Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Radio Silence

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Alice Oseman just understands today’s teenagers in a way that very few other authors do - especially the teenagers who don’t “fit in”, who would rather spend an evening inside scrolling on Tumblr than out socialising. They write realistic young characters who have flaws, make mistakes, and are unashamedly cringe, and they are so relatable. The protagonist of Radio Silence, Frances, has built her entire identity around being clever and responsible and one day going to Cambridge, but what she doesn’t realise is that people and goals can change dramatically over the years. What happens when you have worked your whole life to be someone you no longer are? Frances, like so many other characters in Oseman’s books, makes me feel extremely seen and validated.

Content Warnings

panic_at_the_bookshelf's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

I am a big fan of how this book focussed on friendships. The bit of romance that occured was only a side-story. The characters felt so real, because they had such natural reactions and each one of them had realistic strengths and flaws.

I think Alice Oseman showed us another perspective on friendships, romance, family/parents and university. Romance isn't the most important thing in life, at least not to everybody out there. Friendships are amazing but they face struggles as well. Parents don't always know what's best for you and definitely don't always do what is best for you. This story showed how parents can be pretty toxic too, however there weren't a lot of explicit scenes making this book a bit easier to get through without making it seem less important to do something about an abusive connection you have.

The only thing I struggled with were the sometimes chaotics timeskips. Sometimes I wasn't fully sure what exactly was happening and where which character was, making the story a bit messy to follow here and there.

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val_theburrowofstories's review

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

3.5

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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

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akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

This is such a beautiful book.

Frances and Alex’s relationship was so lovely, it reminded me of my friendship with someone very close to me.

I loved that it focused on them being platonic, with the main romantic pairing being a plot point but not the main focus.

This is a really relatable read. I would have related to it so much when I was 18, to an extent I’m glad I didn’t read it then. Now that I’m recovering from depression, I can see myself in Aled and I can see that I too have a road to recovery available to me.

I’m glad he wasn’t included in Heartstopper (the adaptation) bc he’s too complex a character for a simple cameo. I love him, and I love Frances.

She’s so funny and I understand having a school personality and a friend one. I understand her struggles. This isn’t a 5 star for me, but goddamn this is a fucking fantastic book.

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gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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? No

4.0

I thought that this was a very authentic view of these two teenagers, Frances and Alex. They are both facing pressure from family, academics, and the wide Internet because of their podcast.

I really loved being able to see how they navigated the difference spheres that they need to go between. Saddened but understanding that sometimes they needed to hide who they really are for safety, but eventually being able to express themselves fully.

Content Warnings

pamelasoto's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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