THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher

by Alli White
(Eastlake, Ohio, USA)

Usually after someone commits suicide it’s a mystery as to why they did and since they are dead there’s no way to ever find out. Or at least most of the time. Thirteen Reasons Why is about a young high school student, Hannah Barker, who commits suicide, but finds a clever way to tell thirteen people how they contributed to her choice of death over life. Before she intentionally stopped her heart from beating, she recorded her voice on a set of audiotapes and mailed them to the first person, who would then mail it on and on. While the book tells of the other characters listening and dealing with the fact they had been one of the people to cause Hannah’s death, it focuses the most on Clay. The book describes Clay as he pays close attention to his tape and go to the places mentioned by Hannah. Thirteen Reasons Why tells how Clay's heart breaks as he doesn’t understand why he was a reason -- all he ever did was try to talk to her he had liked her for quite a while.

Thirteen Reasons Why is one of the stories that stick with you long after you read the last page. It makes you think how doing something, no matter how small, could truly affect another’s life and self esteem. This story is so heartbreaking and probably will make you cry a couple of times: it certainly had me tearing up. I like how the author, Jay Asher, shows you from the beginning Hannah was dead; that way you know there isn’t any saving her -- she is and always will be dead. Honestly, there’s nothing I could critique negatively about this book; I loved every single word of this tragic story. I highly recommend reading this book and I would bet anything you will fall in love with this book and most likely wind up rereading it.