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a_fucking_turtleduck's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Stalking, Grief, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
emikateb's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Animal death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
fanboyriot's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
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? Yes
5.0
🎙️ Podcast
đź’» Fandom Dorks
🤝 Wholesome Friendship
Radio Silence was such an amazing read. I seriously love this book so much. The way Alice Oseman can write platonic love gets me every time, the friendship between Frances and Aled was so wholesome and meaningful.
The plot to this was a bit darker than I was expecting but it was addicting to read. I will say though the timeline near Alex’s birthday got a bit confusing to me.
The characters all had their own problems and no matter how “perfect” people thought they were it wasn’t as it seemed. The loneliness, the stress of trying to figure out their future despite top grades Frances and Aled weren’t as perfect as they appeared. This book was funny, depressing, wholesome, and, lonely somehow all at the same time. And it was absolutely lovely.
I’d also like to say how iconic Frances’ mom was, absolutely loved her and her unicorn onesie.
Release Date: 23, April 2019
POV: First Person
Rep: Bisexual (MC), Demisexual (SC), Gay (SC), Depression, Burn Out, Anxiety, University Stress, LGBTQIA+ characters, BIOPIC characters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Abandonment, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Outing, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
shadereads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Animal death
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
bookobsessedmommy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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? Yes
4.0
I don't read many books written by actual young adults, but when I do I can usually tell by how well they capture how all encompassing everything feels at that age. The way you can bury yourself in a hole of maybes out of fear. Whil this isn't a romance, it is a beautiful love story. I really like seeing representations of philia (non-romantic) love in books, because it's way more common in reality. The affection between friends and family makes up so much of our daily interactions, but it doesn't get as much representation in books about love. Watching Aled and Frances struggle to articulate their feelings was so real and heartbreaking. Aled's mom is a real piece of work, and my heart hurts for any kid dealing with that kind of emotional abuse. I love all the eastereggs from Solitaire and Heartstopper, and now I need to go rewatch the Netflix series and see if I missed anything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Grief and Alcohol
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
lizziaha's review against another edition
- 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Outing, Stalking, Suicide, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Classism, Homophobia, and Racism
akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, and Self harm
Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
this was one of those books that make you want to get your life together on a random monday afternoon. that make you feel like actually, you can achieve everything you've ever wanted to achieve - at least for a few hours.
this book was exactly what i needed right now.
i read this in two days time. i couldn't put it down, really; i was fueled by the fun story, the short chapters and the general boredom i experience in my day-to-day life.
as someone who's roughly frances' age, thrives off academic validation and is addicted to it like bad drugs, i found the whole academia aspect covered very relatable and ergo also comforting in a way.
truly a nice read.
but i also want to get a little bit into the things i didn't enjoy, because unfortunately the similarities between the characters and me end there.
this book was undoubtedly and so very obviously young adult that some parts of it i just couldn't stand. frances' quirkiness, her constant complains about how 'no one really knows her', the melodramatic way all the characters react to anything happening in their lives, and their childish and uncommunicative behavior - it was a lot.
what i generally dislike about young adult books is that the authors tend to spell everything out for the supposedly young target audience, as was the case here.
most things were super on the nose, sort of cliché and there was a lot of telling instead of showing. whole sentences were sometimes repeated word by word a weird amount of times.
i also had a couple of issues with the story. started strong and stayed strong for a good 3/5 of the book, but ended up getting sillier and sillier as it neared its conclusion.
the climax was disappointing, actually goofy, fairly unrealistic, the characters' motivations utterly incomprehensible. most of the 'plot twists' and revelations were a little predictable as well.
now all of this sounds like i didn't enjoy the book, but i did. i really, really did. i liked the commentary on academia, which i think is still not talked about enough; i liked the dialogue and chemistry between the characters, especially between aled and daniel. at the beginning i didn't like daniel a lot obviously, but he grew to be my favorite character as the story progressed and my hate for aled, his personality and unpredictable character arc developed.
still, their dynamic was one of the things i enjoyed the most. i liked how intertwined their lives seemed to be and the way they communicated.
to sum it up: this one's easy to read, a little silly and frustrating sometimes, but still quick, enjoyable and occasionally really relatable. i know i just gave a hell lot of critique, but believe me, i'm giving this book four stars for a reason. it's got a certain charm to it that i can't quite put my finger on, nor name.
you'll simply have to take my word for it - or don't.
this book was exactly what i needed right now.
i read this in two days time. i couldn't put it down, really; i was fueled by the fun story, the short chapters and the general boredom i experience in my day-to-day life.
as someone who's roughly frances' age, thrives off academic validation and is addicted to it like bad drugs, i found the whole academia aspect covered very relatable and ergo also comforting in a way.
truly a nice read.
but i also want to get a little bit into the things i didn't enjoy, because unfortunately the similarities between the characters and me end there.
this book was undoubtedly and so very obviously young adult that some parts of it i just couldn't stand. frances' quirkiness, her constant complains about how 'no one really knows her', the melodramatic way all the characters react to anything happening in their lives, and their childish and uncommunicative behavior - it was a lot.
what i generally dislike about young adult books is that the authors tend to spell everything out for the supposedly young target audience, as was the case here.
most things were super on the nose, sort of cliché and there was a lot of telling instead of showing. whole sentences were sometimes repeated word by word a weird amount of times.
i also had a couple of issues with the story. started strong and stayed strong for a good 3/5 of the book, but ended up getting sillier and sillier as it neared its conclusion.
the climax was disappointing, actually goofy, fairly unrealistic, the characters' motivations utterly incomprehensible. most of the 'plot twists' and revelations were a little predictable as well.
now all of this sounds like i didn't enjoy the book, but i did. i really, really did. i liked the commentary on academia, which i think is still not talked about enough; i liked the dialogue and chemistry between the characters, especially between aled and daniel. at the beginning i didn't like daniel a lot obviously, but he grew to be my favorite character as the story progressed and my hate for aled, his personality and unpredictable character arc developed.
still, their dynamic was one of the things i enjoyed the most. i liked how intertwined their lives seemed to be and the way they communicated.
to sum it up: this one's easy to read, a little silly and frustrating sometimes, but still quick, enjoyable and occasionally really relatable. i know i just gave a hell lot of critique, but believe me, i'm giving this book four stars for a reason. it's got a certain charm to it that i can't quite put my finger on, nor name.
you'll simply have to take my word for it - or don't.
I can take a little beating now and then. I'm a tough one. [...] Even when my bone dust drifts over the City walls, I'll be living and I'll be flying, and I will wave and laugh. (p. 203)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Grief, Outing, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Violence, and Vomit