No. of pages: 288
Rating: 9/10
Synopsis: Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers 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.
Review: When Clay comes home to a package in front of his door, he doesn't realise that it'll change his life forever. The package holds seven cassette tapes recorded by a girl who committed suicide 2 weeks earlier. On the tapes are thirteen reasons why she did it, and Clay is one of those reasons. Over the course of one night, Clay gets to know Hannah through the tapes, and finds out what drove her to suicide...
Although a little bit heartbreaking, this is a great book, and a really easy read. It has an interesting set out and I thought it suited the story and made the story flow really well. I liked the message that this book sends out too, about considering how your actions affect others, something pretty obvious, yet this story shows how thirteen smaller random things, all gather in driving Hannah to suicide. This quote from the book sums it up perfectly ~ "You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything."
If you're a fan of young adult books, then this is a great one to read, and whilst it's obviously not the most cheerful read, it's a good one, and I'd certainly recommend it.
