It also challenged the assumption that academics trump the arts because one will not get you money in the end.įinally, Frances and Aled both have mothers who are active in their lives. This story challenged that expectation in many ways.
As a teacher, I know we encourage students to think about college even in elementary school. This is something Frances has been highly focused on for years without questioning the plan. Frances, Aled, and their friend Daniel are all on a trajectory leading directly to university. That isn’t something explored very deeply, but it’s part of her story.Īnother aspect of the story is the issue of expectations around university attendance. Frances doesn’t know much about her Ethiopian culture and wishes that was different. cover, you wouldn’t know it, but Frances is mixed-race with a white mother and an Ethiopian father. I loved the time spent getting to know the characters and seeing their friendships develop.įrom the U.S. The book does include some couples, but romance isn’t the focus for the most part. Frances’ mother asks if there is something more happening, but they don’t want or need that type of relationship with each other. They are both creative and enjoy spending time together, but not in a romantic way. Aled and Frances share a love for the podcast Universe City. This was one of the things I appreciated about Radio Silence. Without him, will she have the courage to show the world who she really is? Or will she be met with radio silence? They get each other when no one else does.īut when Aled’s identity as Radio Silence is revealed, Frances fears that the future of Universe City-and their friendship-is at risk. Frances and Aled spend an entire summer working together and becoming best friends. When Frances gets a message from Radio Silence asking if she’ll collaborate with him, everything changes. But no one knows he’s the creator of Universe City, who goes by the name Radio Silence. When she’s not studying, she’s up in her room making fan art for her favorite podcast, Universe City.Įveryone knows Aled Last as that quiet boy who gets straight As. Since he is a boy and I am a girl.įrances Janvier spends most of her time studying. A really nice read.Summary: You probably think that Aled Last and I are going to fall in love or something. Overall, I’d suggest this book to the teenagers out there. This was shown more in the second half of the book, whereby this topic was mentioned and discussed with more depth and bolder. Furthermore, as most of us know, this book has lgbtq+ element in it. Sometimes, all you need to do is to follow your passion and do what you love and maybe that’s the best path for you. Also, the struggles of oneself to prove himself to the family.
Firstly, it shows the struggles of teenagers with expectations from the school and society plus parents. They keep on moving forward and shove you to the side because you make more mistakes than you should.”īesides, the messages of this book are really meaningful. People forget you within days, they take new pictures to put on Facebook and they don’t read your messages.
“People move on quicker than I can comprehend. I like the contrast, it is somehow very significant to me. Meanwhile, Frances’s mum was supportive, cool, funny, caring, overall a great mother. She was also abusive, as much as I could see. Aled’s mum was this psycho, controlling, a pusher and also mental. These two showed the opposite kind of mum and I really like how the author portrayed these two individuals. Also, there were the mums characters, Carol Last (Aled’s mum) and Frances’s mum. Daniel was a studious person yet he was also a great friend and his determination was really inspiring. She was not smart but she’s a true friend. I love how badass, kind and loyal friend Raine was. These two characters are Asians, I supposed, an Indian and a Korean. I adored the side characters the most, such as Raine and Daniel. I think they developed well throughout the book, the maturity was shown towards the end. I love the main characters, Frances and Aled.
They could be remembered vividly and this is the first time for me to really remember all the characters in a book. I really love how unique and strong each character was created in the book. One of the things that really stood out for me was the characters. All the small events that eventually built up till the ending was actually fun to read. It was fast paced and easy to follow through. Starting this book, I was struggling a little to grasp the concept at first but as the story went by, I started to enjoy the writing style and the whole idea of this book. “I wonder- if nobody is listening to my voice, am i making any sound at all?” I’ve heard so many good things about this book, praises and more praises.