Radio Silence: Book Review

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman—book review

Rating: 5/5 stars

"Being clever was, after all, my primary source of self-esteem. I'm a very sad person, in all senses of the word, but at least I was going to get into university."

Synopsis:

Frances Janvier spends most of her time studying. When she's not studying, she's up in her room making fan art for her favorite podcast, Universe City.

Everyone knows Aled Last as the quite boy who gets straight As. But no one knows he's the creator of Universe City, who goes by the name Radio Silence.

When Frances gets a message from Radio Silences asking if she'll collaborate with him, everything changes. Frances and Aled spend an entire summer working together and becoming best friends. They get each other when no one else does.

But when Aled's identity as Radio Silence is revealed, Frances fears that the future of Universe City, and--and their friendship--is at risk. Aled helped her find her voice. Without him, will she have the courage to show the world who she really is? Or will she be met with radio silence?

My thoughts:

I do not have enough words in my vocabulary to explain how much I love this book. I do not even know where to begin, because I have so many feelings for every character in this book.

I have heard so many great things about this book and was afraid to buy into the hype. But let me tell you, the hype is there for a good reason and is deserved.

The novel centers around these two best friends and the year they have before they go off to university. Their relationship is strictly platonic and no one is ever forced into a relationship by the end of the novel. The one relationship that does happen has been building since the two where children.

One of the many things that I loved about this book was the diversity. There is so much of it without it being their main characteristic and some are still figuring out their sexuality. I feel like a lot of YA novels or New Adult novels the characters know what they identify as from the start and we don't see their process and growth throughout it.

Aled Last identifies as demisexual/asexual but it is not until the end of the novel that he realizes this and mentions it to his boyfriend, Daniel. Their relationship is not perfect and they fight and struggle with communication--they go through difficulties that real couples go through. It is not some fairy tale relationship.

(Quick side note: I, myself, identify as asexual/demisexual and had yet to see any representation until I read Radio Silence. And to have to have it be so accurate and spot on made me cry. Tears of happiness, of course, but still tears.)

Another big theme in this book university. It battles the idea that you have to go to university and get a degree in some traditional subject to get a good job and make a lot of money. Or that you have to go to university at all.

"'You're an idiot,' said Mum, when I relayed to her the entire situation on Wednesday. 'Not an unintelligent idiot, but a sort of naive idiot who manages to fall into difficult situation and then can't get out of it because she's too awkward.'"

Our narrator and main character Frances Janvier is a study machine with her head set on getting into Cambridge University. But not her heart. She becomes best friends with Aled when he messages her fan art account on Twitter for Universe City, asking if she will do visuals for the podcast. Both of them work under fake names so they have no idea who each one is until a drunk incident at a party one night.

As they become best friends and drift apart and deal with mental health and abuse, they learn that you don't always have to follow the set path that everyone is taking. That it is okay to do your own thing, and be happy on your own terms.

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