Thirteen Reasons Why

This was a unique, twisting, and complex story—one of the more difficult I’ve tried to review. Now that I’ve let its full (and somewhat disorienting) effect simmer a while, I’m giving it a go.

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Yes, this is an ‘issues’ book. It confronts with a number of relevant and dark topics that young adults particularly struggle with or are at least affected by. Teen suicide, mental illness, reputation-worship, gossip/slander, nearsighted impulsivity, sexual abuse, malignant narcissism, interconnected cause-and-effect, the many hazardous consequences attached to drunken partying… It neither glamorizes nor preaches—it simply tells its tale and leaves you to draw your own conclusions.

The story centers around the primary POV (point of view) in the character of Clay, a young man who receives a package from a girl he barely knew but wanted to know more—Hannah Baker…a girl who committed suicide several weeks before. In the package are a number of archaic tape cassettes holding Hannah’s voice, personally explaining why she chose the path she did, and instructions for the tapes to be passed on to the next name she’s indicated (under threat of a second copy of said tapes going public if her targets do not comply with her demands.)

That’s right. To a large extent, this story is about postmortem blackmail.

Beyond that, the book is also built on an empathic sort of intrigue. Clay is a well-meaning, well-liked, genuinely ‘nice guy’—and readers get to agonize along with him as he hears about each person Hannah calls out for offenses against her, all the while wondering when it will be his turn and what he did to deserve a spot on the girl’s vindictive list-o-shame.

I’m not sure if I should call Hannah a ‘victim’ of suicide, or a perpetrator.
She’s not an easy character to sympathize with or relate to. (And this is coming from someone who, at one time, struggled both with depression and thoughts of suicide.) She certainly had lots of time to think about her choice—to calculate, judge, plot, manipulate, and cast blame. She speculates at length on how her choice may affect people, but her parents get almost no mention at all--aside from the vague reference to the impending ruin of their small business being a factor that made her relationship with them situationally distant. Hannah doesn't seem to care or hold any empathy for the struggles of her parents. Or, indeed, for anyone else around her.

Do certain people do legitimately bad, even horrible things to Hannah? Absolutely. Are her responses to these incidences healthy or rational? As the story unfolds, the answer to that is, increasingly and adamantly, no. We as readers are left with a sort of unanswerable ‘chicken-or-the-egg’ question at the end of the tapes. Did Hannah’s myopic and self-destructive nature come from her spiral into suicidal ideation, or was it the other way around? We’ll never know, because Hannah chooses to end her own story.

As bleak and warped as this book is, it's not devoid of hope. (I’d contend that there is value in abundance, if you know where to look.) It stuns, it evokes, it haunts… it forces you to remember it. The story serves as a possible plea for action to those who might otherwise remain bystanders, and a warning to those inclined to treat others—and life in general—carelessly. Most importantly, it does a subtle job of threading through tools of social awareness for those willing to perceive what’s being offered.

Note: This reader happened to ingest the prose via audiobook, which is not my preferred method. But in this singular instance, I HIGHLY recommend the story be experienced in said format. So much of the plot is conveyed to Clay via Hannah’s disembodied voice, creating an immersive, eerie, and pitch-perfect effect. I found myself idling in many a parking space or driveway, caught up in listening.

Talk about taking my sweet time getting around to reading Jay Asher’s “Thirteen Reasons Why.” I have been wanting to read this book for ages, and I finally had the opportunity this weekend. It is completely not what I was expecting, and once again, that was because I was a fool face and judged a book by its cover. Due to the girl swinging on the cover, I thought this would be geared more toward female readers, but boy was I wrong! This book knows no gender, and I think it’s equally as important for boys to read as girls. As the Boy Books editor at YABC, here are not-quite-thirteen reasons why guys should pick up this book:

As I said with my mistakenly judging the book by its cover, I didn’t expect the story to have a male protagonist, but it sure does. Clay Jensen is such a relatable Every Guy that I couldn’t help picturing myself in his role as the action played out in my head. Clay isn’t the picture perfect presentation of a boy that is often found in YA, with no mention of his “deep, soul-searching eyes” or his “perfectly toned body.” Instead, Clay is described through his reactions and interactions with Hannah, said cover girl of the book, who has committed suicide and has now left cassette tapes behind to be heard by each of the people she feels are responsible for her death.

The premise of the book leads me to my next reason why guys should pick up this book. The premise and feel of the story’s action are just so dang haunting. I found myself looking over my shoulder a couple times while reading this book, feeling like maybe the ghost of this girl has come to haunt me after her death, too. You get goose bumps from some of the things Hannah has to say to those she perceives as responsible for her suicide. That creepy crawly disturbing feeling you get from hearing about this calculated communication from beyond the grave is not often found in YA, and it’s something I think teenage boys would totally get a kick out of.

Finally, there are so many themes in this book that can resonate with male readers. There’s the theme of coming into manhood, which Clay now has to do with an emotional roadblock since he feels somewhat responsible for Hannah’s death. There’s the theme of gender relations and if it’s a man’s responsibility to be a protector of a woman he likes even if she is self-destructive. Tied into this are graphic yet important lessons on respecting a woman’s body and not treating any woman as a means to an end.

My mind is still reeling from this book, and I’m so glad I was finally able to delve into it. I can’t say enough how avidly I recommend this book. With all of the New York Times Best Seller love Asher is getting, it doesn’t seem like people need too much encouragement to pick up this book, but I just want to spread the word out there to all my fellow male YA readers to not make the same mistake I did and think this is a “girl’s book” simply because of the girl on the cover. Guys and gals alike will be affected by Asher’s “Thirteen Reasons Why.”

Hannah Baker narrates her story of the many people and events that push her over the edge to suicide in Thirteen Reasons Why. Her story, in the form of cassette tapes, pass from each person who played a part in her suicide to the next. Hannah only has two rules about her tapes:

Number one: You listen.
Number two: You pass it on.

When Clay Jenson, Hannahs classmate and crush receive the tapes, he listens to Hannahs entire story in one night. It is a night that changes his life forever. From her first kiss, to her last days on earth, Hannah describes life through her eyes for her listeners. All of her listeners played a role in her death. They are the thirteen reasons why she decides to commit suicide.

She wants them to hear her story, to understand why this happened. By creating these tapes, Hannah forces her listeners to come to terms with what they have done, and the ramifications of their actions.

Thirteen Reasons Why is the most realistic book on suicide that I have ever read. In many cases, when someone commits suicide, people who care about that person are left wondering what happened. What drives a person to decide to end their life? Jay Asher attempts to answer this question in his debut novel. Unlike most suicide victims, Hannah leaves her story behind, sharing her deepest, darkest secrets in explaining why her life was not worth living anymore.

More than anything, Thirteen Reasons Why has helped me realize how much of an impact I have on the lives of others. Some of the people in Hannahs tapes could not have realized how their seemingly small actions had such a powerful impact on Hannahs life, and without the tapes, they never would have known. In Clays case, it was what he didnt do, rather than what he did, that had the biggest influence on Hannah. Every day, I unknowingly touch the lives of other people through our interactions, and it is up to me to make sure that I have a positive impact on their lives. The most important lesson that Clay learns is that no action is too small, and that he can truly make a difference to somebody else if he only gives himself a chance.