Frances Janvier, the head girl and top of her school since 7th grade, has been determined to go to one of the most prestigious schools in England: University of Cambridge. On the downlow, she listens to her favorite podcast, Universe City, and draws fanart for the show. She never imagined her life as anything other than being a workaholic, earning good grades, and studying in university for the next few years of her life. However, everything changes when she is asked to collaborate with the creator of this podcast using her fanart. And later when she discovers out that Aled, a quiet boy a year older than her whose sister she used to be friends with, is the creator of Universe City. As the story unfolds, Frances finally discovers what it is like to have a true friend and embraces herself as more than a studious and intelligent person. But will all be destroyed over a revelation no one thought would occur?

I, personally, give Radio Silence the rating of 7/10. It wasn’t an excellent read in my opinion (which could be influenced by the book not being in the genre I usually read). However, I do recommend everyone to read it. It isn’t a typically love story between a boy and girl and shows the importance of true and beautiful friendship. It only shows many deep themes of finding one’s true identity, motivation, and connections with other people. It has shown me a different perspective to a genre of stories I never believed could be interesting to read: the main point highlighting the significance of one’s relationships other than romance. It is very rare for me to relate to characters in a book but this book definitely brought up some experiences I have had in the past and made the book all the more better. There is also a lot of representation that I didn’t expect but loved very much. I hope, if you read it, you enjoyed it as much as I did!

-Saanvi V.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.