Reviews tagging 'Acephobia/Arophobia'

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

14 reviews

emikateb's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

5.0


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bookishmillennial's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial 

This is a reflective coming-of-age young adult/teen fiction story told by Frances and explores themes of sexuality, friendship, identity, virtual spaces, choices, and meaning. 

Frances has always been laser-focused on getting into Cambridge, but her best friend Carys ran away (and she knows why), and then she begins working on the anonymous podcast project Universe City, with Aled, Carys’ brother. Aled’s online persona is Radio Silence, and Radio mentions many cryptic messages to February Friday on the podcast. Once the podcast gains traction and one of their identities is revealed, their trust for this new friendship is broken and they must reckon with their uncertain futures alone. 

I really appreciated the conversations that Frances had not only with Aled, but with Daniel (Aled’s best friend) & Rain. They discuss miscommunication, relationships, online infamy, curiosity & high school. It felt authentic to how messy high school felt for me, & I’m sure it will ring true for so many others. AO writes incredibly tender stories about young people with great care, & as a chronically online human, I thoroughly enjoyed the commentary on respecting online creators’ privacy & parasocial relationships. 

Aled’s mom is a POS & it shows in everything she did to make him miserable & make him pay for any “rebellious” behavior. One example… What she did to his dog was …. a wild, manipulative, abhorrent choice.


content warnings below ❤️‍🩹

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lizziaha's review against another edition

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  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

I never really got Aled in the heartstopper comics but after reading this I have a real soft spot for him. He’s so riddled with mental illness that he’s become incredibly relatable to me. The standout for me in this book was the relationships! Each one felt realistic and complex, with layers that peeled back as the book went on. I think that Alice Oseman just writes teenagers very realistically, and though I no longer relate to that, I can still appreciate that. The themes were a little heavy-handed in my opinion, but important nonetheless. 

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s1x0fh03s's review against another edition

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dark 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

5.0

my favourite book EVER

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purplesaturday's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

I really enjoyed listening to this book. The characters felt like real people I could actually meet, and I felt really connected to them. I wish I had a friendship like Frances and Aled’s.

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daryn'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? No

4.75


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mxpringle's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

This book definitely didn't live up to my expectations I had of Alice Oseman after reading Heartstopper, but it was still really powerful. I found a lot of the ways that the novel represented mental health and emotional abuse to be subtle, yet ultimately very heart rendering because of their subtlety. 

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rat_girly's review

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hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this! I found the protagonist, Frances, uncannily relatable. I loved how friendship was at the centre of the story rather than romance, and loved the development of the main friendship throughout the book. Oseman did an excellent job of demonstrating how parental emotional abuse and manipulation works. The mystery element of the storyline also had me intrigued, and I wish Universe City was real! Overall a really enjoyable read, much more so than Solitaire which I struggled to get through.

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captainoliimar's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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

4.25

I really enjoyed this book. I felt like I could relate to a lot of the characters, especially Frances and Aled. It took me back to being being in year 11 and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and figure out who I was going to be in university. The story felt fairly realistic while also having a mystery woven through it that kept me engaged and wanting to find out what happens next.
I really think I would have enjoyed this book while I was doing my A-Levels, though it does cover quite a few potentially triggering topics. 

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nevermoregothic's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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

5.0


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