Sunday, July 10, 2011

Review: TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY

Synopsis From Jay Asher's Website:

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box 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. 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.

My husband gave me this book as a gift. When I saw the cover I was immediately pulled in, then I flipped it over and read:

You can’t stnp the future.

You can’t rew«nd the past.

The only way to learn the secret

. . . is to press pl>y.

Now, not only did I want to read it, but I needed to start reading it right then.

Jay Asher’s debut Novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, was simply brilliant. It provides you with the thoughts of not only the person who committed suicide, but also one of the people affected by their decision. Asher shows how your actions can affect others in unexpected and sometimes deadly ways. I loved the use of audiotapes. It was such an irreplaceable part of the book because when I was reading it I felt as if I could not stop reading for the same reason Clay could not stop listening – he needed to know why Hannah committed suicide and how he may have led her to that decision. I also loved the way he ended the book, which I will just say was wonderfully inspiring so as not to give the ending away.

While I understand that the topic of suicide is hard for many people to stomach it also is a very real issue that some people know little to nothing about, especially teens. I believe that this will be a great book for generations to come because it opens the door to conversations about the hard truth that some people do consider and even commit suicide. Thirteen Reasons Why was an eye opening look at how we impact others and some of the signs of a person crying out for help. I would definitely recommend this book to others!

My Rating:

For more information about Jay Asher and Thirteen Reasons Why visit www.thirteenreasonswhy.com

Michelle


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2 comments:

  1. I have heard that this book is very moving and wrenching! Great Review!

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  2. Thirteen Reasons Why is a breathtaking book. It's exciting, suspenseful, disturbing, heartbreaking, and depressing. It's all about how one day a boy Clay Jensen recieves in the mail a bunch of cassette tapes recorded by his high school crush who had just committed suicide 2 weeks prior. On the tapes she's recorded the 13 reasons why she ended her life and sent them to all the people responsible so they knew what they did, but Clay can't figure out why he could possibly have made it on her list.

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