Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Radio Silence Book Review

I read Radio Silence by Alice Oseman at the right time. Like the main character Frances, I was also struggling on whether going to college was right for me. With that being said, I related to Frances the most because she is going through the stress of school, decisions about her future, and the possibility of rejection along with figuring out what she wants to study. Frances, Aled, Daniel, Carys, and Raine were great characters. Aled was a character who was going through problems of his own at home along with creating the podcast, Universe City. For him, Universe City is an escape from his home life concerning his emotionally abusive mom. Frances and Aled's friendship starts when she begins drawing fanart for his show without him doing its her until later on. Their friendship was the best thing about the book. The conversations about their interests, watching shows together and introducing each other to the things they like. The loved each other's style in clothes. I loved the references to pop culture and the way social media such as Tumblr and Twitter were used. Also, 3 out of the 5 characters were POC. The main character is of mixed race and is bisexual which she does talk about both in the book. I loved the different types of sexuality that is discussed in a normal conversation. There is one scene where Frances and Aled are talking about Daniel's sexuality and Frances mentions that she's bisexual in a casual way. Then, she goes on describing what that means to her because to her the general feelings of being with either person is the same. I loved that it was just something that is a part of who she is and doesn't define her completely. The same goes for Aled and Daniel. Daniel is gay and Aled admits that he's demisexual. They have a conversation about asexuality and what that means to Aled. Overall, I loved this book and it was more character driven than plot driven as Solitaire was as well. Speaking of Solitaire, the aftermath of it is mentioned and there are cameo appearances from some of the characters. I was happy because it gives an insight of where they are now than from the last time we saw them. In addition, it reveals that Frances was in the party scene in Solitaire, she was the person that Tori saw dressed as Doctor Who. I gave this book 5 stars and I can't wait to read more from Alive Oseman because both of her books were amazing.