Spoilery Book Reviews

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Back of the book

What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong?

Frances is a study machine with on goal. Nothing will stand in her way – not friends, not a guilty secret, not even the person she is on the inside. Then she meets Aled, and for the first time she's unafraid to be herself.

So when the fragile trust between them is broken Frances is caught between who she was and who she longs to be. Now she knows that she has to confront her past. To confess why Carys disappeared...

Frances is going to need every bit of courage she has.

My thoughts.

I really enjoyed this book.

Compared to Solitaire this book had so much more direction, captivating characters that I grew to care about and character growth. The tone of this book was more polished and the writing is still easy to read but it didn't feel childish and oversimplified. There were some cringey teenagery sentences but I understand those were for the characters' personality. Teenagers are a creature I no longer understand. I was really intrigued by Universe City and would love that podcast to come to life. As it stands, Oseman credited inspiration for that to Welcome to the Night Vale so I may have to check it out. I am picky about listening to stories though. I have to be able to tolerate the voice. Harry styles can read me a novel any day.

I love the focus on friendships. The message that being yourself finds true friends. I liked the exploration of the pressure to keep parts of our lives separate, to not shock people from the assumptions they've made about you. This can be a protective and an isolating factor. I really felt for Frances when she felt disappointed at being exactly who they think she is, but not being able to contradict them. I wish I had read more friendship love stories when I was a young teenager. I wish I had started earlier in putting true effort into strengthening and maintaining my friendships. I didn't realise how for granted I took seeing my friends every day at school as amounting to our whole friendship. Being a young adult is lonely.

Frances questioning her own behaviour and wondering 'how to be' around friends was an interesting and relatable topic to cover. I can't remember this being mentioned in other stories. Frances doubts herself for being annoying and clingy, too much, was this how friendships were supposed to look? Those kinds of fears are things I would automatically attribute to romantic relationship fears, and highlighting how they exist in friendships is great. Sometimes I think in romantic relationships we communicate more than platonic ones. You say 'we are dating' which implies or is verbally agreed upon, an amount of commitment from each person. Where is that for friendships? Where is the defining point where you commit to happy birthday messages and weekly/monthly meet ups? This is important to then determine if radio silence from one party signifies the relationship is over, or that something is just going on. How long without talking to someone is the relationship still alive?

Open and clear communication in friendships is scary (any vulnerability is scary) but really important. Admitting: I want to be your friend, I feel I don't have many strong friendships and I want to build that with you. Sharing your vulnerable platonic love without it getting weird and awkward. Letting it get weird and awkward and working through it anyway because the friendship is worth it. In the book, we have Carys as an example of friendship breakdown that was never salvaged, and when Frances feels a similar rift occurring between her and Aled, this time she fights for it.

Lastly, the group of friends driving all the way out to the university to check on Aled was sensational. I loved that they took this worrying situation seriously, that a person isolating themselves might be about them and not about you. That it wasn't ignored until something bad did happen. Without being able to completely admit it to themselves, they drove to check on Aled because they were really worried about his safety. They committed to doing what was in their power to do, and in this situation it was timely, and it was enough.

Alice Osemans' writing improved noticeably in this novel, keeping her same relatable and unique teenage characters, and telling an important story with direction and purpose. An easy read with a touching message at its core, that really speaks to me as I attempt to navigate friendships in young adulthood when everyone is too busy in their lives to look outside of themselves. I love this portrayal of navigating friendships as life changes, telling readers there will always be a friend out there who gets the 'weird' version of you.

TL:DR

Alice Osemans' work is still worth reading even if you hated Solitaire. Friendship, fandoms and being true to yourself. You can't make real friends behind a mask, vulnerability is the key to true connections.