ISBN-13: 9781595141712Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Published: October 2007
288 pgs
I do not have the intention of reading this book so soon. You see, I have the habit of getting new books and adding them onto the rest of my TBR pile, after all I need to catch up on the rest of the books, considering they have been on my shelves for quite some time. I told myself I would just close the book after sneaking a peek at a few pages and no more, but in fact I just did the opposite - I kept on reading, and reading until I finished reading a chapter, then another until I told myself I just have to read this book! And I have only one reason for this: Thirteen Reasons Why is an intriguing and a very thought-provoking book.
When Clay Jensen returns home from school one day, he finds a mysterious package addressing to him with no return address. Intrigued, he torn open the package and found some cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, a former classmate who had committed suicide two weeks ago. Not knowing why he received the set of tapes, he played the first tape and was shocked to hear Hannah stated her thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. But the most shocking of all is, he finds he is one of them. So when he listens to the tape, he soon finds out the reason why he (as well as some of the other classmates) made it onto Hannah's list and what they have done (or not done) as a cause of her suicide.
Thirteen Reasons Why is definitely not an easy read to me, because it deals with self-esteem and suicide. The story is narrated in first person through Clay's POV, but it alternates between Clay and Hannah as he plays her tapes (her narratives are in italics). Besides intrigued by the premise and the format of the story, I was very interested to know out what had pushed Hannah to the limits and how does Clay plays a part in it?
There are a few reasons why I liked Thirteen Reasons Why. Besides reading like a good mystery, I think this story has touched on some important issues that all of us could not ignore - 'low self-esteem', 'peer pressure' and 'suicide'. Suicide is a serious matter and one which has to be dealt with sensitivity. I think the author has done a great job in writing this story, and I feel the best thing about this book is that it helps teenagers to see and understand the circumstances behind everything. For example, how a remark would cause hurt and have an impact on another person.
I think Hannah did struggle before her decision of ending her life and that she needs love and support from her family and friends, but unfortunately none is there for her. Clay clearly cares a lot about her but he just have no clue what she is thinking. In other words, they lack communications.
I think it is great that this story covers some important lessons without being preachy about it. I look forward to reading more by this author in the near future.
Other reviews:
A Striped Armchair
Becky's Book Reviews
Books. Lists. Life.
Booking Mama
Biblibio
Bold. Blue. Adventure.
Debbie’s World of Books
Fizzy Thoughts
Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?
Kristina’s Favorites
lit*chick
Medieval bookworm
My Friend Amy
My Own Little Reading Room
Once Upon a Bookshelf
Out of the Blue
S. Krishna’s Books
So Many Books, So Little Time
The hidden Side of a Leaf
The Sleepy Reader
The Story Siren
This Book Is For You
Reading and Ruminations
Ready When You Are, C. B.
Reviewer X
Write for a Reader
(Let me know if I have missed yours.)
Posts
Great and interesting review, Melody! Since you rave about this book to me, I will have to see if I can find the book :)
Thanks for thinking of me, when you mention it to me :)
Julia - Thanks, Julia! I hope you'll read this book if you get the chance. It's a great read... so haunting and thought-provoking!
I begrudgingly admit I need to read this. Have a near teen makes me really twitchy about these topics. I need to know and understand the issues, but it's hard to bring myself to read it.
Strange to see my name up there. It's not really a review, it's just some thoughts about this book. This is definitely though one of the books I like to shove into people's hands as often as I can, for precisely some of the reasons you mentioned.
Great review. I also thought this book had some very powerful messages. I think it can generate some wonderful discussion.
I'd have to read this as well! This is the type of book that I like to read because it presents issues that are very real. Thanks for the great review, Melody!
Great review -- this sounds like an intense read. I will definitely add it to the TBR list.
One of the questions I had when I reviewed it was, Where were her parents? In fact, where were any of the parents? I'm glad I read it and I liked the discussion my book club had, but it's such a difficult topic.
I thought this book was a very thought-provoking read as well.
Here's my review of it, if you fancy a peek.
This book has been on my wishlist since it's released. Glad you enjoyed it too.
I'm really looking forward to reading this, even though it sounds incredibly sad. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much, Melody.
PS: You have the reading Poppet! It's so adorable :D
Great review Melody! It sounds like it might have been a tough read and those are very hard themes to deal with.
You are so right Melody, this did feel a bit like a mystery. I loved this book and I think it'd be a great book for a book discussion - especially for teens! I'm curious now if he's got another book out. I have to go investigate! :)
Hi, everyone! Thank you so much for your insightful comments.
For those who haven't read this book, I'd highly recommend it to everyone because it's so moving and thought-provoking IMO. This is one of my top favourite reads this year, and you bet I'm going to look out for more works by this author in the near future!
I have heard quite a bit about this book recently. It sounds like a very powerful story. I am glad you found it to be a worthwhile read, Melody!
Wendy - Indeed it's a powerful book! And I'm glad I read it and liked it! :)
I wonder if I'd end up a depressed mess after reading this one? That's the only reason I haven't picked it up so far.
Jen - Though the subject might seems a little heavy, but I thought it's very thought-provoking and enlightening in a way. I hope you'll enjoy this if you do pick it up.
I do the same thing--buy books now to read them later. There's always something older on the shelf that seems to get read first. I should just stop buying until I get all my current books read, but I just can't help it.
This book hasn't been high on my list, maybe because of the teen suicide (we had a lot of suicides at our school when I was younger), but I'll be on the lookout for it. I'm really interested in Hannah and Clay's relationship.
hated reading with a passion until I bought this book! I'm 15 and thought that maybe if I bought a book with my own money I would actually read it. So I chose this one. I was looking for something that's just as captivating as Netflix and "Thirteen Reasons Why" is perfect!! I've had this book for two days now, I'm about half way through and I find it super hard to put down. It came quicker than expected and for the price it was so worth it. Thank you Jay Asher!!
Marlene
Have you viewed Glendale Moving Companies Website