Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Jan. 27th, 2010 10:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
You can’t stop the future.
You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret ... is to press play.
Clay Jensen returns home to find a strange package with his name on it. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker – his classmate and first love – who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
Hannah’s voice explains there are thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.
All through the night, Clay keeps listening – and what he discovers changes his life ...
Forever.
Jay Asher’s debut novel follows Clay Jensen, a teenage boy who receives seven audio cassettes in the mail – cassettes that change his life forever. The tapes were made by Hannah Baker, a girl in Clay’s year who committed suicide a fortnight earlier – a girl he had a crush on. She explains that there were 13 reasons why she killed herself and that each of the people who receive the tapes plays a part in those reasons. If Clay fails to play the tapes then he won’t discover who’s next on the list to receive them and failing to pass them on will result in all the reasons becoming public knowledge. More than that though, Clay wants to understand – no matter how painful it will prove to be.
This is a poignant study of suicide and the effect that it has on those who are left behind. While individually, Hannah’s reasons seem minor, Asher cleverly locks them together to show their cumulative effect, while interweaving Clay’s perspective on the same events and stories.
At times it’s a difficult read. Hannah is an intelligent, funny, deeply damaged individual unable to articulate her pain directly to another human being. Clay is a little shy, a little reserved and bitterly regretting the fact that this made him a coward at the wrong time. His confusion and anger as he listens to Hannah’s tapes is completely believable.
In fact the only bum note in the novel is the ending, which for me was too abrupt and open-ended while the upbeat element felt forced. This is a shame because this is otherwise a wonderful book and there’s a fascinating Q&A with the author on the end that sheds interesting light on Asher’s reasons for writing it.
The Verdict:
This is a powerful novel that takes an unflinching look at teenage suicide. It’s a difficult, but ultimately rewarding read and one that continues to resonate with you long after you’ve finished.
You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret ... is to press play.
Clay Jensen returns home to find a strange package with his name on it. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker – his classmate and first love – who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
Hannah’s voice explains there are thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.
All through the night, Clay keeps listening – and what he discovers changes his life ...
Forever.
Jay Asher’s debut novel follows Clay Jensen, a teenage boy who receives seven audio cassettes in the mail – cassettes that change his life forever. The tapes were made by Hannah Baker, a girl in Clay’s year who committed suicide a fortnight earlier – a girl he had a crush on. She explains that there were 13 reasons why she killed herself and that each of the people who receive the tapes plays a part in those reasons. If Clay fails to play the tapes then he won’t discover who’s next on the list to receive them and failing to pass them on will result in all the reasons becoming public knowledge. More than that though, Clay wants to understand – no matter how painful it will prove to be.
This is a poignant study of suicide and the effect that it has on those who are left behind. While individually, Hannah’s reasons seem minor, Asher cleverly locks them together to show their cumulative effect, while interweaving Clay’s perspective on the same events and stories.
At times it’s a difficult read. Hannah is an intelligent, funny, deeply damaged individual unable to articulate her pain directly to another human being. Clay is a little shy, a little reserved and bitterly regretting the fact that this made him a coward at the wrong time. His confusion and anger as he listens to Hannah’s tapes is completely believable.
In fact the only bum note in the novel is the ending, which for me was too abrupt and open-ended while the upbeat element felt forced. This is a shame because this is otherwise a wonderful book and there’s a fascinating Q&A with the author on the end that sheds interesting light on Asher’s reasons for writing it.
The Verdict:
This is a powerful novel that takes an unflinching look at teenage suicide. It’s a difficult, but ultimately rewarding read and one that continues to resonate with you long after you’ve finished.
