The Booked & Busy Biblioteca discussion

Hey guys!

So it looks like it's safe to say Radio Silence will be our first Book of the Month starting in September! This thread is where you guys can post your future thoughts (brief or lengthy) on it after or while reading. Be sure to tag your post if it has spoilers!

< spoiler >...< / spoiler >

Example: (view spoiler)[ Oof gorl did you hear that Kathy died. BIG yikes. (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, remember to have fun and I hope you enjoy the book!
Looking forward to your comments. ^^

I finished RS few days ago and final verdict is I really like it because I appreciate how much things I rcould relate to Frances IRL and I hope everyone enjoyed it too

Same!! A lot of moments made my heart pound and ache but overall lovely read.

Ok, since i didnt actually post a review on my main page i can cry abt it here. I know im cutting it so close to the end of the month with this but i finally finished, and im shocked that i did because my procrastination abilities were in FULL FORCE but ok anyway.

SO LIKE.....I know this isn't really a 5 start book in any way shape or form in my opinion (even though i rated it that because im coming off the fresh high of emotional fockery). Cause like honest to god there were a few times where i'd stray off in my mind, cause I wasn't really interested in the whole podcast in itself or the tumblr thing because like it just seems like such a distant phase of my life that screams pre-adolescent angst but boy when we got like maybeee halfway to 3/4ths into the book??? GIRLFRIEND. THE MEAT. Like she was hittin home in places that I didn't even know i had land or property gf like...................


OK so anyway first we have the whole fact that it's literally the most inclusive piece of literature that i've read to DATE. Like that in itself does a lot for me. I LOVE most of the characters main characters.

Bish daniel is a gay korean boy, aled is a gay/bi/pan (idk) demisexual (BUT LABELS DON'T MATTER CAUSE IT'S ABT THE FEELIIIIINGGG~ BUT STILL), cary's is a lesbian, and FRANCES IS A BI-RACIAL ETHIOPIAN BISEXUAL. LIKE.....*taps mic* hello is this thing on, luv, alice did that and she did that for US.

*breathes* ok that aside....

I couldn't really relate to the whole "ooooh i must overachieve and get into Cambridge" bit but i honestly know so many people who go through that with their parents and just the expectations they place on themselves because society tells them that life is supposed to unfold in a certain way - you have to work this job, go to this school, get these grades, yadda yadda yadda. I mean i think on a larger scale most people can relate to that even if they didnt directly have those same sort of pressures. And on top of that you have a character like Carys who said fck it all and left, and it paints such a positive outlook for her despite her not pursuing higher education. It's comforting to see people talk about how college isnt a dealbreaker in determining whether you'll have a successful or comfortable lifestyle where you can actually still do what you want to do.

Another thing i love is how alice makes such a spot on critique of fandom culture - both positive and extremely toxic aspects. Like clearly this is someone speaking from experience whether it's by firsthand or observation. But everything down to the hate mail, the stalking, the invasive asks, the complete lack of boundaries that people have for entertainers, small/big creators, artists alike. It creates a scarily accurate picture of just how entitled people can get online. But then there's also the good aspect of it where you have a good community to share your love over the same interests and stuff, a community that supports you. But one thing i do want to highlight that alice wrote is that people can easily discard you nowadays the second you do something wrong and i think it's such a good observation that is sort of learned from the generation of users that essentially grew up with social media where you can block, mute, unfollow people the moment things get uncomfortable and like.......while i was aware that was a thing and im not sure this is entirely the point of her critique but i never thought about how even IRL we've essentially become accustomed to discarding relationships when they get uncomfortable. AND BY WE I MEAN EYE XDDDDDDDDDDD BUTTHISISNTABOUTME.

ANYWAYS..............AHAHHA

sO like yeah i really enjoyed the relationship between aled and frances, it was so refreshing to see people of the opposite sex who are so platonically in love with each other and support each other through the toughest times. the GOOD MONEY I WOULD PAY.....to see a visual clip of frances watching aled as he slept next to her with all the sweetness, love, adoration one could ever have for a cloSE BEST FRIEND JUST UGH. kk ssorry my toxic fandom traits r jumping out but yeah so like........yeah. i love me some of that.


OK LASTLY THO CAN WE ALSO JUST TALK ABOUT HOW ALICE DIDNT AUTOMATICALLY STICK FRANCES WITH THE FIRST AVAIL LESBIANA IN SIGHT AND WHEN THEY HAD THE CHANCE TO REKINDLE SHE NOPED OUTTA THAT SO HARD BECAUSE SHE REALIZED THOSE AFFECTIONS WERE NO LONGER THERE AND CARYS FELT THE SAME WAY, BUT JUST BECAUSE THEY HAD THAT LACK OF CLOSURE THEY WERENT RLLY SURE HOW TO ADDRESS IT BUT IT JUST GOES TO SHOW HOW IMPORTANT COMMUNICATION IS AND ALSO LIKE CONSENT BUT LIKE ALSO LIKE U DONT HAVE TO PRETEND UR INTO SOMETHING JUST BECAUSE PPL U LIKE (PLATONICALLY) MAKE A MOVE ON U. LIKE XDDDDDDD IM NOT MAKING SENSE IM PROBABLY SAYING THIS WRONG. But ok anyway.................


this was some gud shit. this was hittin on some diff levels. like ye.....

*puff puff*

Omg yes hahaha I agree with everything!! This book is such a hidden gem the diversity was really nice to see and honestly I felt like Alice attack me I’m so guilty of ghosting in relationships the second things get rough something I hope I can improve on but this book so much more it’s so great. haha it’s great seeing the excitement and feelings we get from things we enjoy!

AGREED, ugh i would love to read more relatable content like this
;~~~~~~;

I finished RS sometime back, and I must say I was captured from beginning to end. It should be noted that I went in not knowing what the book was really about. As i have been doing this thing where I’ll read books without reading the synopsis or any reviews (it’s so much fun, because you never really know what you’ll read). But anyways.... this was unlike any book i have ever read before for all the points that Vic mentioned.

Would love to read something like it again!!

nallyu wrote: "I finished RS sometime back, and I must say I was captured from beginning to end. It should be noted that I went in not knowing what the book was really about. As i have been doing this thing where..."

oMG Actually same with the thing about not reading the synopsis for things anymore, i do that for books and tv and movies now and while it can either be frustrating at times going in blind and ur like "wtf am i reading/watching?? whats going on??" sometimes the payoff is good cause you actually didnt expect anything at all from the jump ye iuhuuihgurit

.........i suppose this is the anti-thesis to my life outlook that spoiler r gr8, spoilers r my friend FHUIRTHGRTUIHTRHGTRUI

I definitely couldn’t relate to the intense pressure to study 24/7 and be one of the top students, but I did relate in the sense that it was always just expected of me that I would go to college. I never even questioned if if was what I actually wanted and I’m pretty sure there would have been hell to pay if I had said I wasn’t going. However, I don’t think any dog killing would be involved. I was honestly on the edge of my seat through the later parts of the novel thinking Aled was going to end up killing himself. So glad to see things didn’t go that way.

Amen on what Vic said about how inclusive this novel was. It would actually make a good Netflix original movie if put in the right hands but we know how they deal with diversity...

Omg typo, I meant to say ‘but we know how Netflix deals with diversity’ meaning they don’t. 😂

I'm late 😭(it's October already) but I'll just post my thoughts. Sorry if it's long lol, it's been awhile since I've written smthn down so bear with me.

First of, I was expecting teenage romance with lots of angst. What I got was teenage friendship (little bit of romance) and a whole lot of courage. The kind of courage I wished I had back then.

I think the reason why I could relate to this book is the fact that I was actually really active on Tumblr years back, and back when 'Welcome to night vale' was popular. So the whole setup of the book was very familiar to me, and looking back it was an embarrassing but necessary part of my life because I figured out a lot about myself during those years.

It was mostly a part of that angsty teen phase im sure a lot of us went through lol. But it was my intro to the 'fandom' world where it was toxic and wonderful at the same time, which gave me a lot of grief but also made me stronger. I met nice people but also for every 1 nice person I met, there were 5 other nasty individuals. So I think we can all agree that the observations about fandom culture is spot on in this book. It really got to the heart of the toxicity in the culture and also the good part, as vic pointed out.

I guess that's why I could relate to what Aled and Francis were going through in the book. The whole fandom thing and the pressure with education, since being obsessed with studies was almost like some personality trait I had growing up sadly (thanks to my environment etc) I was just very happy seeing that despite all the pressure from society, parents, peers, whatever other shit life can throw you, they found their happy ending at the end. The passion which they had for the respective things they enjoyed doing triumphed in the end and it made what they went through worthwhile, it's like I watched them grow up. It really brought me back to those yrs in my life too (with different endings but that's just life lol)

The other exceptional thing about the book was definitely the characters. I guess the representation surprised me because it didn't feel forced and it also tied in very nicely with the narrative. Many times we see representation being used as something to pull viewers in, only to see it badly written. That little talk Daniel and Aled had at the end when 'the evil was defeated' felt so important because it was just two people confessing their love for each other with simple words and affection, labels don't matter. Francis and Aled being platonic best friends throughout? Yes, thank you. Francis and Raine being there for each other gradually throughout the novel was a nice touch. Sometimes the friends who pop up at crucial moments are the ones you need to keep close. Francis's mom deserves the MVP mention because how cool is she? I think all in all, the book spoke to me personally because I could relate to a lot of things in it. But of course some of us rather not remember those times and that's fine lol, I mean that's the beauty of reading a book. People feel different things after reading the same literature.


Ps: Also, if anyone hasn't listened to an episode of Welcome to Night Vale, please do. That is Universe City, if it were an actual podcast. It's great and it got me through some pretty rough times (currently listening to it again).

That's the end of it, but I'm really glad this book was recced because I don't usually read YA. So I'm glad I read this book and there is a space for me to post my thoughts ❤️

Han wrote: "I'm late 😭(it's October already) but I'll just post my thoughts. Sorry if it's long lol, it's been awhile since I've written smthn down so bear with me.

First of, I was expecting teenage romance ..."

i dont have anything to add (mostly coz im at work) but-......

*more collective sobbing from the radio silence community*

same