THIRTEEN REASONS WHY
by Jay Asher
Pages: 288
Publisher: Penguin UK
Publication Date: September 19th 2009 (originally October 18th 2007)
Received From: Penguin UK
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.
"I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why."
By now the majority of the human race has heard of Thirteen Reasons Why... I mean I'm pretty sure any UFO's flying around up there logged into Netflix this Spring to watch it. However, what some of you might not know (I'm actually shocked the amount of my friends that didn't know this) that before Katherine Langford and Dylan Minnette broke our hearts on screen this unbelievably brave and honest story started off as a book. I must confess that I watched the show before reading the book myself and there are some differences... so if like myself you haven't read the book because you're like "I've already watched it on Netflix" DONT BE!!! I read this book in one sitting and even though I knew what was coming the way in which Asher writes has you on tender hooks from the very first page.
For those of you that don't know this is what Thirteen Reasons Why is about. Hannah Baker killed herself, that's no secret but no one really understands why. One day she was in class like everyone else and the next she was gone. However, two weeks after Hannah's death Clay Jensen comes home from school to find a package with no return address on it and inside is 7 tapes. Over the course of one night Clay listens to each and every side of the tapes, 13 to be exact, and as he does he discovers why Hannah Baker died.
I've read one of Jay Ashers books before, What Light, and as much as I did love the story I found it all a little too sweet... which is probably the last word you can use to describe Thirteen Reasons Why. This book is hard to read, and guess what? It's meant to be! Hannah's story speaks to everyone in one way or another, you get to read what it is like to have life taken out of your hands and throughout the course of the book we as the reader sees how truly damaging a teenagers life can be.
"I could have helped you. But when I tried, you pushed me away.
I can almost hear Hannah's voice speaking my next thought for me. "Then why didn't you try harder.""
Okay so lets discuss the elephant in the room shall we? I know that after the TV show came out there was a huge debate on whether or not this story promotes teen suicide and if it was healthy for young people to be watching it. Well here is my opinion on this... For me the book isn't actually about Hannah's Death - I know, curve ball right? - no, it is about the actions, choices and mistakes of very human characters. It is a story that challenges people to really look at the way in which they treat other, to understand that every action as a reaction and most importantly to see that our decisions, our choices, don't just affect us. This book DOES NOT promote teen suicide but it does bring to the forefront a topic that is still very much tabboo. Thirteen Reasons Why invites a conversation that I think more people should be having, it's not just about who did what to who and who killed Hannah, it's about the 'why'. Why did a beautiful, healthy teenage girl feel the need to end her life? Why did no one see Hannah was falling apart? Why didn't anyone stop her? WHY didn't she ask for help?
WHY?!?
From start to finish this story had me hooked. I struggled to read this book at times, it is honest, raw, heart breaking and felt very very real. Mental health is something I bang on about a lot and I know that but it's books like this that challenge our preconceptions, open our minds and start a conversation that needs to be had. Everything affects everyone in different ways, the things that seem small to you could spiral for someone else and the consequences could be bigger than you ever imagined. This isn't a book for the faint hearted but I honestly could not recommend you to read this more.
**I received this book as an ARC from Penguin UK to read & review. This is a 100% honest review.**
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