I feel like "Radio Silence" has some good messages that 15-17 year old's will be able to pull from and appreciate. Messages like be yourself, even if you stand out; be caring to your friends and look out for them; not all parents are good parents; and the "normal" graduate high school and go to college path isn't the path for everyone. Good stuff. A little watered down at points, but all things that are clearly said. Frances was a relatable main character in many ways, and I truly think teens would be able to connect with her. She worries about school, has anxiety, feels like she has 2 selves (one for school, one for her "real" self), and goes through friendship ups and downs.

The writing style itself is pretty poor. Everything is stated: "I walked over to him. I put my hand on his shoulder. He looked sad. I wondered what was wrong." Not an exact quote but that's the style it's in. It's incredibly bland at points and lacks imagery. I was pretty bored of it around the 150 page mark.

Also, this book just kept GOING. I thought there was going to be more plot to this, but it's really just a story of friendship stretched over several terms of school with lots of teenage drama stuff mixed in. It's too many pages with not enough substance. It's just lacking in a steady driving force- this novel is more like a Hallmark channel movie for teens rather than a fully engaging film.

I was super eager to read this because of all the people who said it's like "Welcome to Night Vale" in YA book format, but it's not. There's hints of WTNV in the podcast moments, but overall, this isn't about the podcast. It's about teens learning to grow and love one another, and getting through difficult moments of life. ( )

Story: 6 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 6
Prose: 6 ( )

This book starts with a coincidence so huge and dumb that it annoyed the hell out of me and cast a pall over the rest of the book. I just couldn't let it go, no matter how charming the mopey teens were with their fretting about defining themselves and their futures.

It didn't help that the story was way too long for how little actually happens. I can sometimes let that go with Alice Oseman books -- and definitely for her graphic novels -- but not always, and not here.

And the story-within-a-story is downright irritating, better left to the reader's imagination than spelled out and coming off as rather ludicrous.

Fortunately, this is one of Oseman's earliest books, and she's only gotten better since. ( )

A Jacqueline Wilson style novel for young adults concerning the life of a sixth former, head girl, with a secret hobby of illustrating scenes from her favourite YouTube channel. Very contemporary with Twitter messages, text messages, viral messages, as well as the usual paragraphs to tell the story, and discussing the prospect of applying to universities, interview at Cambridge University, what to do if you don't go to University, relationships, friends, getting drunk. I think that the book is very much aimed at young adults, although the teenage brain is well described as the protagonist's thoughts and feelings really well described. I was surprised at the last few pages, the ending of the story, beautifully stirred some emotion in me. (The start of the book mentions Ramsgate train station). ( )

I'm not sure if I should have read the previous books in the series or not... I listened to this because it happened to be in my wife and my shared account. Weird book.