Just Finished:



Why I Read It: Because Nath raved about it over at her blog. I became intrigued.

Synopsis: Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers 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 Thoughts: I’m finding myself at a loss of what to say. This book is gripping and not the normal kind of thing I would read. For one, before I even opened it I knew that Hannah would be dead, so I knew I wouldn’t have the HEA I’m always after. For two, it deals with the subject of teen suicide, which is a bit darker than what I read about. I like the feel good books, simply because I deal with enough darker subjects in real life so books make a great escape for me. This book made me think. A lot.

Hannah had thirteen reasons why she killed herself. And each of those reasons was sent a copy of the audio tapes to listen to as to why they played a part in her deciding to end her life. And while I read each of these reasons, I couldn’t help wondering what would have happened if just a small part of the scenario had changed in each of these stories. Would Hannah still have made the decision she did to end her life?

Mr. Asher writes a great story. I found myself reliving (rethinking?) my teen years a lot while reading this book. Unfortunately, I think we’re all affected by suicide in someway ~ whether knowing someone who thought of it, who did ~ or whether we’re one of the ones who’s contemplated it. This made me think of how our actions really do affect the lives of others.

This book is Excellent. Read it. I urge you. But if you buy it, go to amazon.com instead of the bookstore. You’ll save $7.00 ~ which is what I found out after coming home from B&N with my coveted purchase.

Labels: Excellent, Jay Asher, Young Adult