Madison Meeks
Editor-in-Chief
(Spoiler Warning)
If you love a book with a wholesome friendship and an exciting journey, you should pick up “Radio Silence” by Alice Oseman.
“Radio Silence” is Oseman’s second book, initially released in 2016. The book is set in the same universe as her other novels, “Solitaire,” “I Was Born For This,” “Loveless,” the graphic novel series “Heartstopper,” and her two novellas, “This Winter” and “Nick and Charlie.” Some of the main characters in “Solitaire” even make cameos in the novel. The prologue occurs during the last few chapters of “Solitaire”; the rest of the story occurs a few months after the novella “Nick and Charlie.”
The novel is told from Frances’ point of view as she works hard through her A-Levels and tries to maintain her friendships. The main character, Frances, is shown to work very hard at school and is even a head girl. She planned on going to Cambridge University to study English literature. But this side of her character is only her school side; her other side, which she calls the Real Frances, is a fangirl who spends much time drawing her fanart for her favorite fantasy YouTube podcast, Universe City.
Early on in the beginning of the novel, Frances gets a direct message from the creator of Universe City, who asks if she will become the new artist for the podcast. She learns that the creator, who goes by the anonymous “Radio Silence,” is Aled Last, a character in Heartstopper and Nick and Charlie. Aled has lived across the street from France her whole life, but she did not know him. Throughout the summer, Frances, who just finished her year 12, and Aled, who just finished his year 13 and will attend university in September, become close friends and bond over similarities like clothing and their love for Universe City. After getting to know Aled, she starts to question if he even wants to go to university, why she works so hard at school, and if she wants to study English literature.
When Frances makes a mistake involving accidentally releasing her identity to fans, their friendship falls apart due to Aled’s identity being revealed to the world as “Radio Silence, the creator of Universe City.” When Aled goes away to college, he cuts off ties with both Frances and his boyfriend, Daniel. Raine, a friend of Frances, drives Daniel and her to their Cambridge interviews. While on the trip to Cambridge, the characters reflect on why it might be that Aled is not speaking to them. After the drastic interview, Frances and Daniel have a heart-to-heart, in which Daniel reveals how his relationship with Aled started, and he thinks that Aled never liked that much.
Throughout the novel, Frances is also set in thinking that Aled’s twin sister Carys ran away after her year 11 results day due to their friendship and the two of them kissing, but it is only to be revealed that this is not the case.
I honestly loved the friendship between Frances and Aled because it shows that even though they never thought that they could be friends before, once they found out that each other was Aled, the creator of Universe City, and Frances, the one drawing the fan art for the series, they became friends. After all, they bonded over something they both loved and found even more things they had in common. Their friendship is sweet, even if it ends up being lost for a while. But I also love the journey that Aled goes through, from not even wanting to be at university to expressing how he exactly feels to Daniel to dealing with the fallout of his identity as Radio Silence is revealed to his friendship with Frances, his relationship with his mom, and his sister running away. He goes through a lot throughout the novel, which is an exciting journey. Frances is going through the pain of losing her friend due to a mistake that she made and realizing that she does not want to study English literature. The whole story is a beautiful one about friendship. The ups and downs that will carry along with dealing with the ups and downs of social media and obsessed fans.
To find out why Aled is not contacting his friends and boyfriend while away at university, to see if they will all be reunited, and to finally figure out what causes Carys to run away, read “Radio Silence” by Alice Oseman.
