#like be so fr she was just a teenage girl under a lot of pressure and misogyny leave my girl ALONE!!

[instantlit]

Book review: Radio Silence

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Summary: Frances Janvier spends most of her time studying. When she’s not studying, she’s up in her room making fan art for her favorite podcast, Universe City.

Everyone knows Aled Last as that quiet boy who gets straight As. But no one knows he’s the creator of Universe City, who goes by the name Radio Silence. When Frances gets a message from Radio Silence asking if she’ll collaborate with him, everything changes. Frances and Aled spend an entire summer working together and becoming best friends. They get each other when no one else does. But when Aled’s identity as Radio Silence is revealed, Frances fears that the future of Universe City—and their friendship—is at risk. Aled helped her find her voice. Without him, will she have the courage to show the world who she really is? Or will she be met with radio silence?

Rating: ★★★★★ - If you’ve ever been a teenager, you’ll get it.

Full review under the cut!

 “In Distress. Stuck in Universe City. Send help.”

Well, I had a fantastic time reading this book.

And to think that I almost didn't read this. I almost missed out on Radio Silence, like WTF!

Seriously, STOP WRITING SYNOPSES THAT MAKE THE BOOK SOUND LIKE SOME GOOEY CLICHÉD ROMANCE FFS THAT'S SUCH A TURN OFF!!!!! I'm so mad!

Now, let me scream at you enthusiastically inform you about all the reasons why Radio Silence is an excellent book.

➽ It's an incredibly feel-good book. One of the reasons I went through this book so quickly is because I was just happy to be here, happy to read this story, to share this journey with the characters. I was never bored and, even though it's not an action-driven book and the short chapters don't end with cliffhangers, the story is still extremely compelling, and it makes you want to keep going.

     “I can take a little beating now and then, old sport, believe me. I've been in this City fr as long as I can remember, it seems. This hardly qualifies as a distress call anymore - by gods, if anyone was listening, I would have heard from you by now. I can take a little beating now and then. I'm a tough one. I'm a star. I'm steel-chested and diamond-eyed.”  

Now, I'm not saying that it's fluffy all the way through, there's an undercurrent of mystery, plus you definitely know that something dark is going on with Aled (can we talk about how University City is basically a metaphor for his mother? Or maybe not, because it just makes me want to rip my eyeballs out) which gives gravitas to the story but still manages to balance it perfectly with light-heartedness.

To me, it makes a perfect summer-read.

➽ Frances is a brilliant protagonist. She's just brilliant, period. Girl, you get me:

     “[...] but I really didn't want to go. Firstly, everyone was just gonna get drunk, which I could do perfectly well by myself in my den while watching Youtube videos instead of having to worry about catching the last train home or avoiding sexual assault.”  

I just love her so much because of everything that makes her who she is on the page: her awkwardness, her nerdiness (more on that later), her drive, her iinsecurities, her love. She keeps saying that she's a loner and doesn't get along with most people, but she's such a generous person when people make the effort of scratching the flimsy façade.

She's someone who struggles a lot with the pressure she puts on herself, and the expectations that she has about how her life should be, so she's not someone who opens up easily but, under that, she's worth it. She's the Samwise Gamgee, she's the Hermione Granger, she's just the kind of person you should want around.

     “And my drawings were all pointless anyway. It wasn't like I could sell them. It wasn't like I could share them with my friends. It wasn't like they'd me into Cambridge.”  

➽ It's ALL ABOUT THE FRIENDSHIPS! I know not everyone is all romance-repulsed as I am, but you have no idea how good it feels to have a story where, first of all, there's very little romance, and second of all, the focus is on the friendship. Like, friendship is actually the whole plot of the book! How great is that?

The relationship between Aled and Frances is the most precious thing. I also loved the characters who hooked themselves along the way because they make a really wholesome and heart-warming little band. Absolutely loved the banter as well. As "diverse group of friends who are more like family" is definitely a trope I'm into, this group checks all my boxes.

Just look at them!

Also, cookie points for the amazing mother-daughter relationship. Frances' mother is the boss and their relationship is just #GOALS.

➽ There's real racial and sexual diversity, and it's done brilliantly. The little bonus is that everything is nicely labelled. I know that some people don't adhere to the whole label-thing, but it's nice when an author doesn't shy away from these words. The second little bonus is that "demi-sexuality" is written, black on white, and I think it's magical.

I also love that none of it is the whole point of the book, there are "coming-out moments", which just naturally happen when you become friends with someone new. These moments are generally received with a shrug, like it's no big deal. To me, the whole thing feels really organic and, at least so far, kind of reflect every interaction of this type that I've ever experienced.

➽ I'm going to write this next point exactly how I wrote it on my phone while I was taking notes: "they're all giant nerds omg uwu" And it's woven into the story so well, too. It's all in the details: it's in the way they decorate their rooms, in their clothes and accessories (like, who doesn't have one object/piece of clothing with their Hogwarts House on it?)... They don't have to talk non-stop about Harry Potter or Avengers, it's all the little things that are integral parts of their lives. So, props to Alice Oseman for doing it right.

➽ It is so, so very relatable. I never know how these types of books will fare in the future, because they're so full of current pop-culture references, of memes and social media that are so quickly outdated (I mean, Vine is mentioned, and it's already ancient history), they're so anchored in their time that they're immensely fun to read in the moment.

Fortunately, the message remains the same. I seriously would have loved to read this book when I was 17 but, even so, there are so many moments that made me reminisce or that are still true: the whole fandom side of Tumblr is still very familiar to me, the breaking down because you're putting too much pressure on yourself and you just can't fucking write this particular essay (*sigh* good times...), the whole Cambridge interview was so relatably cringey, it gave me war flashbacks.

It's maybe a little over-dramatic at times, with a large dose of miscommunication, but those are the only flaws I could find, so who cares?

It's a fantastic book and, if you've ever been a teenager, Radio Silence will get to you, and you will get it in return.