Book: Radio Silence
Author: Alice Oseman
Pages: 410 (Paperback)
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: February 25th, 2016
Goodreads Synopsis:
What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong?
Frances has always been a study machine with one goal, elite university. Nothing will stand in her way; not friends, not a guilty secret – not even the person she is on the inside.
But when Frances meets Aled, the shy genius behind her favourite podcast, she discovers a new freedom. He unlocks the door to Real Frances and for the first time she experiences true friendship, unafraid to be herself. Then the podcast goes viral and the fragile trust between them is broken.
Caught between who she was and who she longs to be, Frances’ dreams come crashing down. Suffocating with guilt, she knows that she has to confront her past…
She has to confess why Carys disappeared…
Meanwhile at uni, Aled is alone, fighting even darker secrets.
It’s only by facing up to your fears that you can overcome them. And it’s only by being your true self that you can find happiness.
Frances is going to need every bit of courage she has.
My Review:
I’m so glad I finally read Radio Silence. I loved almost every single bit of it. First of all, it’s diverse. There’s gay characters and bi characters and lesbian characters, plus there are POC. The main character is a black, bi girl who is top of her class and obsessed with a Youtube series and she’s just the girl from next door being awesome. Really, I’m a bit in love with Frances. And though she’s bi and some of her friends are gay or lesbian, this is not a coming out story, but sexuality is just handled like something normal (which it is). The characters are just the way they are, and basically everyone just accepts them as they are, they are normal teenagers living teenagers‘ lives. A lot oft he story is about the Internet, the good and bad sides it has and everything is so real. I could identify with so much during the whole story, because I’m a lot on the Internet as well, I saw facettes of myself in every character and that’s what made it so real and wonderful to me. I read the book in two sitting, because it was such a true, fascinating and realistic read and Alice Oseman has a very fitting writing style. It matches with the whole atmosphere of the story. The plot was also great and plausible, made even better through the characters. All of the main characters had a great character arc, developing from awesome to even more awesome. And what I maybe loved the most, is that everything is about friendship. Romance is nice and good, but the friendships portrayed in Radio Silence could also exist in the real world. There was only one thing I was absolutely not okay with, but that’s a character’s fault and it fits her character, so I wouldn’t say it is a negative thing to say about Radio Silence.
I can just repeat that I extremely loved the book.
Rating:
★★★★★/5
