13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

 

    I chose to write a review on Thirteen Reasons Why because I read it last year for ELA, and I found it really interesting and intriguing. It was one of those books that stuck with me even after I finished it. FIRST, I want to say that this book covers a lot of difficult and sensitive topics, including mental health, bullying, peer pressure, and suicide. Some of these topics will also be mentioned in my review.

     The story is about a boy named Clay Jensen who receives a mysterious package in the mail one day. Inside the package are thirteen cassette tapes, each recorded by Hannah Baker (a girl from Clay’s school who he has a crush on, and who recently died by suicide). The tapes are a kind of audio diary, but with a very specific purpose. Each tape reveals a different reason why Hannah decided to end her life. Each side focuses on a specific person and event that made up the 13 reasons. These are people who, in one way or another, hurt her, ignored her, or played a role in making her feel hopeless and alone. The idea of the tapes is that each person must listen to them and then pass them along to the next person on the list, or else the recordings will be made public. As Clay listens to the tapes, he begins to understand more and more about what happened to Hannah. He starts to see his classmates differently, and he wonders what kind of stuff he did. One of the most interesting parts of the book is wondering what Clay’s did to Hannah, since only the people who were involved in her life in a serious way get the tapes, so Clay must have done something, but he doesn’t know what. One of the hardest parts is waiting to know what Clay did. It’s a very interesting and sad story. Even though the topic is sad, the way the story is told makes you want to keep reading. The back and forth between Hannah’s recorded voice and Clay’s thoughts helps you see both sides and understand what happened. It’s a very interesting and sad but I will say the story though sad was really fun to read and had me waiting to know what he did. 

Thanks for reading my book review! I hope you liked it.

-Arbella Almaraz-Perez