Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

ISBN-13: 9781595141712
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Published: October 2007
288 pgs

I do not have the intention of reading this book so soon. You see, I have the habit of getting new books and adding them onto the rest of my TBR pile, after all I need to catch up on the rest of the books, considering they have been on my shelves for quite some time. I told myself I would just close the book after sneaking a peek at a few pages and no more, but in fact I just did the opposite - I kept on reading, and reading until I finished reading a chapter, then another until I told myself I just have to read this book! And I have only one reason for this: Thirteen Reasons Why is an intriguing and a very thought-provoking book.

When Clay Jensen returns home from school one day, he finds a mysterious package addressing to him with no return address. Intrigued, he torn open the package and found some cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, a former classmate who had committed suicide two weeks ago. Not knowing why he received the set of tapes, he played the first tape and was shocked to hear Hannah stated her thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. But the most shocking of all is, he finds he is one of them. So when he listens to the tape, he soon finds out the reason why he (as well as some of the other classmates) made it onto Hannah's list and what they have done (or not done) as a cause of her suicide.

Thirteen Reasons Why is definitely not an easy read to me, because it deals with self-esteem and suicide. The story is narrated in first person through Clay's POV, but it alternates between Clay and Hannah as he plays her tapes (her narratives are in italics). Besides intrigued by the premise and the format of the story, I was very interested to know out what had pushed Hannah to the limits and how does Clay plays a part in it?

There are a few reasons why I liked Thirteen Reasons Why. Besides reading like a good mystery, I think this story has touched on some important issues that all of us could not ignore - 'low self-esteem', 'peer pressure' and 'suicide'. Suicide is a serious matter and one which has to be dealt with sensitivity. I think the author has done a great job in writing this story, and I feel the best thing about this book is that it helps teenagers to see and understand the circumstances behind everything. For example, how a remark would cause hurt and have an impact on another person.

I think Hannah did struggle before her decision of ending her life and that she needs love and support from her family and friends, but unfortunately none is there for her. Clay clearly cares a lot about her but he just have no clue what she is thinking. In other words, they lack communications.

I think it is great that this story covers some important lessons without being preachy about it. I look forward to reading more by this author in the near future.


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