Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
"Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself - a truth he never wanted to face."
From the first page, I'm captivated. Clay brings a package to a post office to send to the next person on Hannah's list. I need to know what the package contains. What does he know?
Nearly one third of the way through the book, I can't put it down. I went to work this morning excited to get home and keep reading. Most teen books have wide spacing, margins and typeface, and this book is no exception. With that being said, I still can't believe how quickly I'm turning pages. Usually I have a hard time reading in any room with noise unless it's very quiet. Last night I sat reading with Sean watching the TV at a normal volume and I had no problem tuning it out. I generally don't read teen novels, but this I had heard was good. My manager has also decided she wants all staff to pick a couple teen novels for our staff picks, to help sales in our teen section - which I thought were doing well. So I went with this one. And I'm glad I did.
Hannah's story has gotten dark and somewhat twisted, at times, creepy. I generally do not read quickly, I can count on one hand how many books I've devoured, and this one will be added to that hand. It's not even so much the subject matter, but the author has a great way of telling stories from multiple character view points, both genders. The story is so intriguing. Hannah's story on the tapes is so well told, she really sucks you in and makes you stay. I feel connected to her, and Clay while listening to her story, wondering how this is going to tie together, and filling in the blanks for the reader along the way. I can not get enough of this book so far.
Just over half way through the book, still a page turner. The story is getting more in-depth and interesting, as it should. At first, I found it confusing to be constantly tossed back and forth between Hannah and Clay, but it's amazing how quickly I got used to that. The author does an excellent job. We are only about half way through Hannah's story and the pieces are slowly starting to come together, although there are still a lot of unanswered questions. At times I feel really bad for these characters she talks about in her tapes, but ultimately in the end, you can definitely see her anger towards them, even if it does seem like petty teenage problems. While I usually try not to analyze the loss of a life too much, Hannah's story is a complex one, one which you have no choice but to really think about while reading this book. "But school hadn't been a safe haven of mine for a long time. And after your photo escapades, Tyler, my home was no longer secure. Now, suddenly, even my own thoughts were being offered up for ridicule." Many of Hannah's problems may seem like small, petty things, and I suppose on their own they would be. Things that most teenagers may laugh off and get over in a few days. But to Hannah, it seems as though she feels she's being attacked, from every angle. She can't escape anything from anyone, she doesn't even want to think to herself anymore, and it feels her whole life is on display for everyone to watch crumble. Although, they don't understand it's crumbling. Or maybe they don't care.
About 60 pages left to go and it feels as though I have hit the climax of the book. I've just discovered Clays part in the story and I feel... relieved. I image that's how he feels too, a long with a mix of other emotions. The author does a good job of really making you feel for Clay, and after finding out his role in Hannah's list of suicide reasons, you feel grateful that his part isn't horrible. But at the same time, it's almost as though it was predictable for the author to not make you hate our main character. It seems too cliche that he remains the good guy. But, on the other hand, what if he did something awful and my whole view of him changed? I'm not sure which idea I like better, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I feel so sad though, you can feel Hannah giving up on herself, on the people around her.
FINISHED! Great book. Would highly recommend to anyone and everyone. Very captivating, definitely a page turner. Suspenseful and mysterious. You grow with Clay's character over one night while his life changes. You grow with Hannah's story and watch as she becomes at peace with her decision. This is definitely a book that is going to stay with me for a very long time.
When I first began the book, Sean had mentioned he hoped the book didn't make suicide look appealing. Those were not his exact words, but his point was that it might influence young people to take their life, like this book was glamorizing suicide. At the time, I didn't know if I should agree or disagree. I would certainly hope and imagine that the author in no way intended for suicide to look like a good idea. But I could see what Sean meant by what he said. Now, I think the authors intent was to show that everyone has issues to deal with. And I don't mean for that too sound like a brush off. It reminds me of the quote, to walk a mile in someones shoes, or to always be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle. I've read reviews of people saying this book changed their life, and I've read that people say since reading it they try to treat other people with more kindness and understanding. I not only think, but am very certain that the point of this book is to make people aware. In the book during a peer interaction class, the teacher states that suicide often goes unpublished in the news, unless it happens in front of others. You hear about teen suicide in the media now, especially in the days since Amanda Todd, who wasn't the first or last. Amanda had made a video on YouTube confessing her trauma to the world, she then took her own life. Regardless of your views on the matter, I can't help but feel as if it wouldn't have mattered had she not made that video. Like Hannah, if she was just another girl at another school in another city, and didn't make that cry for help, would we have ever heard about it? Suicide is something the media tries to steer away from, if it's just some random person no one knows of. But Amanda Todd? Her story went differently. A year or so ago, a friend told me about a guy who lived in his building, who had jumped off his balcony, on the 12th or 13th floor, front of the building, landing in front of the main doors around 7am one morning, in the middle of the week. Obviously an ambulance came, and cops, the building managers shut down that entrance and re-directed everyone to the side exit of the building to leave for work. I never did ask my friend about that after, but I can assume the building managers certainly did not post anything about it in their main office or lobby. I tried to search online for anything about it, I looked deep into the local newspaper. I could never find anything, who it was, why or anything, and I never will.
Suicide is just one of those topics people don't want to talk about. To report on it the news without that person already making - and I use this world in the most innocent of ways - a production out of it, is for some reason taboo. I think that's what Mr. Asher is trying to get across in this story. It's not to glorify suicide or make light of a situation, it's to hit home how serious it is, regardless of any reason what-so-ever, it's something that should never be taken lightly. We all need to be careful of how we treat others around us. Even the simplest most innocent things can dramatically affect someones life.