Behind the Blazers A4

RADIO SILENCE
BOOK REVIEW
Frances Janvier spends most of her
time studying. Everyone knows Aled
Last as that quiet boy who gets straight
As. You probably think that they are
YOUR NEXT FAVOURITE READ - RADIO SILENCE
5/5 STARS
going to fall in love or something.
Since he is a boy and she is a girl. They
don’t. They make a podcast. In a world
determined to shut them up and set
Zoya Anwar Y10
them on a cookie cutter life path, Frances
and Aled struggle to find their voices.
I picked this novel because of the
numerous things I have heard about
both Alice Oseman’s Solitare and
Radio Silence.
Even though I have criticized many
novels for being too ‘mainstream’ whilst
trying to cater for a teenage audience,
Radio Silence is far from it. The words
may be simple and the pacing may be
fast (like traditional teenage literature),
but Oseman transforms an overused
style into something new. By sticking
close to being realistic, the words,
voice and the dialogue are compelling.
I am yet to find one blip, one stone,
where it becomes apparent that
instead of Frances writing it is
Oseman. The very clear aim at young
adults doesn’t bother me as much as
I know it should. It doesn’t matter that
I know the novel may not make much
sense come 100 years because this
simpleness in voice and words creates
something very easy to loose yourself
in.
Radio silence is about many things;
you could look at it from many different
angles. On one hand there is the false and true friendship of Frances; there is
also the child abuse suffered within Aled’s family; there is the issue of education
and being drilled into university; and the idea of YouTubers in the podcast ‘Radio
Silence’. The novel is problem heavy, but that isn’t a bad thing. The problems that
have been explored aren’t usually in teen realism, even though they are very...
real.
The characters were relatable too. Frances (the main character) was
interesting, her false relationship with her friends striking me as the most
insightful and thought-provoking. The author also spends a huge chunk of the
book developing all the characters, so much so that the novel doesn’t really have
a clear plot, but rather that it is a book of stories woven around its protagonists.
I liked that.
Personally, I would recomend this book to everyone, but I would be careful as it
may seem confusing to those outside its target demographic.
STRETFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL MAGAZINE 27