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bookishmillennial's review against another edition
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 ❤️🩹
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.
content warnings below ❤️🩹
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Outing, Acephobia/Arophobia, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
tbwhite23's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Animal death and Drug use
piperrhoads's review against another edition
dark
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death
pleione's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
4.5
love love love. kinda embarassing at points sorry
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, and Mental illness
Minor: Abandonment
odette_tbdk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Me inspiró a hacer mi propia cuenta de escritura. ¿Tengo que decir más?
Cómo con todos los de Alice, me sentí profundamente identificada con los personajes, especialmente con Frances y Aled. Yo también dependo de la validación académica y me gustan los podcasts, ¿ok?
Son personajes que te pueden llegar a frustrar, pero entiendes sus motivos, sus miedos, aspiraciones y cómo la vida adulta los confunde tanto. Ver como evolucionan y salen de sus moldes es hermoso. El final es el mejor que se le pudo haber dado.
Muchísimos puntos por tocar el tema de la demisexualidad en 2014. Alice for the win.
Definitivamente lo recomiendo (Welcome To The Night Vale, voy por ti).
Cómo con todos los de Alice, me sentí profundamente identificada con los personajes, especialmente con Frances y Aled. Yo también dependo de la validación académica y me gustan los podcasts, ¿ok?
Son personajes que te pueden llegar a frustrar, pero entiendes sus motivos, sus miedos, aspiraciones y cómo la vida adulta los confunde tanto. Ver como evolucionan y salen de sus moldes es hermoso. El final es el mejor que se le pudo haber dado.
Muchísimos puntos por tocar el tema de la demisexualidad en 2014. Alice for the win.
Definitivamente lo recomiendo (Welcome To The Night Vale, voy por ti).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Animal death, Body shaming, and Homophobia
Minor: Alcohol, Abandonment, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia
sisters26's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
- 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
3rd alice oseman novel i read and can i just say that they know how to break your heart and heal it at the same time. 💙
it reminded me a lot of the song matilda by harry styles, which obviously breaks my heart but it can also be really hopeful.
i love how friendship and human relationships where portrayed in the book. it talks a lot about the feeling of (not) belonging, doing things because you're "supposed to" and the first few years into adulthood can be pretty confusing and you should do what makes you happy. <3
pls pls watch the tw before starting because it can be a pretty heavy book to read.
it reminded me a lot of the song matilda by harry styles, which obviously breaks my heart but it can also be really hopeful.
i love how friendship and human relationships where portrayed in the book. it talks a lot about the feeling of (not) belonging, doing things because you're "supposed to" and the first few years into adulthood can be pretty confusing and you should do what makes you happy. <3
pls pls watch the tw before starting because it can be a pretty heavy book to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
smillaaa_'s review against another edition
emotional
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
eni_iilorak's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
Minor: Confinement and Sexual harassment
purplekat's review against another edition
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death
moomoo_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
- 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
4.0
Radio Silence was a very easy read. I flew through the book pretty quickly.
The storyline kept me engaged and I found it very refreshing. I don't think I've read a book where the two main characters, who are "male" and female, don't end up together at the end after building their friendship throughout the book. It was really nice to just have them be friends and not have any romantic undertones.
I enjoyed watching Frances and Aled's friendship blossom and grow over the course of the book, especially over their shared interest and love for Universe City, because it reminded me of how my best friend and I's friendship started.
I also really enjoyed the underlying plotline of Universe City. I definitely called what it was about and who it was for from the very beginning. But I liked theorizing and trying to figure what each episode that was shown was trying to say.
This book was definitely darker than I thought it would be, but that's on me for not checking for tags and warning and blindly assuming it'd be light and upbeat like Hearstopper, because it's Alice Oseman. I definitely teared up at some points, but I never got so invested that it emotionally wrecked me. It was pretty sad though near the end.
Overall, I would recommend reading. It was a good book.
The storyline kept me engaged and I found it very refreshing. I don't think I've read a book where the two main characters, who are "male" and female, don't end up together at the end after building their friendship throughout the book. It was really nice to just have them be friends and not have any romantic undertones.
I enjoyed watching Frances and Aled's friendship blossom and grow over the course of the book, especially over their shared interest and love for Universe City, because it reminded me of how my best friend and I's friendship started.
I also really enjoyed the underlying plotline of Universe City. I definitely called what it was about and who it was for from the very beginning. But I liked theorizing and trying to figure what each episode that was shown was trying to say.
This book was definitely darker than I thought it would be, but that's on me for not checking for tags and warning and blindly assuming it'd be light and upbeat like Hearstopper, because it's Alice Oseman. I definitely teared up at some points, but I never got so invested that it emotionally wrecked me. It was pretty sad though near the end.
Overall, I would recommend reading. It was a good book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Animal death