Radio Silence Review

“Hello.

I hope somebody is listening.”

― Alice Oseman, Radio Silence

* May Contain Spoilers *

Radio Silence is a book I have been meaning to read for literal months. It has sat patiently waiting on my TBR since around April of 2019 and honestly I regret putting it off so long. It was just flat out amazing and I wish a million times over I had picked it up sooner.

Our story follows Frances Janvier, an intelligent and extremely witty high school student, as she tries to navigate her final year in high school and find her place in the world after. She is best described as an overachiever with an attitude and her dream was to study literature at Cambridge. That all changed when she met Aled, the creator of her favorite podcast. The two become fast friends and are nearly inseparable, working constantly on their labor of love Universe City. But no good thing goes unpunished…

~Pros~

♬ I identified so much with Frances. She reminded me so much of myself back in my junior and senior year of high school. She was so academically focused at the beginning of the book with her end goal being college and that resonated with me. I also threw everything I had into my grades and extra curriculars in the hopes I would get in to my dream school. But the real world is hard and I had to learn the hard way that the higher education system isn’t for everyone. It was fantastic to read a novel that doesn’t romanticize the college experience and encourages kids to follow their hearts instead of what is the norm.

♬ Also strongly identified with the School Frances/Home Frances duality. It was so accurate to how a lot of studious and overachieving student are. We dutifully wear our mask of perfection while in those walls, because we’ve been told quirks and oddities aren’t favored by the collegiate system. I was a huge gamer and an avid fanfiction writer back in high school but no one knew that. Fanfiction and Final Fantasy didn’t get you into Princeton. The only sliver of my personality that people at my school got to see was my love of books, because collegiate bound people are allowed to be obsessed with books. I spent most of this book wanting to give Frances a giant hug and tell her that she’s not alone.

♬ I loved the demi/ace representation in this book as well as the platonic friendship between Aled and Frances. It was great to read a story where the happy ending wasn’t dependent on dating. The struggle Aled was going through while trying to explain his position to Daniel was so beautifully written and felt so real. Again, just want to give these kids giant hugs.

♬ Lana is life. As a mom myself, I live for a well written and loving mother and Lana Janvier is that to a T. She is supportive of her daughter in whatever she wants to do with her life. She doesn’t push the collegiate path on her and instead encourages her daughter to be her own person. I also loved that she didn’t really get the whole Universe City thing, but she didn’t have to. It made her daughter happy and that was enough for her. Also loved how ready and willing she was to help Frances’s friends. She was just a good mom to every one she came in contact with.

♬ We stan a good villain in my house and boy was Carol Last a good villain. If Lana was the perfect representation of a good mom then Carol is the epitome on an abusive one. She is selfish, hateful, and resentful of her children. She drove her daughter away completely and couldn’t care less whether she is alive or dead while manipulating and emotionally destroying Aled. I spent the latter half of the book wanting to run this woman over with a truck. Watching this woman use her son as an emotional punching bag was utterly heartbreaking. She was so well written and really portrays how an abusive homelife can sabotage a kid’s chances of success.

~Cons~

♬ This book is heavy. It has a lot of weighted topics that some readers may have a hard time with. Sexuality, depression, abusive parental relationships, burnout, and the damage social media culture can cause are all covered in this book and that may not be everyone’s jam.

♬ I wasn’t super invested in the storyline between Frances and Carys Last. I understand that it was used as a way to get Frances involved in Aled’s homelife a little more deeply but it just felt unneeded. The passages about her wondering whether Carys ran away because she kissed her felt very childish, but then again these are teenagers and nativity is to be expected I suppose.

♬ I wish there was more to Raine. It felt like her character wasn’t really fleshed out and was only there to serve the purpose of connecting Frances’s home life to her school life. I also want to know more about Carys and Raine’s adventures because it seemed like they were really hitting it off.

♬ While I personally enjoyed the pop culture references and the use of Youtube culture and fan culture, it may not be everyone’s cup of vodka. The humor is very heavy handed and could be turn off for some folks.

To summarize, this book was so amazingly well written and really had me all in my feelings. Not many books have made me cry but the last 3 chapters of Radio Silence had me sobbing and yelling at the pages. It is 100% worth your time and you should read it immediately!