Radio Silence

“I wonder- if nobody is listening to my voice, am I making any sound at all?” ~Radio Silence

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman: 2.5/5 Stars

Synopsis:

This a previously-published edition of ISBN 9780007559244

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

Frances is been a study machine with one goal. Nothing will stand in her way; not friends, not a guilty secret – not even the person she is on the inside. Then Frances 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 Frances knows that she has to confront her past. To confess why Carys disappeared…

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

Engaging with themes of identity, diversity and the freedom to choose, Radio Silence is a tor de force by the most exciting writer of her generation.

My Review:

I’ll keep this review spoiler-free. I don’t think I would be able to spoil it even if I wanted to haha.

I know the rating I gave this book is pretty low. Only 2.5 stars. However, I don’t dislike this book or anything. I actually kinda enjoyed it and it’s a pretty good read. I just didn’t really connect with it that much and I honestly didn’t get attached to any of the characters. I also felt that sometimes the writing wasn’t the best, but it’s not like it was bad overall.

This is a very diverse book so if you’re looking for that then you’ll probably like this one. However, I feel like maybe the author tried a little too hard to be diverse by making pretty much every character “diverse”…if that makes any sense. There’s nothing wrong with diversity, obviously, but when all the characters are diverse it just seems like maybe the author was trying too hard to have the book stand out. Maybe that’s an unpopular opinion, but oh well!

I thought the characters were all right but I wasn’t able to connect with any of them or their lives so it kind of made me care a little less about them. I would probably say Aled was my favorite character though. I liked how he was very quiet but also super creative. He was just a character I liked most.

I felt like the story was kind of weird…not bad…different which is fine. We don’t need contemporaries that are all the same. However, I feel like it was just kind of strange…the way things happened. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t know what might be considered a spoiler to someone. I just felt like maybe things could have been a little less dramatic all the time. Some things were overly dramatic and they made choices that didn’t even make any sense.

I will say that I like that the relationship between Frances and Aled was platonic. That they stayed such good friends and nothing had to be romantic about them. It was pretty cute. They had a really good friendship and I liked how close they became and how much they cared for one another.

I thought the book ended kinda strangely…I don’t know how to describe it without possibly spoiling it. It was a pretty long book and I feel like maybe the ending was too quick? No…I don’t think that’s it. I think the ending just wasn’t what I was expecting and I’m not really sure I like how it ended. Maybe that’s it. Maybe I just didn’t like the ending haha.

Overall it wasn’t a bad book, but I didn’t think it was anything amazing or special either. It was an okay book for me. I think maybe I did have a little bit higher expectations since it has so many high reviews. I wouldn’t say I was let down but I definitely wasn’t super impressed or anything. I would recommend this book though because I’m sure you’ll like it if you love diversity, drama, contemporaries, etc.

I’m sorry this review isn’t the best haha. I know it’s kinda jumbled but I hope y’all enjoy it anyway! Have a great day y’all!

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