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