Alice Oseman

 Alice Oseman

Alice Oseman is one of my favorite authors. She writes queer young-adult fiction books and has had the most success with Heartstopper, a book series that is now a show on Netflix with a second season soon to come. I will be talking about my three favorite Alice Oseman books. These are 3 of her 4 standalone books and they all have themes of friendship, self-discovery, and identity.

1. Radio Silence

Radio Silence is Alice Oseman's second book. It follows a high-achieving high school girl named Frances who loves the science-fiction podcast, Radio Silence. She gets good grades in school no matter what and she will not let anything get in the way of her going to Cambridge. Secretly though, she has a passion for art. So when the creator of Radio Silence offers her a chance to make the graphics for the podcast, she immediately agrees. Coincidentally, she becomes closer with Aled, the creator, throughout the summer and they become great friends. This book follows Frances, her friendship with Aled, and her struggle to figure out what she wants from life after high school.

Radio Silence is a very relatable book. It deals with identity and insecurity perfectly. Throughout the book the main characters talk about their struggles fitting in with other people and loving themselves. For people my age, feeling alone and insecure are issues we deal with constantly, and this book addressed them remarkably. Also, Aled and Frances’ friendship was very realistic. Aled and Frances were never perfect, but they loved each other for who they were and even through their rocky moments, they cared about each other. 

2. Loveless

Loveless is Alice Oseman’s fourth book. This book is about Georgia, a freshman at Durham University who is on a journey of self-discovery. She is coming to university with her two best friends, Pip and Jason far from the town they grew up in together. She has a secret that she has never told anyone, even her best friends: She has never had a crush before and she has never kissed anyone before. She hopes that maybe in this new place, she will find the love of her life just like her parents did. But when her friends start romances of her own, Georgia has to ask herself why she has never felt the same way. 

This book is a great reminder that love doesn’t just have to be romantic. Throughout the book, though she never makes any romantic connections, Georgia is constantly creating strong platonic bonds and falling in love in all kinds of ways. It shows that even when certain feelings are not natural for you, other strong feelings will prevail and you will not be alone. Loveless is a book of self-acceptance and unconditional love, no matter how untraditional it may seem.

3. 
   I Was Born for This

I Was Born for This is Alice Oseman’s third book. Angel, a superfan of the pop-rock band called The Ark, finally saves up enough to see The Ark on their tour. She and her online friend decide to go, but little does she know that this week will change her life. Jimmy, the frontman of The Ark, owes everything to The Ark, just like Angel. But the current events of his life are turning his life upside down. Unexpectedly, during the tour, Angel and Jimmy bump into each other in an unusual event, and they are pushed into each other’s lives, finally understanding how crazy life and the real world are.

I Was Born for This is a moving coming-of-age story that explores friendship, fame, identity, and teenage life. Jimmy’s world revolves around how famous he is but he is still only a teenager and wants to have a normal life as well. Angel’s entire world revolves around a band who she did not know personally for most of her life and she’s stuck in the past. Everyone around Angel tells her she needs to focus on reality, but she’s still trying to understand herself. Jimmy’s entire life is devoted to something that causes him anxiety and pain, and he needs to stand up to other people for his own good. Their worlds collide and the friendship they share helps them finally put together the pieces of their own lives.

-Praachi