Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars

Riveting. That is the best description I can come up with. I felt immersed in the story, in the pain felt by the main characters. It's a beyond-the-grave story of a teenage girl explaining how she came to commit suicide and the 13 people who unwittingly did (or did not do) things that contributed to her decision. Reading it felt like watching a Titanic movie--you KNOW how it's going to end, and yet you are hoping so very very hard that somehow THIS time things will go differently.

The book is filled with the angst of teenagers: very real pain and yet lacking the perspective that comes with age & outliving high school. Full of so many of the decisions of youth, especially the bad ones that seem good or harmless at the time.

I especially liked the structure of the story, how Jay Asher writes it as almost a dialogue between Hannah's voice on the cassettes and Clay's thoughts and interactions with the (living) world.

There are definitely some sexual themes, though, so I would recommend it for high school age or older rather than middle schoolers.


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