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.
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay AsherMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Disclaimer: I have to admit that I was so sucked into the story that I wasn't really paying attention to the writing style. I'm going to assume that I didn't mind the writing style because I didn't notice it.
That being said, I thought this book had a very powerful message to send. I thought that the message was realistically portrayed. The imagery was perfect and I could see this girl being taunted and bullied into killing herself. Ultimately, I don't know how I feel about the girl sending tapes to the people who tormented her. It serves them right but I don't know if that accurately portrays the mind-set of a girl who has been tortured into ending her life. It just seems like so much planning and scheming went into it and a girl who is in that much pain doesn't strike me as capable of pulling all of that off. Even less realistic is the random boy, who has no relationship with Hannah at all, ensuring that the tapes move on their path. What incentive does he have? That is never really explained. According to Hannah, he would have sent the tapes to the press and exposed all of the people who led this girl to kill herself. All of these things might lead people to think that I didn't like the book. This is not the case. I was impacted by this book more that I could ever express in words.
I don't know what about it got to me so much. Maybe it was all of the misunderstandings that led up to this girl wanting to commit suicide. Maybe it was that we were following the story of the one boy that she felt she needed to explain herself to. She wanted him to know that he wasn't a factor but that she needed to tell him her story. She needed to let him into her world. She viewed him as the one good person she knew and she wanted him to know how she felt about him. Following Clay's feelings and reactions to her tapes was a powerful and sad journey. I was so attached to Clay and wanted him to feel better. He wanted nothing more than to turn back the clock and make Hannah feel wanted and appreciated. The other people on her tapes were probably glad she was gone. They wouldn't want the things that they did to her to become public knowledge. For some of them, it would destroy their image. For others, it could have them put in jail. I wouldn't have wanted to read this story from any other perspective.
I went on the journey of a girl who was bullied and victimized and made to feel less that human. I read that the girl cried out for help in many ways and was totally ignored or brushed off. These are things that I believe happen every day. Parents, teachers, and students ignore problems because they don't want to believe that it could be happening. This book definitely spoke to an issue that is prevalent in schools today and Jay Asher did a wonderful job. I have already recommended this book to many people and I hope that it impacts them the way that it did me.
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