Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Radio Silence

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

73 reviews

oleana's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book was a bit difficult for me to get through, and it felt a bit messy and confusing during bits, but overall, I think it will really stick with me. There were really strong characters and moments for those characters, as well as relationships built over the course of the book. The plot was lacking in bits, and the pacing was inconsistent, in my opinion. I thought it showed really beautifully how a friendship can be built and how two people can love each other so platonically. I loved that it was a story about friendship love and not romantic love, and I loved how diverse in ethnicities and sexualities the characters were. This was not one my favorite books of all time, but it was sweet and lovely. I recommend it to anyone who has no idea what they want to do in life and is stressed about school and college, or to someone who knows EXACTLY what they want to do.

Content Warnings

the_embodiment_of_chaos's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

amirarahim's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Man, I've cried so many times reading this. This has been better than I expected; simple prose, but plot and dynamics are layered. There are moments where I didn't expect the story to go there, and it's refreshing to see these characters, men and women, learn to be emotionally vulnerable. Whenever they cry, I feel like crying too. Before wrecking my heart, I genuinely laughed as well. This is a perfect and witty Internet Era coming-of-age comedy.

Content Warnings

clementinedays_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

jil_m's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.75

Wow. Such a good book! I am speechless. Alice Oseman really is the Jane Austen of Gen Z. The characters are so diverse, so powerful and so well written, there is no way you can’t love the main characters. I especially am very fond of Raine. Always supported Frances wherever she could. I think this might be one of my new favorite books. It’s so original, modern, diverse, well written and well thought out. The only thing I would like to add is the fact that we knew a lot about the concept of university with, but we didn’t really got to know a lot about the story. We basically got thrown in the middle of a fire hoping that we’d escape ourselves. A part from that, a book that will carry my heart and tears.

Content Warnings

alyshkalia's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

Content Warnings

basilgayward's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A

3.5

Content Warnings

books_my_beloved's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted relaxing

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

4.25

Content Warnings

longlost's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful tense 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

5.0

He hung up. I felt my stomach drop at his final words.
"Hello, I hope somebody is listening," I said, under my breath.
Words I'd spent the last two years listening to over and over, words I'd sketched again and again inside speech bubbles and on my bedroom wall. Words I'd heard in a male voice and a female voice, changing every few weeks, always in that classic World-War-II old-time radio accent.
The opening line of every Universe City episode.
"Hello. I hope somebody is listening."

Happy to say that this makes three out of three stories from Alice Oseman that I've read and enjoyed wholeheartedly. The way they handle the relationships between their characters feels so authentic, and it's definitely one of my favourite things about her books so far. The tenuous build of Frances and Aled's friendship,

the midway point where accusations are made and misunderstandings are had that so often feel contrived in other books, yet here feel perfectly real and understandable for these characters.

I read this book over the course of a few days, and every time I put it down to do something else my mind always wandered back to these characters and what happened next and how everything would work out, if it did.

Both Alice Oseman books I've read previously - Loveless and Heartstopper - felt like a very personal read to me. As an aroace person Loveless was very important in helping me round the corner to understanding my identity, and while Heartstopper didn't hit quite as many personal beats, ultimately it was a story that brought me a lot of comfort and that I'll continue to read as future updates to the comic come out. Radio Silence was no different in that it almost felt like it was written for me - Frances and her determination to get into Cambridge, and the way her dream that had been driving her for the entire book turned out to not be quite exactly what she wanted. Aled's attempts to reach out to February Friday through Universe City - the worldbuilding of Universe City in general was one I particularly enjoyed, and a story that I wish we could explore more in-depth. The depth we were slowly given in characters like Daniel or Raine, and how their relationships interconnected with both Frances and Aled. The story behind Carys and her mysterious disappearance.

Alice's attention to character really shines here - the development of Frances and Aled's relationship feels incredibly authentic and heartwarming,

while the subsequent breakdown of it after Aled's secret is revealed never feels cheap or unjustified - you understand why Aled is so hurt, and as you continue to follow the story it begins to make even more sense.

Aled's story throughout the book was hard to read.

The scene where Frances tries to comfort him after he learns his mother has had his childhood dog put down while he was away at university was heartbreaking,

and the glimpses we get into his fraught relationship with his mother felt painfully familiar. I related to him more and more with every turn of the page,

and the fact that the book ends with Aled out of his abusive situation and pursuing the things he loves, happy and surrounded by people who love him, couldn't have possibly meant more to me.

It was also painfully easy to relate to Frances -

her determination to study English literature at Cambridge, even though it didn't make her happy, because university and a good-paying job are what's ingrained into us throughout the school system. As someone who struggled with school and grades myself, her storyline meant a lot to me.

Alice Oseman weaves the mystery of Carys and Aled's family life superbly - they reveal the right information at the right moments, keeping you in the dark about facts until it is absolutely necessary for them to be revealed, and when they are it makes previous sequences of the book even more impactful. Her skill at character-building and writing relationships, including the problems that come with them, really shine in this book. Radio Silence is a book I'll definitely be coming back to in the future to revisit these characters and their stories again.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

GRAPHIC: Child abuse / domestic abuse / emotional abuse: The book slowly reveals that

Aled faces severe emotional abuse from his mother. Carys, before her disappearance, also faced emotional and physical abuse.

Stalking: Both Frances and Aled are subjected to online stalking during

the reveal of the creator of Universe City.

Toxic relationship: Aled is shown

to feel trapped in his abusive relationship with his mother.

MODERATE: Abandonment:

Carys, fed up with the abuse she faces from their mother, runs away prior to the book's events, which eventually leads to Aled becoming the main victim of the abuse.

Alcohol: Alcohol is present at several nightclubs / parties during the book.

Frances, Aled and Daniel also get drunk together in one scene that goes on for a few chapters.

Animal cruelty / animal death:

While Aled is away at university, his mother has Brian, their childhood dog, put down.

Cursing: There is cursing throughout the book. Fire / fire injury:

Carys talks about an incident with her mother in which she burned some of Carys's clothes, and Carys burnt her hands trying to retrieve them from the fire.

Gaslighting: Aled's mother. Mental illness: Towards the end of the book

Aled is clearly not doing well.

There is never a name given to the feelings, but it may be uncomfortable to read. Physical abuse:

Carys is at the very least implied to have experienced physical abuse from their mother. In one scene Aled's mother forcefully cuts his hair and inadvertently cuts his palm.

MINOR: Blood:

Aled's palm is noted to be bleeding after the scene in which his mother forcefully cuts his hair.

Injury / injury detail:

We are given some detail on both the injury to Aled's hand after his hair is cut, and to Carys's burned fingers.

rayne_1906's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.75

2 hours 27 minutes - This was one of the most emotional books I've ever read, I think in part to just how relatable the subjects discussed are. Academic pressure, fear of failure, the idea that you must be the best at everything and that you have this pre-determined path you cannot waver from, are all ideas presented and challenged in this book. The characters experiencing these problems are all loveable and the reader cannot help but sympathise and feel for them. I didn't like the inclusion of the transcripts. I found them boring and hard to follow - it was a good concept but the execution didn't match the idea. However, all in all, this was a wonderfully written book.

Content Warnings

More...