YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

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.

Starting this! :)

20% (view spoiler)[I reallllllly want to actually listen to all the podcasts in radio silence, also Aled is adorable but I have this sense of forboding around his and frances' friendship (hide spoiler)]

45% (view spoiler)[I love how Aled and Frances are totally platonic, how the author has taken a trope that is so easy to make a romance but made it into a friendship, however there is something about Daniel and Aled that is striking at me! (hide spoiler)]

75% (view spoiler)[ WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? I hate what is happening to Aled and Frances, it hurts my heart to see them go through so much, but I adore the representation in this book. (hide spoiler)]

100% (view spoiler)[ I love that moment, where he is almost about to go with his mother but she stops him and makes him stay! I hate that woman so much, she killed his fucking dog, I cannot even! But this was so heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time! (hide spoiler)]

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Reading from the 9th of March 2019

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I started this a couple hours ago I think.

For some reason, I really thought this was a sci-fi/dystopian book.

I'm listening to the audiobook so it might be difficult to know where I'm at. The chapters aren't like usual chapters but I'm currently listening to chapter 6 - (view spoiler)[I really like Frances and Aled and their relationship is so cute. I'm glad it's "platonic". Is there something between Aled and Daniel? mmh, i guess we'll find out! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8 - (view spoiler)[ I hate how everyone always want to know what everyone's doing even if they have no right to know if the person doesn't want them to know. Seriously, "privacy" is a common word but people never respect it!

Aled's mother is psychotic. (hide spoiler)]

Ritika wrote: "75% [spoilers removed]"

I agree. The representation in this book is (imo) really nice and well done.

Finished - I ended up really liking it. Contemporary is not my favorite genre but I think this one is a 4 stars read for me :) (view spoiler)[ I'm really glad we got to see his sister and I enjoyed the ending. I was scared he would hurt himself at one point. (hide spoiler)]

ONE Summer Term [A] Not quite what I expected, but so far I'm liking it. (view spoiler)[Not really surprised Aled is Radio, but okay. (hide spoiler)]

TWO Summer Tern [B] (view spoiler)[I"m glad she and Aled are talking and doing stuff together. I'm kinda curious about Carys... I've heard a lot of hype- well, I've only heard one person who's read it talk about it so that may not count as "a lot" but anyways, I've heard hype about this book and so far it's good but not like AMAZING! I"m sure it gets better though so I can't wait to keep reading! (hide spoiler)]

Okay... I thought I had commented more than just once.... I guess not? Whoops! Anyways, I just got to FOUR Christmas Holiday. (view spoiler)[ So Daniel and Aled kinda had/have a thing? I don't think I ship it. I don't really ship anyone here. I wanna know what the heck is going on with Aled, he's being kinda douchey not talking to anyone. He needs to talk to Francis and Daniel ASAP. I think Carys is February Friday, it would make a lot more sense than Daniel. Aled needs to get his act together, idk whats up with him. Francis needs to switch her major, I mean, if you don't want to major in English anymore, CHANGE IT, IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL! I"m finding it slightly interesting but a tad boring. It's not quite living up to the hype for me. It not bad but so far I think I might rate it around a 3.5. But it totally depends on the ending. Okay! Back to reading! (hide spoiler)]

FIVE Spring Term B: (view spoiler)[ HOLY FRICKING BAD WORD!! THAT WAS CRAZZZYYYY!!! I love that Francis went and found Carys for Aled. Then Raine, Daniel, Francis, and Carys all went to see Aled THEN HIS MOM SHOWS UP AND DRAGS HIM AWAY! AND FRANCIS TELLS HIM HE CAN LIVE WITH HER AND O.M.G!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE ALED'S MOM FREAKING KILLED HIS DOG? WHAT THE HECK? DOESN'T ALL THAT SHE DID TO THEM CLASSIFY AS EMOTIONAL ABUSE AT LEAST? It's finally getting more interesting I NEED to read more!! (hide spoiler)]

FINISHED: (view spoiler)[ Okay, I really liked the ending! It was kinda low at first, but I ended up really enjoying. Now I REALLY want to listen to Universe City! I might check out Welcome to a Night Vale which the author said was inspiration to Universe City. I loved that Aled did the live show and that Francis went to art school. I liked the ending. It was nice!! (hide spoiler)]

Started
(view spoiler)[I love this narrator's accent! And the layout for this story is so interesting. Doing the audio, as apparently it's the best way for it. (hide spoiler)]

1% (view spoiler)[Why are MCs always super smart -_- I want an average student (hide spoiler)]

10% (view spoiler)[Thank God he just came out and said it! Hopefully he remembers! I like this so far! (hide spoiler)]

14% (view spoiler)[Yes, I love the honesty in this book! :D (hide spoiler)]

17% (view spoiler)[I love this relationship too <3 (hide spoiler)]

19% (view spoiler)[Oh my God yes! Everything about this book is just the best! (hide spoiler)]

20% (view spoiler)[OKAY I LOVE THIS EVEN MORE NOW! (hide spoiler)]

37% (view spoiler)[Really want to know what happened to Carys! I also feel like Dan loved Aled. Also didn't picture Francis as black, or Daniel as Asian, but I liked learning all that stuff about his Asian name and how he wants to go back to it now. (hide spoiler)]

54% (view spoiler)[Oh wow those Camp Rock and HSM quotes were golden!

I love how she is so honest with Aled too. His mum is right mental! I wanted him to stand up to her about the hair! (hide spoiler)]

79% (view spoiler)[Alright so I was sitting in my car at the traffic light and I just felt the tears start falling when Aled crumpled on the ground and said she killed his dog Brian :( :( :( I HATE CAROL! I HOPE SHE DIES! Why do some people mother?? And I know it wasn't an accident, because she had two children! She doesn't seem to care about Carys, and it sounds like Aled wants to kill himself and she doesn't care! She deleted his personal space, his room, and his dog! And keeps on wanting to change him. I hate her.

The phone calls are so sad as well, it's awkward but that's how it would be in real life. I just really hope that one day Francis will push and Aled will open up, and that he doesn't die :'( Because that'll wreck me. I'll have to be home alone when I finish this book because I'm worried. (hide spoiler)]

100% (view spoiler)[Thank gosh he went with them at the train station! :o I was seriously worried! I wonder what happened after that ending though. Amazing book. (hide spoiler)]

Will start this tonight!

15% (view spoiler)[ I’m a little lost. So Alex is the creator of radio silence and Frances has been a fan since it started, but she has just found out he creates it.

I like Frances, I like how she is smart, as well as she felt obliged to go out with her friends so she doesn’t disappear from their friend circle. (hide spoiler)]

Haha I’ve been reading your updates from 15%- 25% and I have no idea what your talking about, they are so vague :P

25% (view spoiler)[ I am glad Frances told Alex the truth about who she was. Now she doesn’t have to hide it.
I love how they are so comfortable in each other’s company! (hide spoiler)]

39%(view spoiler)[ so Aled and Daniel have a thing going on! I wonder what happened to Carys, it’s so strange that she disappeared as soon as Frances kissed her. And how Aled mentioned his mum hating her! (hide spoiler)]

It gets better and better.

And yeah, my updates for those % were when I was listening to it, I just paused it at those moments and wrote the updates, so they were referring to events that happened right on those %.

Haha they didn’t need spoiler tags though! I was anticipating your comments ;P

Sorry :p It's default to

Maddison wrote: "Sorry :p It's default to"

Haha you don’t have to be sorry. I just found it funny as I was like yay updates! Then was like I don’t even know what your referring to :P

51% (view spoiler)[ Aled’s mum cut his hair, it’s like as if she doesn’t like him having it long because she thinks it’s girl like. I just feel this now that he is so worried about her finding out he is the creator of radio silence and therefore will know he is gay. Then all the talk about Carys leaving as soon as that kiss happened with frances and her mum hating her. (hide spoiler)]

Shae wrote: "51% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[He just doesn't want her to know about it, not because of the gay thing. It's not that much of a big deal. (hide spoiler)]

Maddison wrote: "Shae wrote: "51% [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

It seems like a pretty prominent theme though. (view spoiler)[ the way carys left, how he doesn’t want her knowing he writes it because of what he writes in there about loving boy, girls and anything. That’s how I feel anyway, it seems like the mum is making it a big deal. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Well Radio isn't actually Aled. Radio is just a character he's playing. To his listeners he's just Radio. (hide spoiler)]

Maddison wrote: "79% Alright so I was sitting in my car at the traffic light and I just felt the t ..."

(view spoiler)[ I can’t believe she killed Brian either. She is a psycho! Who definitely doesn’t deserve to be a mother the way she treats her children. (hide spoiler)]

Maddison wrote: "100% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ yes soo glad he didn’t die and it was a happy ending!! Love how everyone knows he is the creator of radio silence! (hide spoiler)]

1% . I just started . I've seen a lot of good reviews about this , so I am excited .

32%
I've also seen a lot of good reviews, not sure about my opinion yet, though...
(view spoiler)[ I like Frances as a character. She feels somehow very real, even though she doesn't have some particular hobies except being addicted to Radio Silence and learning the hell out of herself. And I really like her mom. And I'm curios to know whether she has a dad and other family, even though I'm not sure it will be discussed in the book.
Also the fact that she is Aled are not going to have romantic relationship is really cool, because it really annoyes me sometimes that every boy-girl friendship turns to be a romantic story.
And I still don't really see Carys as a character, but I know her story is very interesting...
(hide spoiler)]

36%
(view spoiler)[ wait what is February Friday and where have it come from?
I really like their friendship, though! They're so cuuuuute (hide spoiler)]

I hated this author's other book so this one is so much better compared to it, thank god. I still don't really like her writing though :/

I like the friendship between Frances and Aled, so fun. (view spoiler)[Love how it never becomes a romance between them either- I was so worried for a second in the beginning lol (hide spoiler)]

Spoilers about february friday: (view spoiler)[I can't believe she never even considered it being carys?? It was my first guess. Also no one really cared that much that the girl literally ran away??? (hide spoiler)]

Also I loved the audiobook (and that accent) but I wish there had been even more podcast because it was such a big deal to the story.

64%
I really do want them to be friends again, and maybe there is some point in what Raine says - that if Aled can't see that Frances really was his friend and that she wasn't just a mad fangirl that wanted to become famous than maybe he's not worth it. But I think it's just much more than that for her... Oh and Aled and Daniel are just too awkward, and now Aled doesn't even talk to him...
And the fandom just doesn't get that there are real people that have feelings behind that. They're clearly not doing that to hurt anyone, it just happens a lot with fandoms on the Internet with people that gain some popularity.