Radio Silence

Truthfully, between 2 1/2 and 3 stars.

I liked this more than I originally thought I would when I started reading the book.

But...

I'm not reading any more young adult novels. This is it. I am way too old! I cannot relate, at all. Being a young adult, HIGH SCHOOL-ER, no less, is so far in my past that I can no longer recall the angst of those days. So, I'm done with YA. I'm sure I won't really miss out. They serve a purpose don't get me wrong. I don't mean to come off like a snob. It's just... nah.

This was kind of the typical YA book as far as the old trope of kids not knowing what they want to be when they grow up yada yada. Then there was the awkwardness of trying to fit in with the crowd consensus of what is cool, what music to like, how to dress and the stress of friendships and schoolwork. blah blah. What almost ruined the book for me was it felt like the author had a master list of cool and current trends she wanted to shoehorn into the story (shoehorn, now there's a word young whippersnappers probably don't even know what it means/is/have used). Like, okay, just off the top of my head, a bi-racial protagonist who is also bi-sexual, check. Friend who is a youtube influencer, check. Friend who is in a gay relationship but also considers them-self asexual, check. Non hetero normative people, check. High school-ers drinking (in bars, uh, definitely not America) check. Being afraid to stray too far from the crowd in how one dresses, what one likes because they might be seen as a weirdo, check. Social media, check. Texting and the ubiquitous phone, check. On and on. I mean, sure this is the reality for the zoomer crowd, but it was pretty blatant and obvious and became kind of silly. People are more than characteristics or descriptions or trends.

Anyway, yeah, it was kind of interesting how the zoomers are coming of age in this high tech, socially accepting age but truthfully, all the sturm und drang of adolescence and young adulthood has been the same old same old since the caveman days. yawn.

But you know, kiddos, rock on. It gets easier, I promise you.

I loved Solitaire and Radio Silence, Alice’s second novel, is just as good. I love her voice and the authenticity of her characters. They feel like real young people in Britain today. I get the feeling Frances is very similar to Alice in some ways.

Universe City is a podcast on a similar vein to Night Vale. It's a bit niche and Frances thinks that people will think she's weird, or otherwise ruin it for her, if they know. She has her school persona which is kept separate from her real self, and she knows that loving a weird podcast is not the Frances that is head girl material.

The podcast was created by Radio Silence, the identity of which is much speculated upon within the fandom. When Frances discovers Aled is Radio Silence she vows to keep his secret, because not everyone want to be famous. As they work together on the show, they become close friends, best friends even. It is so nice having books about friendship.

Of course, nothing can stay secret forever. The hounding of people on the internet is spot on and I think it’s positive to have stories which show there are actual human beings behind online anonymity.

In the UK, the expected path of bright young people is to go to university, whether or not that is still the best option for them. It was good to see this picked up on in a YA book, where the characters start to really think whether or not that's what they want. There's parental pressure but also just the sense of that's just what you're supposed to do.

It's been praised a lot for being a non-romantic story with a bisexual main character. Alice demonstrates that you can quite easily make your characters a diverse bunch and still write about what you want. There is a mix of sexualities and races, never just defaulting to cis white.