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A review by the_chaotic_witch
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
5.0
4.5/5☆☆☆☆
trigger warnings: anxiety, animal death, emotionally abusive parent (https://www.aliceoseman.com/content-warnings)
Spoiler-free first.
This book is a 2016 YA contemporary novel by Alice Oseman who's debut Solitaire was an immediate hit and blurbed "Catcher in the Rye for the digital age". Her second novel follows young Frances Javier head girl and soon to be Cambridge student whom no one expects to be spending all of her free time drawing fanart for the wildly loved sci-fi podcast Universe City and Aled Last shy, quiet, neighbor, who has a whole personality, history, and pain hidden behind his silence. This is a beautiful story about friendship, sexuality, and (mental)-child abuse while warming your heart and chilling you with dread and worry at the same time.
Besides Frances and Aled there is also Daniel Jun, childhood best friend of Aled and head boy at Frances' school. He tells us the story of what education can do for you and how it is a weapon you can brandish to overcome all the stones the world put into your wake especially when you are a person of color. Carys Last Aled's sister probably sums up the whole of the story with her message that you do not need anyone's approval but your own and that you can always make something of yourself.
This book tells the story about the importance of friendship and thinking about what you want from life. It's about learning who you are and to take a stand for yourself. About the realization that you do not have to follow anybody's plans of the future but your own and that your plans are allowed to change. And at the same time criticizing the educational system and various social stigmas.
(also there are a few cameos of other Osemanverse characters and the book starts off giving us what we didn't get from Solitaire itself: repercussions for the actions at the end of that other novel)
From here on out this is spoiler-filled. You have been warned.
After really quickly introducing us to all the important characters (Frances, Aled, Carys, and Daniel) and very much establishing their characters and their role in the story we immediately get to the core of the story: Even though at first she doesn't believe it herself Frances almost immediately tells Aled that "You don't really have to do anything you don't want to". This is one of the core themes of the story and carries throughout the whole book. It's not just that at the beginning of the story she doesn't believe in it, she thinks it to be false. But by the end of the story, our main characters will have internalized this message and they'll live it and the reader too will know that it is true even if they might still lack the knowledge or courage to act accordingly.
When Toulouse is asked to be the artist for Universe City and Frances tells her mom, this shows a wonderful mother-daughter relationship of support and common interests that is throughout the whole novel to be contrasted with the relationship Carol Last has with her children. The relationship Frances has with her mom is about talking and listening and actually hearing the other. It is about realizing and accepting and knowing what the other cares about and yes. In this relationship, it is mainly the mother listening to her child and supporting her to not pressure herself too much about school. And while that is pretty one dimensional, to be honest, this is a behavior pattern that should be supported and highlighted. So many parents out there clueless about what is going on with their children, who never taught their children to talk and express themselves, and because of that are awkward in reaction to their child's emotions and passions.
But this certain scene between Frances and her mother is also about awkwardness in fandoms and the power structure between creator and consumer which is also very interestingly portrayed in this book. The transition from Frances being part of the fandom, a "typical" fangirl, to her being on the creating side, of her being part of the fandom's content and theories and border-breaking. To receive the attention and having to handle it was maybe not as much highlighted as it should have been but it is there. And Frances has to deal with it. She does what she can and she makes mistakes. And that is human.
While we get to know Frances better, her struggles with School Frances versus Real Frances and her passion for Universe City we are introduced to one of the things that make this book so wonderfully relatable: the knowledge and portrayal of the awkwardness that is growing up. It's about not knowing who you are. About not knowing what you really want. About going along with what you believe is the path for you while capturing the awkwardness, confusion, and longing for escapism as well as the alienation of teens and adults. We are exquisitely introduced to the issue of finding yourself, who you are, what you like and want, and how to get there. To clinging to the one thing that makes you feel good and safe and not being able to express yourself properly while dealing with all the pressure from your environment, be it social, academically, or to fit someone's - anyone's - expectations.
This is not only about being clueless about who you are. It is also about that one thing. That one thing that makes you passionate. This one thing that you can put your heart into and that will stay yours and how you design it. And metaphorically and literally how hard it is to put yourself with all your passion and love out there into the world and be completely yourself.
But at the same time, it is not only focused on the inside. It's not just about figuring out who you are and letting the world rest at the side. It's also about respecting that in other people. The second huge theme here is that you can never ever know what is going on in somebody else's life. This is pointed out so many times: with Carys, Raine, all the hate mail and university and elitist critiques.
Now don't get me wrong when at the very beginning of this review I said that "This is a beautiful story about […] (mental)-child abuse, […]". I hope you know that's not what I mean with this sentence. This is a beautiful story yes. But it is also about child abuse. The social stigma against mental illness and mental abuse is still shockingly high and the refusal to acknowledge that such a thing exists is truly horrifying to see. Through the portrayal of Carol Last and how she interacts with her children, this is highlighted in a way that should find more recognition. It is about the same things the novel deals with already but in a distorted and painful way. Not only are those teenagers struggling with who they are, who they want to be and how to express themselves. Every chance of finding out these things is taken from them to shape them into obedient, smart and successful people. Carol Last is in a way this oppressive education system that is defied in this story anyway. To not follow the "universal" way of going to college and getting an academic job afterward is in itself immediately defying everything Aled and Carys' mother stands for. You could say she is the metaphorical system of education. Pressuring her children and making it all about the grades while punishing them when they do not succeed until only a hollow study machine remains.
But then on an opposing end, we have Daniel Jun who turns the table and uses the system instead of being used. He makes it his weapon to improve his life and ease some of his worries. Which is a very important contrast to be mentioned. Education isn't all bad. Hard work isn't all toxic. As long as you own it and not let it own you.
Frances is going through the same transformation even though she never was owned in such an extreme way as Aled and Carys under their mother's influence.
And yes, while Carol Last is all about the grade and pressure, she serves another narrational purpose. The bond between mother and child and the bond between abuser and abused. For the reader, it may be easy to see and say "just walk away". But it never is that easy. This is gaslighting and it is never easy to walk away from any kind of abuse.
Those are all very important topics and very dark. But at the same time, we got two other topics that are the light in the situation even though one of them seems to make things even darker at times: friendship and sexuality. This is not a story about sexual awakening but about being comfortable in who you are and who you like. Aled is demisexual and Daniel had never heard of that. And that is fine. Daniel doesn't understand but once Aled explains he does his best to accept Aled the way he is and that is the point. We never see how Daniel actually acts around this topic other than that one conversation but that one conversation alone was incredibly important. Because not only is it about speaking up for yourself and explaining yourself to the people you don't want to lose and so giving them a way to understand. It is also very important demi/ace representation that I, to be honest, have not seen yet - not just in literature but in media in general.
And it is about Frances and Aled's friendship. A friendship between a boy and a girl that does not turn out to be romantic. Which I really enjoyed. (And I was quite relieved by the Something Before We Continue note.)
It's about having common interests and being interested in another's well-fare without wanting to enter a romantic relationship with them. It is about purely caring for another human being and supporting them in all their choices and not turning from them because they've gone silent or shut you out.
On top of all of that, it is also about fandom culture. It is about the person behind the Creator. It is about the borders fandoms can break and the liberties they can take if they think something that was originally made for enjoyment and personal expression was now something that belonged to them. Yes. We can get passionate about something someone else made. We do often so and it is healthy. But when we begin to think that this someone else owes it to us to continue their work then we have to rethink the whole concept of fandom and of ourselves. No one owes us anything and to assume that the reason something is created is solely based on our existence and that we have a right to it is toxic to dangerous. The Creator may have fun and may want to make us happy but what it comes down to is that it is still their choice whether they create whether we get content to enjoy. And this pressure from fandoms is something that we should work on dispersing.
And to end this on a light note. Universe City.
At first, I was really intrigued and I still wish I could listen to that podcast, get lost in the world, the characters, the plot, and fever along with the fandom. But then it was such a "wonderful" portrayal of how Aled's world got darker and darker and darker. It showed how the personal situation can kill all joy and creative outlets and especially how his mental wellbeing went downhill since this podcast was the one thing he was totally immersed in and he would continue to do throughout everything because it gave him comfort. It was his light in the darkness, that one thing that was solely his. And that he started to do it irregularly and to be so completely passionless about it just showed in what a dark place he was at the moment and I think that is one of the things that broke my heart the most, to see his light go out.
Maybe not so light after all. Sorry about that.
Needless to say, I enjoy this book a lot! 4.5/5 ☆☆☆☆
trigger warnings: anxiety, animal death, emotionally abusive parent (https://www.aliceoseman.com/content-warnings)
Spoiler-free first.
This book is a 2016 YA contemporary novel by Alice Oseman who's debut Solitaire was an immediate hit and blurbed "Catcher in the Rye for the digital age". Her second novel follows young Frances Javier head girl and soon to be Cambridge student whom no one expects to be spending all of her free time drawing fanart for the wildly loved sci-fi podcast Universe City and Aled Last shy, quiet, neighbor, who has a whole personality, history, and pain hidden behind his silence. This is a beautiful story about friendship, sexuality, and (mental)-child abuse while warming your heart and chilling you with dread and worry at the same time.
Besides Frances and Aled there is also Daniel Jun, childhood best friend of Aled and head boy at Frances' school. He tells us the story of what education can do for you and how it is a weapon you can brandish to overcome all the stones the world put into your wake especially when you are a person of color. Carys Last Aled's sister probably sums up the whole of the story with her message that you do not need anyone's approval but your own and that you can always make something of yourself.
This book tells the story about the importance of friendship and thinking about what you want from life. It's about learning who you are and to take a stand for yourself. About the realization that you do not have to follow anybody's plans of the future but your own and that your plans are allowed to change. And at the same time criticizing the educational system and various social stigmas.
(also there are a few cameos of other Osemanverse characters and the book starts off giving us what we didn't get from Solitaire itself: repercussions for the actions at the end of that other novel)
From here on out this is spoiler-filled. You have been warned.
After really quickly introducing us to all the important characters (Frances, Aled, Carys, and Daniel) and very much establishing their characters and their role in the story we immediately get to the core of the story: Even though at first she doesn't believe it herself Frances almost immediately tells Aled that "You don't really have to do anything you don't want to". This is one of the core themes of the story and carries throughout the whole book. It's not just that at the beginning of the story she doesn't believe in it, she thinks it to be false. But by the end of the story, our main characters will have internalized this message and they'll live it and the reader too will know that it is true even if they might still lack the knowledge or courage to act accordingly.
When Toulouse is asked to be the artist for Universe City and Frances tells her mom, this shows a wonderful mother-daughter relationship of support and common interests that is throughout the whole novel to be contrasted with the relationship Carol Last has with her children. The relationship Frances has with her mom is about talking and listening and actually hearing the other. It is about realizing and accepting and knowing what the other cares about and yes. In this relationship, it is mainly the mother listening to her child and supporting her to not pressure herself too much about school. And while that is pretty one dimensional, to be honest, this is a behavior pattern that should be supported and highlighted. So many parents out there clueless about what is going on with their children, who never taught their children to talk and express themselves, and because of that are awkward in reaction to their child's emotions and passions.
But this certain scene between Frances and her mother is also about awkwardness in fandoms and the power structure between creator and consumer which is also very interestingly portrayed in this book. The transition from Frances being part of the fandom, a "typical" fangirl, to her being on the creating side, of her being part of the fandom's content and theories and border-breaking. To receive the attention and having to handle it was maybe not as much highlighted as it should have been but it is there. And Frances has to deal with it. She does what she can and she makes mistakes. And that is human.
While we get to know Frances better, her struggles with School Frances versus Real Frances and her passion for Universe City we are introduced to one of the things that make this book so wonderfully relatable: the knowledge and portrayal of the awkwardness that is growing up. It's about not knowing who you are. About not knowing what you really want. About going along with what you believe is the path for you while capturing the awkwardness, confusion, and longing for escapism as well as the alienation of teens and adults. We are exquisitely introduced to the issue of finding yourself, who you are, what you like and want, and how to get there. To clinging to the one thing that makes you feel good and safe and not being able to express yourself properly while dealing with all the pressure from your environment, be it social, academically, or to fit someone's - anyone's - expectations.
This is not only about being clueless about who you are. It is also about that one thing. That one thing that makes you passionate. This one thing that you can put your heart into and that will stay yours and how you design it. And metaphorically and literally how hard it is to put yourself with all your passion and love out there into the world and be completely yourself.
But at the same time, it is not only focused on the inside. It's not just about figuring out who you are and letting the world rest at the side. It's also about respecting that in other people. The second huge theme here is that you can never ever know what is going on in somebody else's life. This is pointed out so many times: with Carys, Raine, all the hate mail and university and elitist critiques.
Now don't get me wrong when at the very beginning of this review I said that "This is a beautiful story about […] (mental)-child abuse, […]". I hope you know that's not what I mean with this sentence. This is a beautiful story yes. But it is also about child abuse. The social stigma against mental illness and mental abuse is still shockingly high and the refusal to acknowledge that such a thing exists is truly horrifying to see. Through the portrayal of Carol Last and how she interacts with her children, this is highlighted in a way that should find more recognition. It is about the same things the novel deals with already but in a distorted and painful way. Not only are those teenagers struggling with who they are, who they want to be and how to express themselves. Every chance of finding out these things is taken from them to shape them into obedient, smart and successful people. Carol Last is in a way this oppressive education system that is defied in this story anyway. To not follow the "universal" way of going to college and getting an academic job afterward is in itself immediately defying everything Aled and Carys' mother stands for. You could say she is the metaphorical system of education. Pressuring her children and making it all about the grades while punishing them when they do not succeed until only a hollow study machine remains.
But then on an opposing end, we have Daniel Jun who turns the table and uses the system instead of being used. He makes it his weapon to improve his life and ease some of his worries. Which is a very important contrast to be mentioned. Education isn't all bad. Hard work isn't all toxic. As long as you own it and not let it own you.
Frances is going through the same transformation even though she never was owned in such an extreme way as Aled and Carys under their mother's influence.
And yes, while Carol Last is all about the grade and pressure, she serves another narrational purpose. The bond between mother and child and the bond between abuser and abused. For the reader, it may be easy to see and say "just walk away". But it never is that easy. This is gaslighting and it is never easy to walk away from any kind of abuse.
Those are all very important topics and very dark. But at the same time, we got two other topics that are the light in the situation even though one of them seems to make things even darker at times: friendship and sexuality. This is not a story about sexual awakening but about being comfortable in who you are and who you like. Aled is demisexual and Daniel had never heard of that. And that is fine. Daniel doesn't understand but once Aled explains he does his best to accept Aled the way he is and that is the point. We never see how Daniel actually acts around this topic other than that one conversation but that one conversation alone was incredibly important. Because not only is it about speaking up for yourself and explaining yourself to the people you don't want to lose and so giving them a way to understand. It is also very important demi/ace representation that I, to be honest, have not seen yet - not just in literature but in media in general.
And it is about Frances and Aled's friendship. A friendship between a boy and a girl that does not turn out to be romantic. Which I really enjoyed. (And I was quite relieved by the Something Before We Continue note.)
It's about having common interests and being interested in another's well-fare without wanting to enter a romantic relationship with them. It is about purely caring for another human being and supporting them in all their choices and not turning from them because they've gone silent or shut you out.
On top of all of that, it is also about fandom culture. It is about the person behind the Creator. It is about the borders fandoms can break and the liberties they can take if they think something that was originally made for enjoyment and personal expression was now something that belonged to them. Yes. We can get passionate about something someone else made. We do often so and it is healthy. But when we begin to think that this someone else owes it to us to continue their work then we have to rethink the whole concept of fandom and of ourselves. No one owes us anything and to assume that the reason something is created is solely based on our existence and that we have a right to it is toxic to dangerous. The Creator may have fun and may want to make us happy but what it comes down to is that it is still their choice whether they create whether we get content to enjoy. And this pressure from fandoms is something that we should work on dispersing.
And to end this on a light note. Universe City.
At first, I was really intrigued and I still wish I could listen to that podcast, get lost in the world, the characters, the plot, and fever along with the fandom. But then it was such a "wonderful" portrayal of how Aled's world got darker and darker and darker. It showed how the personal situation can kill all joy and creative outlets and especially how his mental wellbeing went downhill since this podcast was the one thing he was totally immersed in and he would continue to do throughout everything because it gave him comfort. It was his light in the darkness, that one thing that was solely his. And that he started to do it irregularly and to be so completely passionless about it just showed in what a dark place he was at the moment and I think that is one of the things that broke my heart the most, to see his light go out.
Maybe not so light after all. Sorry about that.
Needless to say, I enjoy this book a lot! 4.5/5 ☆☆☆☆