Review: Radio Silence by Alyssa Cole

Rating: 3 Stars

No one expects the apocalypse. One moment Arden Highmore was living the life of an average Upstate New York postgrad, and the next the world went dark. No internet, no power, no running water—and no one knows why. All she and her roommate, John Seong, know for sure is that they have to get out, stat. His family’s cabin in a town near the Canadian border seems like the safest choice. Turns out isolation doesn’t necessarily equal safety. When scavengers attack en route to the cabin, John’s hot older brother, Gabriel, comes to the rescue. He saves Arden’s life, so he can’t be too bad…but the good parts seem to be hidden under several layers of controlling jerk. Arden thought reaching the cabin would give her a reprieve from her worries, but she finds her problems only grow once they arrive: the Seong’s parents have gone missing, teen sister Maggie’s growing pains won’t be stopped by an apocalypse, and no one knows when—or if—help will ever come. In the midst of all that, Arden and Gabriel find that there’s a thin line indeed between love and hate. Can they survive the darkness, or will their growing love be snuffed out?

Lets just jump right in shall we.

LIKED:

• Our cast of characters. I was a pretty big fan of everyone involved here. Arden felt like a realistic character, I liked her relationship with BFF John, Gabriel was moody in the loveliest of ways, and Maggie made me think of my own young sister (except my sister is bananas nuts).
• The chemistry between Arden and Gabriel was FOR REAL. I don't know if I can say it was the most realistic (I've never lived through the apocalypses soooooo), but I was all about those romantic moments. Two thumbs up Alyssa Cole.
• I'm always on board with interracial relationships.
• There was so much snark. I loved it.

NOT A FAN:

• So, I understand that we have never lived through a time where the whole planet basically turned off, but... there was something about this that didn't work for me. I'm not sure if was the amount of times someone said "I just want to know what's going on" or what. Maybe it was because most of the story took place in a cabin in the woods, something just didn't work. There was a disconnect for me somewhere in this world that was built for us. 
• I think the book was too short. I know there are two more books about John and Maggie, and that's great. But I think there was so much more that we could been done here. I needed another 150 pages. (She says like that's not super hard and time consuming). 

So, all in all, I'm totally fine with the book, on occasion I'll go back and read random sections of it that brought me joy. It's a new adult novel that didn't drown in sex, and at the end of the day, that's all I ask for. This book wasn't my favorite, but if someone's looking for a relaxing, romantic, apocalyptic day read, I'd give them this in a second.