Like, my circumstances might be totally different (Aled has a controlling, abusive mother, whereas mine is great), but we still had something in common. There are a whole host of secondary characters and I basically felt like I could relate to one character or another in some way. I felt for Aled as he struggled to settle into university and to enjoy himself. I felt for Frances as she struggled through her Cambridge interview, even though mine was nothing like as awkward and there were no Old White Men involved at all (Newnham College all the way). It’s hard to give too many details about the aspects I related to without spoiling plot points, but I grew incredibly invested in these characters because I knew what they were going through. If you know me at all, you can see why I’d identify with stressed-out high-achieving students! But they’re also massive nerds who love memes and podcasts and fan art and the internet. The characters are in their last couple of years at school - one’s about to head off to university (Durham, specifically St John’s College, which is where my sister went) and one’s hoping to apply to Cambridge if her AS grades are good enough (which is where I go).

Radio Silence is, first off, one of the most relatable books I’ve ever read. Yeah, I know, not much of a reason to choose something, but in this case, it worked out well - I ended up getting totally invested in the book, to the point where I was close to tears at various points.īut I’m getting ahead of myself. I picked up Radio Silence from the YA section because I’ve been making a point to borrow brightly coloured books, and it has a green spine.

Radio silence book asexual