April 3, 2012

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher



When Clay Jensen gets home from school there is a package address to him waiting on his porch. When he opens the package he finds seven cassette tapes labeled with a number and A or B. When he finally tracks down a tape player he learns that the tapes were recorded by Hannah Baker who committed suicide just two weeks earlier.

As he listens on Hannah explains that on these tapes are 13 reasons why she committed suicide and that if you are listening to the tape you’re one of the reasons. Clay is devastated. He liked Hannah and never thought that he would be one of her reasons. As Clay listens to the tapes he gets pulled deeper into Hannah’s world but there is nothing he can do to change what happened.

I was immediately sucked into Thirteen Reasons Why. The thought that Hannah would leave this terrible legacy to the thirteen people on the tapes was just a little bothersome. If she chose to take her own life because of other people’s actions that was her choice. It made me a little upset to think that she left the tapes behind but nonetheless I had to know just what those reasons were. I’m sure a teen reading this book could relate a little better than I could but I still thought the book itself was very well done. The story is told in two voices, Clay’s and Hannah’s which made a huge difference in the reading. Even though the end result cannot be changed I liked the way Clay was able to get a lot out of the tapes themselves. This is a very compelling read that I recommend for anyone who loves YA books with a serious tilt.

2 comments :

Toni said...

Hi, I think I would want to know the reasons also. Nice review. I am glad I don't have teens anymore. The suicide theme would be hard for me to let them read, and yet maybe there is a message for the kids (positive) in the story. Sounds like a unique storyline and an interesting presentation.

bermudaonion said...

I read this for my book club and I liked it but not as much as everyone else did. I thought Hannah was selfish and cause a lot of her own problems, right up to the end.