Book Review: Th1rteen R3easons Why by Jay Asher

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why

Author: Jay Asher

Pages: 288

Publisher: Razorbill

Genre: YA Contemporary, Real Problems

Other Books By This Author: The Future Of Us

The Blurb: Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen 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.

``Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Alive and on stereo.´´ With these fateful words start the tapes that Clay Jensen finds on his doorstep. The problem is… Hannah Baker is dead. She killed herself two weeks ago. And now Clay has the chance to discover why she did it.

All through seven tapes, Hannah explains the thirteen reasons that led her to ending her life, all the people connected with it and how small, tiny and seemingly unimportant things can grow and develop into huge traumas that change our whole life.

I will explain my situation right now. It’s 17:48. I’m back from a long day at school with a term exam. I’m falling asleep on the spot and have been for most of the day. My eyes sting so much that I have to blink around two times per second. Do you want to know why?

Because of this book.

Last night, at 23:00 I started reading the book. ``It will only be one chapter,´´ I said. After what seemed like twenty minutes, I looked at my watch. 00:20. Wow. And I kept on reading it until I finished it. At 03:00. I read it in four hours, non-stop except for a small break at 01:30 to go to the toilet (I’m human too, you know). And then I laid awake in bed for God knows how long crying my eyes out and thinking about life and stuff.

It was totally worth it.

Remember when you finished reading Lauren Oliver’s ‘Before I fall’? (If you haven’t read it go and do it, it’s amazing). You felt like being the best person in the world and being nice to everyone because you knew that everything has an effect, that all the things can backfire and end up hurting people you didn’t mean to. That’s exactly how I felt when I finished this book. It makes me want to be wonderful and fantastic and so good that people will feel happy enough around me to ditch their suicidal thoughts.

Now, here’s the review. The idea for the plot was superb. A girl who chose to kill herself, leaving her thoughts in tapes, no less, for the reasons of her choice to hear them. The story was told in quite an unusual way: while Hannah spoke and told her story, Clay did things and reacted to what she said. Sometimes I had to keep up with two different actions simultaneously, but it was good because it caught my attention. It wasn’t that confusing. I kept waiting for Clay’s tape to turn up so that I could know what he did. Dividing the book into tapes and sides is so original, I loved it. What did confuse me a bit was the abundance of characters. Too many silly boys, too many people. But with a good memory or writing them down to keep track of them, the problem is solved.

Clay is very easy to like, nice and adorable. Him liking Hannah is lovely and sad at the same time, because we know she’s dead, but we still feel the romance. I don’t usually like reading from a male point of view, but this time it was fantastic. I felt identified with everything he felt, except for the beginning, when I didn’t know him that well.

Hannah, my poor Hannah is so good. She could’ve had a perfect life, but for some small chances of fate everything went wrong. She was really nice, and not a sl** like people said she was. When she started to think about killing herself, I was so sad! Right now, writing this I am almost crying. I love her, I really do. RIP Hannah Baker.

The writing style was very good! It kind of surprised me. I don’t really like YA books written by men. I have nothing against them, it’s just that I understand better a female perspective. But Jay Asher nailed it, and I’m proud of him. I adore it, and my sleepiness is a big proof of it.

I can’t wait for the movie to come out. For those of you who don’t know it, Clay is going to be played by Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief), and Hannah is Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place, Another Cinderella Story, Montecarlo, Ramona and Beezus). They are so cute! Logan is extremely handsome and his eyes just leave me breathless.

COVER: It was beautiful. On one side, the girl on the swing looking at the horizon looks kind of ominous, adding to all the gothic motifs(English classes are finally paying off) in the story. On the other side, it was silver. And it shone. I’m so pathetic that shiny covers attract me as if I was a cat. The title and the font are great too, and the fact that it’s written TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY made It even more cool.

To sum up (like my literature teacher would say), shockingly beautiful. It makes you realize the value of life and that we can’t control the effects our actions have on people. It made me want to be a better person. Also, the romance was lovely but sad. It’s a can’t-miss.

Plot- ***** (5 Stars)

Characters- ***** (5 stars)

Style- ***** (5 stars)

Cover- ****+ (4.5 stars)

TOTAL- ***** (5 STARS)

This is an amazing fan-made trailer I found online. It's really good, capturing the essence of the book. I particularly love Hannah's voice! Plus, Hannah is Nina Dovreb from The Vampire Diaries!

About the Author: Jay Asher (Cool name, isn't it?)

Except for six months in Wyoming, I've lived my entire life in California. It was during those six months in Sheridan, Wyoming that I came up with the idea for Thirteen Reasons Why. I've worked at an independent bookstore, a chain bookstore, an outlet bookstore, and two public libraries. Before those jobs, I worked at a shoe store, a trophy shop, and an airline. My very first writing award earned me a free fruit smoothie every day for a year. I've won a lot of awards since then, but that one tasted the best!


Book Report Info:
Birth Date & Place: September 30, 1975 - Arcadia, CA
Siblings: one younger brother, Nate
High School: graduated from San Luis Obispo High School in 1993
College: attended Cuesta Community College and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (left during my senior year)
Marriage: married JoanMarie on September 7, 2002
Children: Isaiah Nathan was born on December 11, 2010 (12-11-10 So cool!)
Career: I write books and then I travel around the country talking about them (one part of my job is much less work and so much more fun)

Here's he's blog: jayasher.blogspot.com

Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Hey!
Sorry it has been so long, but I have had my exams, and I haven't had time to read much less review anything. Here is my first review. I hope you like it! Don't forget to leave your thoughts

Title: The Iron King

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: The Iron Fey #1

Pages: 363

Publisher:Harlequin Teen

Genre: YA paranormal romance (faeries)

Other books by the author: The Iron Daughter, The Iron Queen, The Iron Knight, The Immortal Rules.

The Blurb: Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

The Iron King is such an amazing book! I had heard a lot about it, and everything was good, but I hadn’t read it. In the end, I couldn’t resist anymore and I bought it. The book left me totally charmed. It lived up to all the hype, which isn’t something that can be said very often. It was perfect in every way.

I’m starting with the plot. It is so good! All the journeys, the people… Maybe the end was too fast, but it was good. A great deal of imagination as put into that book, and I admire the author for that.

Now, let me tell you a secret. I love falling into routines. I always do it in books, and when the setting or everyday routine is changed, I am restless. An easy example: in Harry Potter 1-6, days were always the same. Classes, potions with Snape, the occasional argument with Draco Malfoy, visiting Hagrid at his cottage, some trip to Hogsmeade, the quidditch matches… Even the exams were so typical, they kind of became my friends in the end. And then, in book 7, BAM, everything changes. Suddenly there are no classes, no quidditch, no exams, nothing. They no longer live in that enormous castle that I had come to know so well. That makes me sad, and also a bit nervous inside. The Iron King got me totally out of my comfort zone. Meghan never stays at one place for long and her companies are constantly changing. It was like a gust of fresh air, I loved it.

Meghan is a very strong feminine character, one of those I love. She doesn’t let anyone tell her what to do and she knows what she wants and goes for it. At the beginning, she’s insecure, but as the novel progresses we can see how she develops and gains more security, becoming a real princess.

Now, Ash is my total book-crush here. He doesn’t beat Jace from The Mortal Instruments (no one does), but he’s fantastic enough. I love the way he is cold, in every sense of the word, but he still falls so hard for Meghan. I expected him to be worse, and I appreciated his goodness. I must say I’m a total team Ash, but I don’t know Puck well enough to be definite yet.

Puck is the total opposite of Ash. He’s hilarious, sarcastic and plays wonderful pranks. I loved it when he calls Meghan ‘princess’, it’s sooo cute! The bad thing is that he is missing for most of the book. I hope to read more about him in the following ones!!

The style is amazing; I envy Julie Kagawa with every cell in my body. I kept having to leave the book because it upsets me so much to think that I’ll never be able to write like that, so you get the idea. I need The Iron Daughter bad. This book ends with a huge cliffhanger (Is Ash good?),  and I want to see how the love triangle develops!!

COVER: Pretty! Another half face, can’t say it’s original, but the girl in the cover (Meghan, I assume) is beautiful. I adore the cold white and blue tones, it fills it with purity and gives me the feeling that cold air is being blown on my face (weird, I know). The font is gorgeous, and the little sentence in the cover kills me every time: ‘Iron. Ice. A love doomed from the start’. Now, tell me that isn’t good!

To summarize, I am in love with it! It’s my first faery book (if we don’t take into account Cinderella and all those), and it hasn’t let me down. I’m definitely eager for more!

Plot: ***** (5 stars)

Writing style: ****+ (4.5 stars)

Characters: ***** (5 stars)

Cover: **** (4 stars)

TOTAL: ***** (5 stars)

BOOK CRUSH: Ash, Ice Prince of the Winter Court.

About The Author: Julie Kagawa

Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn't getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.
When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.
To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dogtrainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time.
Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyper-active Papillon puppy.

 

Hello!!!

Hello world!!
For the last few months I have been addicted to book blogs, finding out all kinds of stuff about YA novels which I happened to love. After some time, I finally decided to make my own blog. And here I am now! Look at me, I feel proud.
I will be reviewing all the books I read and doing features, and I am sure I will love it. The downside is that my budget is quite low (very low, actually), so I am never able to buy as much books as I would like, or anything near it. Please, support me and make my dreams of having a recognized book blog come true.
Of course, I accept all the books any publishing house wants to send me for review, or even some random person.
I will be customizing my blog during the next few days. So, if you've got any comments or suggestions about anything, please, tell me! Or even if you have any dramas in your life, I can also help you with that :)
Xxx