Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why

By Jay Asher

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published October 18th 2007

ISBN13 9781595141712

Synopsis: Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers. – Goodreads.com

Last week when I was at the library looking for Jay Asher’s most recent book I finally decided to pick this up. I have avoided reading this for a long time. Frankly I really was not interested in the idea of this book, but I have heard too many gushing things about this book to pass it up. So I stepped put of my comfort zone and checked it out.

What a powerful and thought provoking read I am glad I read this! I think it is important to note, if you begin reading this you HAVE to finish it. It is very important to complete Clay’s journey with him to truly benefit from it. The subject of suicide was seriously hard for me to read about. It would have been easy to put this down and spend my time searching the web for images of kittens in cups. Fortunately, this book handles the subject well and gave me a sense of closure at the end. This book tackles very difficult topics aside from the obvious – suicide. Through Hannah’s tapes we learn of all the hard life situations that lead her toward her decision. At the same time we experience Clay’s viewpoint where he struggles with his guilt and sorrow!  

Unfortunately teen suicide is very real and these situations really do happen. In this book we see parts of both sides. I think it is important to know how are actions can truly hurt people as well as how much our positive actions can really impact someone. It would make an excellent discussion book. (for teens or adults) You definitely should read this.