Pages: 496
Published: 25th February 2016
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Content warnings: Child cruelty, discrimination
What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong?
Frances has always been a study machine with one goal, elite university. Nothing will stand in her way; not friends, not a guilty secret – not even the person she is on the inside.
But when Frances meets Aled, the shy genius behind her favourite podcast, she discovers a new freedom. He unlocks the door to Real Frances and for the first time she experiences true friendship, unafraid to be herself. Then the podcast goes viral and the fragile trust between them is broken.
Caught between who she was and who she longs to be, Frances’ dreams come crashing down. Suffocating with guilt, she knows that she has to confront her past…
She has to confess why Carys disappeared…
Meanwhile at uni, Aled is alone, fighting even darker secrets.
It’s only by facing up to your fears that you can overcome them. And it’s only by being your true self that you can find happiness.
Frances is going to need every bit of courage she has.
For a few days at the start of 2025, this audiobook took over my life. It was the first time I had dipped my toe into the work of the wildly popular and precocious Alice Oseman, and I was entirely blown away. There are so many layers to this, so many interesting characters and sub-plots, all fitting into an innovative and captivating narrative that left me nothing short of obsessed.
Every aspect of this story plays a part in making it special, but the characters and themes undoubtedly lead the way. There is something here for almost any teenager or young adult to relate to – for me it was the message that being clever yet not going to university is not a bad thing, and the way Frances finds a beautiful friend in Aled and finally has someone she can be fully herself with. But for others, it might be the authentic exploration of sexuality or how Aled’s mother makes his life a misery.
Frances is a delightful narrator. She is likeable and conscientious and someone you love for the person she is rather than the version she feels she has to present at school. The way her friendship develops with Aled is so pure that it cannot help but fill you with happiness, especially the long sections when they are messaging each other from across the street in the dead of night. However, it does get rather bittersweet at times too as both characters experience struggles with academia and their life trajectory.
In Aled’s mother the story gets its villain of sorts, and its darker side. The most impressive thing here is that her cruelty is so coercive and subtle that it is made all the more impactful rather than her just being straight up horrible. Aled’s pain is very raw, as he particularly finds it hard to deal with the absence of his departed older sister Carys, who comes across as a slightly wayward middle class girl.
She is enjoyable to read, and so is Raine, who is completely the opposite to all the other characters and is all the better for it. Raine has a bit of carefree, casual attitude to life and does not value academic achievement a great deal, but she emerges as a truly wonderful friend with the way she looks out for Frances in the second half of the book. She is the one who puts things into perspective with an offhand comment, and she is also quite funny to read.
Meanwhile, in a story bursting with complex characters we have Daniel, who is perhaps the hardest to pin down of them all. Sure, Aled has his deep insecurities and goes through moments where he is very elusive, but I still did find it that hard to build myself a picture of him. With Daniel, it was a bit trickier for me but for sure his storyline is still really powerful and lots of readers will resonate with him more than I did.
All these characters and themes are wonderfully depicted in the real world, but they are represented in the realm of fantasy too. I am, of course, talking about Universe City, the online podcast that serves as one of the most uniquely compelling aspects of this book. The whole concept of it is an amazing idea, and during the snippets of episodes that are relayed to us, often a bunch of words with subtly hidden meanings, you simply find yourself transported within it.
Frances’ love for the series is infectious, and another thing about her that is eminently relatable. A lot of us have television shows or bands or other passions that we were or are too self-conscious about sharing with others, and Universe City is very much that for her. Thanks to what is, admittedly, an obvious twist quite early on, the show serves as a fundamental part of the plot.
Reading this book provides several gateways to nostalgia, from what it is like to be a sixth form student to the social media platforms teenagers used in the more innocent days of 2014. There are many mentions of Tumblr, for example, but these are integrated into the story in a way that serves a clear purpose, and a lot of readers will see this as another means of connecting with it.
The writing is evidently great, from an author who showcases her phenomenal talent here and has gone from strength to strength ever since. Having listened to the audiobook though, I must give some credit to the actress Aysha Kala, who was the perfect narrator. Her softly spoken voice guided me through and was one of the many reasons why I wanted to keep listening, while she was also very good with accents.
Overall, this is an outstanding and original piece of literature for what we now describe as the digital age. It has everything, from relatable, diverse characters to a plethora of meaningful themes and refreshing ideas. Universe City then takes it to another dimension, seeing the world through the eyes of Radio and February Friday. There are not many books I could describe as life-changing, but this one certainly was for me.
Alice Oseman is arguably the most impactful young author of our time, with all of her novels winning outstanding acclaim for their relatability, portrayal of diverse and LGBTQIA+ characters, and how they resonate with readers. Radio Silence is her second novel, having published her debut Solitaire as a teenager.
Since then she has gained an even greater profile with I Was Born For This and Loveless, a depiction of asexuality which I am very keen to read. But she is now most famous for Heartstopper, the series of graphic novels which have been adapted by Netflix.
A mesmerising book. One which fully consumed me from almost beginning to end. I have never connected fully with the audiobook format, but this one had me completely hooked and I just could not stop listening.
My rating: 
