- The transcript excerpts of Universe City were throwaways for me. This is absolutely a personal preference, as some people will love the fiction-within-fiction aspect. I don't like when I have to reread a book for something to actually make sense.

Random thoughts:

- I loved the platonic male-female friendship, but I wish I hadn't known about it going in. I think I would've cheered more when I read the chapter in which Frances straight up tells the reader they weren't going to get together. As it was, I was like, “Yeah I know.”

- I usually don't care for Contemporary fiction. I find it boring reading about people who could be my neighbors. I find I get that feeling of escapism better from other genres in fantastical worlds or settings. However, I enjoyed this quite a bit.

- I have an issue with how people nowadays, which truthfully Alice Oseman captured perfectly, ending their declarative statements with goddamn question marks (ex: “i have a jumper from the same website?? i'm literally wearing it right now?”). This isn't a critique of Oseman, I just hate it. To those of you who do this, please stop. I'm begging you.

- I feel like I'm too old for this book to really impact me. I've already done the whole “omg what is my future?!” thing, made my mistakes, and learned from them. As many people have said, it would've been better to read it in high school.



[Edited my review after the Papercut Book Club live discussion cause everyone made excellent points that made me think!]

EDIT: dropping my rating to 1 star,, I really hate this book lol.
-
This book was really hyped but what for? I felt like nothing really happened, you could skip the first half of the book if someone gave you a 10 second explanation of what happened. The first half of the book was so slow and nothing happened, the book could've been half the size.

Also just unrealistic but that's what books are for, right?
The characters did not seem real, I don't know how to explain it but they had so much personality but also not enough at the same time.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm SCREAMING this reading year is amazing

EDIT: BTW i forgot to say it in my original review but i hc aled as nonbinary that's it that's all i have to say

I went into Radio Silence with my guard up because I've heard it compared a lot to Eliza and Her Monsters, which I had a hard time with. But then it turned out to be the type of book that's embarrassing for me to read when I'm out because I can't stop smiling at it.

It was very refreshing to read a book—especially a young adult book—where two characters care deeply for one another, but the nature of their relationship is not romantic/sexual.
Too often, I find romance is invoked to justify a character being concerned about another character. People can love each other without being in love. In fact, friendships are some of the most powerful and needed relationships people have.

It was also refreshing not to have to read another book where a character is hiding something huge that you know must come out eventually. I'm tired of stories slowly building to an obvious reveal, because I become frustrated by lack of communication in characters and lack of originality in plot.
Oseman let her characters share secrets throughout the book, while still keeping enough obscure that neither the reader nor any character had everything figured out.

I was taken with Oseman's representation of the stress placed on young people in school—by teachers, parents, peers, themselves. It makes people “good” at school feel terrible. It makes people “bad” at school feel terrible. In their formative years, people stop sleeping well, eating well, letting themselves have fun or even have friends.
Students tie their self-worth to exam results and college acceptance letters. They have trouble conceiving of any possible future without securing escalating academic achievements. This is a hugely prevalent issue facing teenagers and young adults, and I appreciate Oseman placing such a focus on it.

It's definitely a longer book, especially for a YA contemporary, but the chapters are typically short and it has mixed media components that make it go by quickly. It discussed race, sexuality, and mental illness sensitively and intentionally. Frances' mom was the best. This is a new favorite of mine.