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Loveless was my single most anticipated release of 2020, so on release day, I sat myself down with the audiobook and dove right in. I was fully intending to read the entire book on release day, but it actually took me a few days to read it because I needed time to process. The fourth novel from the phenomenally talented Alice Oseman, author of Solitaire and the graphic novel series Heartstopper – now a major Netflix series. Like Georgia, I was also this hopeless romantic who spent much of their time daydreaming about romance, often fictional. I still am. I actually read a comic by Alice Oseman before that captured this feeling so well – how at odds you can feel with yourself if you love romance but you know it will never happen for you. This comic was actually the reason I had such high hopes of this novel. Picturing fanfic characters having sex? Great. Fine. Sexy. But picturing myself having sex with anyone, guy, girl, whoever, didn’t interest me. if you're not ace, you won't know the struggle that is finding good ace rep. mainly because...there's almost none. and most of the time when i do read an ace book, i think i feel represented because anywhere on the ace spectrum is something i can relate to more than a straight book....however. the ace spectrum is wide and varied and i'm realizing now that some of the books that i read before that i thought represented me...didn't do so as much as i really hoped. they're great and i value them and obviously i will always love them, but none of them were like this.
This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance. Radio Silence isn’t a dramatic departure tonally or thematically from Solitaire but it’s just as strong. Oseman’s first book was a breathtakingly accurate portrayal of teenage ennui - The Times called it “The Catcher in the Rye for the digital age” - and Radio Silence ventures into darker territory, featuring characters a little older than Solitaire’s protagonists. It is, predictably, a more mature piece of work; a bold, confident and, above all, important book (but not in the way you’d expect) with Oseman’s wit and insight shining throughout.
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If you're looking for something else to read instead, I highly recommend Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman for a book with amazing aroace questioning rep without invalidating anybody else!
Loveless received positive critical reception from literary reviewers and media outlet writers, with many praising the novel's depiction of an aro/ace individual. Some also added that Loveless helped them discover their own aromanticism, or helped them affirm their personal journeys with their aromantic or asexual identities. [5] [11] In February 2023, Jonny Yates of PinkNews wrote that the novel is "perhaps one of the most notable and popular books with aromantic characters". [2]That’s like my biggest regret with Solitaire, there not being any obviously people of colour in the main cast”. She hesitates to clarify that “I have no excuses” but she wants to explain her reasoning behind it. “It is just privilege; white privilege, straight privilege. And unless you’ve been educated otherwise, which I have, you have, we know about these issues now. It’s not that you are racist or anything like that, you don’t even think about it so… I hate using my age when talking about Solitaire but I was only like 17 when I wrote it.” Oseman wins YA Book Prize for 'Loveless' ". Books+Publishing. 7 May 2021. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021 . Retrieved 11 May 2021. Got to get a new book deal, that’s the first thing. I’ve got an idea for book three, which I’m sure you’ve seen a few things about on Tumblr.” Oseman’s Tumblr gives little away but everything suggests it’s something to do with fame and being in the spotlight. “I haven’t planned much of book three and even if I had stuff to say I wouldn’t really be able to reveal it anyway but I can say that I’m hoping for it to be very different to Solitaire and Radio Silence in terms of setting, time frame and even themes. It’ll still be in my style, very character heavy, but I have ideas about how different it’ll be.” Georgia is about to start University and very excited as she thinks that she'd definitely find someone special for herself. Everyone around her has boyfriend or a girlfriend and she kind of feel left out while her friends and everyone else tells her that one day she'd find her someone special. So she was determined to find that someone in her college. This journey leads her on a path where she experiments, fights and almost lose her childhood friends, and discovers some real truths about herself (and come to terms with them). Also alongside the emotional crises we also have a student theatre directorial rivalry taken way too seriously, a sexually-charged battle on a bouncy castle, various characters being adopted by the university Pride Society, a boy who has a passion for the live-action Scooby-Doo duology, and some large, magical gestures of platonic love!
With the publication of Radio Silence, Alice Oseman’s two-book deal with HarperCollins comes to an end but she fully intends to continue writing. I ask her what her plans are now that Radio Silence is in the wild.It was so easy to romanticize romance because it was everywhere. I could see it all, all the time, all around, but when I got closer, I found that nothing was there.
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