Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher

Synopsis: "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. Hannah's voice explains there are thirteen reasons why she killed herself and 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 picked this book up out of pure curiosity of the interesting mix of themes Jay Asher deals with, which include suicide, sex, violence, guilt and blame. I was also interested in seeing if I too had faced any of the scenarios Hannah Baker experiences in this novel and looking at how differently we both deal with them.

What appealed to me most about this book was Asher's use of a secondary character, Clay Jensen, and his experience with the 6 cassette tapes which contain Hannah's thirteen reasons for committing suicide. It allowed me to build a connection with Hannah's story and grow a greater understanding of how other's, particularly Clay, truly perceived her.

For the first half of the book however I struggled to emphasize with Hannah and found myself becoming bored of the petty reasons she was providing for her suicide. On the one hand you can see how everything lead to the snowball effect and understand how it effected Hannah, but on the other hand you wonder how she didn't manage to get over the scenarios she was facing because in reality I didn't consider them that much of a big deal.

However I think that's the point Asher was trying to make with this novel. I believe he wanted the reader to understand that whilst one person may perceive something one way, another may experience and respond to it in a totally different manner, therefore Asher was trying to create an understanding of how everyone deals with things differently. He's not trying to insult young people by suggesting that the worst thing a teenager can experience is typical teenage drama, like I've read in many reviews, but trying to highlight the difference between us all and the effect life has on an individual in general.

Although the concept of blaming others for a suicide bothers me and is something I don't agree with because ultimately it is the individual who commits the act, I found the entire book a truly beautiful read. The way in which it was written was fantastic and I loved how it was presented in the book and how Clay took the time to express his thoughts and feelings throughout so the reader can have a greater feel of the story.

I give Jay Asher and 'Thirteen Reasons Why'★★★★