Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

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.

My Review:

   Upon reading this book, I think I will be bound to suffer from some sort of depression... Haha! Kidding :P But seriously, I would call the concept behind this story sick in a brilliant/unique kinda way, well, sick is not the right word at all, maybe devastating, I would say. I'll have to admit though that the story at first kinda creeped me out, I guess I was just shocked by the whole shoe box full of audio tapes and the suicide thing combined but then as the events of the story slowly started to unfold, it became the gripping and enthralling that it was. 

   In Thirteen Reasons Why, we get to listen to Hannah Baker through audio tapes in which she tells her story and her reasons for committing suicide and which were sent by her to 13 people and each one of them were one of the reasons why. 

   The book was written from Clay's point of view and God! going through those tapes, as agonizing as it was, my heart just shattered slowly as his, like seriously, his role was the hardest of all, aside from Hannah of course.  I don't want to give anything away so I will leave it at that. 

   I strictly oppose the idea of suicide - suicide can never be the solution to anything and I wholeheartedly believe that - but I respect Jay Asher for writing this book, for suicide is not a light subject but then this book wouldn't have been the book that it is without Hannah committing suicide which was unfortunate, I liked the girl. And just coming up with those 13 reasons, I am sure required a ton of thinking so it was indeed thoughtful and cogitative like no other.   

   One lesson that I learned through reading this book is to never take anything for granted. You can never be sure that something will last forever or that something will still be available for you whenever you think are ready. Seize the chance and think of the worst consequence that could ever happen and keep it in front of you along with the chance. The way I relate it to this book is mainly through Clay because I guess he had a bigger chance at saving Hannah........

   You know, I had hope until the end of the book that maybe, just maybe Hannah might not kill herself by the end, like she would change her mind or something might have happened that would stop her because that's just pure harsh and heartbreaking. Don't get me wrong I love the path that this story took and everything because it wouldn't have been the story that it is without the whole suicide thing but yeah, the ugly truth.

   Moving on. So the writing was normal but slightly confusing because it would sometimes take me time to know if it was Clay who was talking or was it Hannah who was talking through the audio tapes. But the whole experience felt so real and authentic, almost touchable, like it touched my heart. But I hate the feeling, like if I was in Clay's place, the feeling of being too late, especially with it being permanent as it was, unchangeable. Too late, I profoundly hate and despise those two words together.

   Overall, I found this book to be a read worth-reading. I finished this book in quiet a short time and was left on the verge of crying but this story truly evoked a lot of emotions within me. Heartfelt characters, radiant, thought-provoking and nerve-racking plot, full of emotions and compassion. There was a sense of *idealness* to the storyline and so if it's not already obvious, I really liked this book with no doubt. Recommend it!

"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." Phil Donahue

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Series: Stand-alone
Published: October 18th 2007 by Razorbill
Source: Owned
Links: Goodreads | Amazon
Rating: 4/5

Happy Reading!
xoxo, Mariam