Radio Silence

This story is not one I remember checking out on kindle. I must have, because it was in my library as new, but I couldn't remember the story or premise at all. In my defense I started reading this after a week and a half covid-19 'break' from doing much of anything.... On to the book itself thoughThis book.. honestly I can't give it high enough praise. I don't read many coming to age stories anymore, being in late 20's I like to read about adults adulting and that's my usual escape, but this is a beautiful coming of age story. The characters are all so very well fleshed out, the parental trauma is there for sure, but the MC's mom is a sweetheart. The story has its issues, it has its biases, but its one that I feel that kids should read. It would never be brought up by schools given its kinda anti-college, but really it's about finding your place in the world, and the way the story goes about it is wonderful. I wish the whole group well. The author covers a lot of sexuality in a way that is kind and gentle, not really beating you over the head with it, and as the kids are all legit children, getting ready for uni, there are no graphic scenes. I recommend it to anyone wanting a story to read. I'll be picking up the physical copy soon, just to have it on hand.

I loved this book. It was a little slow in the middle, but I honestly wanted a slower, day-in-the-life type book. I am sure it helped that I related to the main characters a lot, and loved how there were LBGTQ+ themes since growing up, I didn't have the best of examples of what is possible.

"Sometimes I was hit with the weight of things I didn't know..."TW: Death of an animal, parental abuse, suicide ideation, depression, discussion of mental illnessThis is about a girl named Frances Janvier. She is a book worm, and is devout in her studies like her whole life relied on good grades. She isn't close to her school friends because she is too busy with school and only spends time with here and there. But she has a secret life that she burrows into. She draw for her favorite Youtube podcast, Universe City (with the creator of the podcast a mystery). This secret life is where she can truly be herself and explore an area outside of school. One night at a pub, she runs into a drunk Aled Last who admits to her that he is the creator of Universe City. Frances takes Aled back to her house so he can sleep off his drunken state. The next day she reminds him of his confession and from here a platonic friendship bloom.This book is really hyped, so what's the deal?This a completely platonic friendship between a boy and girl, which is something you don't get a ton of in books. Usually there is a romance that blossoms between two main characters. But not here. Partly due to their feelings for one another, partly due to the LGBTQ2+ rep in this. Frances is in love with Aled's sister has been for a long time. Aled is in love with his friend, Daniel. Also Aled is Demisexual (not sexually attracted to people until after he forms emotional attachments). Now the next thing about this book is it is very diverse. Frances is biracial (Ethiopean and British) and Daniel is South Korean Immigrant as an example. There is diversity rep in more of the side characters. So many things about this book make it different and expansive.This book also focuses on Youtube channel growth and the internet fame that comes with this. Also, it highlighted the Trolls you can come into contact with.This book is very tender and beautiful and I really enjoyed it. The platonic relationship of Aled and Francis was so beautiful. It endured from a distance and was loving up close. No matter how long they spent away from each other they were still both able to come back to this safe and close relationship like they had never spent any time away at all. I think this book does so much to highlight how important these enduring and safe relationships are. We see so many books where distance and life aren't as much a factor as they were in this book. I feel like this book gave us a very realistic relationship that dosen't delude us into thinking all beautiful relationships exists in a constant state of close proximity. We can be distant and still love and be loved by people. We carry the ones we love with us everywhere so no time actually passes for us that we are without them in spirit. For me, the relationship was just as important as the life that happens in between it. II think another thing to note about this is how a relationship like this can change you and how having this kind of support can get you through so many hardships. You can be better for having relationship like this in your life.This also lent a very realistic voice to academic pressure in school and how it is stressed in school that you will never be anything without a college degree. This make school into a urgent life or death experience that is abundant in stress and pressure in excellence. This is so realistic to students who are about to graduate.There was really so many things to love about this book and I definitely think it was worth all the hype.

If you’re an over achiever who at the same time kinda hates being an over achiever, this book is literally made for you. I love this book so much, excellent writing on Alice’s part:D

The storyline was awesome in the writing was easy to read and understandable

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I’ve read all the Heartstopper books Alice Oseman has released and I LOVE her art, so I wanted to try her writing! I love Aled as a character in Heartstopper, so naturally I wanted to read this book!WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS FULL-ON SOBBING FROM HAPPY TEARS, I’m serious!!!! It was such a good book and I’ll probably reread it!!!! Frances is such a great character and I love her friendship with Aled! Definitely get this book!!!!

Not a hole, but layers of engaging characters making their way into the world as school life wanes. Tense, touching and hard to put down! Smart kids struggle with university choices despite passions that lead in the opposite direction. And relationships grow into selfless love and true caring, despite missteps. A tome for young readers and adults who are brave enough to challenge and rethink “the road not taken.”

My granddaughter suggested I read this book because she loves this author. I wasn't sure the subject matter would keep me interested but I was wrong. I thoroughly loves this story.

Just like many others, I'm a huge fan of Heartstopper (I mean, who isn't?) and when we first meet Aled in those books, my curiosity was instantly sparked. He's shy but sweet and I wanted to know more so I was really excited to learn that he was in this story. There's so much hype around AO's books and I was so ready to love this one but sadly, and *slightly unpopular opinion time*, I just didn't connect with it as much as I thought I would. Trust, no one is more disappointed than me!I found Frances to be a compelling character. Her schoolmates only know her as the serious and studious head girl but outside of school she's quirky, bold, a passionate artist, and loves this YouTube series called Universe City. She's been working her whole life towards getting into Cambridge because she believes that's what she needs to do to succeed in life but she starts questioning whether it's what she really wants the closer it gets to the interview. Frances wasn't difficult to root for and she grows a lot throughout the story as she starts to feel more confident in her skin but what I missed was the emotional connection with her story. I don't know whether that's down to the simplicity of the writing but there was a disconnect for me that made it hard to feel invested in the story.Aled was a secondary character but certainly just as important as Frances and he was key to part of her growth. I loved the friendship that developed between them and I was really glad that there was no romance in this. Not only can you feel how passionate they are about Universe City but it was so great to see how they were able to be their true selves together. They were almost the same person and it was such a heartwarming, albeit fragile, friendship. Aled was going through so much and I felt his pain and Frances' helplessness and panic in dealing with the situation. I loved how Frances did step up but I wished that Aled's home situation had been better resolved or handled. I'm glad it was a "happy" ending but without giving anything away, I felt the resolution was just too simplistic and it felt a little anticlimactic.Do I still feel like this is a book younger me would've loved? Absolutely! I think it's well-written, simplistic and talks about issues teenagers face in a very relatable way, not to mention AO tackles the topics of mental health (anxiety, depression), parental abuse, identity, and societal and parental expectations very well. I think if I had read this even in my early 20s it probably would've hit that much harder. I really appreciate the way AO addresses mental health and identity in their books and I think it's something she excels at. I also love the way their characters are always so diverse and their stories are very inclusive.

The book I ordered was supposed to be the pale blue/teal cover. That's what was shown and in the description. Not only is it the wrong cover but the quality of the print is terrible. The text is misaligned. Warning for buyers, amazon have started printing their own copies of books that are not official prints.

Il libro è davvero carino, scorrevole, ben scritto, mi ha fatto emozionare e immedesimare nei personaggi ed è assolutamente consigliato. Cosa che invece mi ha fatto arrabbiare, e che ci tengo a segnalare perché altri potrebbero avere questo problema, è che non ho ricevuto l'edizione 2018 che si vede nell'immagine, ma una più vecchia del 2016. Questo è una vergogna, visto che si dovrebbe ricevere ESATTAMENTE quello che si è comprato. E' un fattore a cui tenevo molto, in quanto volevo che tutti i libri della Oseman che possiedo fossero intonati tra loro, tutti nello stesso formato ed edizione. Se non l'ho rimandato indietro è stato solo per paura che mi rimandassero la stessa versione TREMENDA. Se non vi interessa avere un'edizione in particolare, comprate pure senza problemi e vi ritroverete un bel libro tra le mani, altrimenti ATTENZIONE perché potreste avere qualche sorpresina.

First of all can I just say that this book is one of my top 10 of all time!From the off I was hooked. By the style of writing, the characters, the story & most of all because this was relatable to me beyond belief!I went into this book not knowing anything about it apart from people were raving about it. I can now see why. It is the perfect coming of age book for me. Covering many topics such as bullying, identity crisises & sexuality to name a few. As someone who was bullied for many years at high school I really identified with this part of the story & found my self shedding a tear many a time. Not just with the bullying either it opened my eyes to the many other problems young people go through in their teenage years.Not don't get me wrong the book is not all doom & gloom I also found myself shedding a few tears of joy as well. Sometimes not even at the book, like when I was reading in my bed & looked up to find my babys night light still shining it's star on my bedroom ceiling I found it rather fitting as would recommend reading the full book in this setting. I also loved the way the friendships rocked & rolled through out the story, very realistic & relatable.Basically all I can say about this book is that I love it, I love the characters & think that everyone should read it! Really cannot fault it at all!P.s sorry the review is so vague I really don't want to give away any spoilers.

4.5 stars from me. Another story that's been buried in my kindle library for a couple of years...in fact, I bought a load of Alice Oseman stories when I started reading the Heartstopper: Volume One series back in 2020, pre Covid.Can I assume that someone will have done something with that crazy bitch of a *coughs* mother that Aled and Carys were forced to have? What a dreadful person, and obviously had quite a few things wrong with her. That said, [and it was great to catch up with Aled again although the circumstances were not so great. He of course was one of Charlie Spring's few friends in the Heartstopper series, which was set before this novel], the mounting pressure on the kids to perform just to get into one of the so-called superior Oxbridge universities, and the toll it took on their health, both mental and otherwise, was very familiar and rang several alarming bells. Oh, and let's not forget the way that schools practically erase you from their memories should you fail to meet their expectations [had first hand experience of that one myself].Thank goodness Frances, Aled, Daniel and Raine all survived and lived to fulfil their OWN expectations, without pressure from their parents and peers.