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Thirteen reasons why.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 37 Reviews
Kids Say 168 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Disturbing suicide novel examines bullying, indifference.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Lots of underage drinking.

A girl is raped, a girl describes how she gave in to a rapist's sexual advan

Types of cars and food products mentioned.

Some swear words typical of teen banter.

There's sexual innuendo, kissing, and inappropriate touching -- a boy grabs

Any Positive Content?

Inspired parents and teachers could use this book to talk about teen suicide and

Hannah's message is to "be careful how you treat people, you never know

Readers will feel sorry for Clay, who had a crush on Hannah and is horrified to

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

A girl is raped, a girl describes how she gave in to a rapist's sexual advances, a teen is killed in a car crash, a girl commits suicide, there's a fight among a couple of teens, and some property is vandalized.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

There's sexual innuendo, kissing, and inappropriate touching -- a boy grabs a girl's butt.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Educational Value

Inspired parents and teachers could use this book to talk about teen suicide and about the destructive nature of bullying, gossip, and indifference.

Positive Messages

Hannah's message is to "be careful how you treat people, you never know how it will affect them." Readers also will realize that inaction -- whether to stop a crime or a rumor or talk to a troubled student, friend, or child -- can be just as damaging as deliberately inflicting pain.

Positive Role Models

Readers will feel sorry for Clay, who had a crush on Hannah and is horrified to be one of the 13 reasons she killed herself. Through tragedy, he learns to reach out to others.

Parents need to know that this bestselling novel is about a teen girl's reasons for committing suicide, which she articulates in audio tapes she sends to 13 people, mailing them on the day of her death. The book includes discussion of rape, voyeurism, underage drinking, sexism, revenge, and survivor's guilt. There are positive messages here about the importance of treating people with kindness -- and about the price of inaction -- that parents and teachers may want to help teen readers think and talk about. The 10th anniversary edition (cover pictured here) includes an introduction from the author, deleted scenes, the original ending, and more bonus material. The book has been adapted for a Netflix series, set to premiere March 31, 2017. A TV tie-in edition of the book (to be released March 7, 2017) includes interviews with the actors.

Where to Read

Parent and kid reviews.

Parents say (37)
Kids say (168)

Based on 37 parent reviews

Unsatisfactory for its topic

Passing the blame, what's the story.

When Clay Jensen receives audio tapes in the mail, he's horrified to hear his dead crush's voice coming out of the stereo. Hannah lists 13 reasons why she killed herself and the 13 people responsible for it. Clay is racked with guilt as he waits to hear how he could have been involved in her tragic decision.

Is It Any Good?

Teens will identify with the sometimes-oppressive culture of high school. First-time author Jay Asher's story presents the dark side of teen life: drinking, sex, rumor mills, suicides, cries for help, inept or absent adults, and the mean spirit that surrounds the general high school student body. Here everyone's a victim, an enabler, or a perpetrator, and some of the characters are all three, including Hannah Baker. Her tapes and reasoning are, at times, just as selfish and mean as those she accuses. And, although we see some of the 13 characters not showing much remorse, the majority of them are already burdened with "should haves" when Hannah's tapes arrive.

For any teens who've had dark thoughts of their own, the aftermath of Hannah's decision and the conclusions Clay reaches hopefully will make them think again. But this book has messages that will reach all teens: Hannah warns that we must "be careful how you treat people, you never know how it will affect them." Readers also will realize that inaction -- whether to stop a crime or a rumor or talk to a troubled student, friend, or child -- can be just as damaging as deliberately inflicting pain.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about suicide. Do books and movies that tackle tough topics such as this one glamorize suicide and other dangerous behaviors, or do they provide an important outlet and opportunities for discussion?

Hannah warns her listeners to "be careful how you treat people, you never know how it will affect them." Is this something that teens need to be reminded of? Do you see a lot of bullying and indifference at your own high school?

Why do you think this book has remained a bestseller for so many years?

Book Details

Author : Jay Asher
Genre : Contemporary Fiction
Topics : Friendship , High School
Book type : Fiction
Publisher : Razorbill
Publication date : October 8, 2007
Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 18
Number of pages : 309
Available on : Paperback, Nook, Hardback, Kindle
Last updated : July 12, 2017

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THIRTEEN REASONS WHY

by Jay Asher ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2007

“Everything affects everything,” declares Hannah Baker, who killed herself two weeks ago. After her death, Clay Jensen—who had a crush on Hannah—finds seven cassette tapes in a brown paper package on his doorstep. Listening to the tapes, Hannah chronicles her downward spiral and the 13 people who led her to make this horrific choice. Evincing the subtle—and not so subtle—cruelties of teen life, from rumors, to reputations, to rape, Hannah explains to her listeners that, “in the end, everything matters.” Most of the novel quite literally takes place in Clay’s head, as he listens to Hannah’s voice pounding in his ears through his headphones, creating a very intimate feel for the reader as Hannah explains herself. Her pain is gut-wrenchingly palpable, and the reader is thrust face-first into a world where everything is related, an intricate yet brutal tapestry of events, people and places. Asher has created an entrancing character study and a riveting look into the psyche of someone who would make this unfortunate choice. A brilliant and mesmerizing debut from a gifted new author. (Fiction. YA)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-59514-171-2

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2007

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

Share your opinion of this book

More by Jay Asher

BOOK REVIEW

by Jay Asher & Jessica Freeburg ; illustrated by Jeff Stokely

by Jay Asher

by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

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IN THE NEWS

IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013

There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.

The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.

Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.

Pub Date: April 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

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by Laura Nowlin

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Awards & Accolades

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New York Times Bestseller

A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER

From the good girl's guide to murder series , vol. 1.

by Holly Jackson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 2020

A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.

Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.

Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

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A Story of a Teenager’s Suicide Quietly Becomes a Best Seller

By Motoko Rich

March 9, 2009

Among the vampires, dragons and dystopian futuristic societies that dominate young adult reading lists, a debut novel about teenage suicide has become a stealthy hit with surprising staying power.

“Thirteen Reasons Why,” by Jay Asher, is made up of the transcripts of audiotapes that 16-year-old Hannah Baker recorded before committing suicide, interspersed with the reactions of a high school classmate who listens to them. Each tape reveals an anecdote about another classmate whose actions the girl blames for her death.

Since it was first published in October 2007 by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Group U.S.A., the novel has sold 158,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 70 percent of retail sales. Unlike most books, which are customarily released in paperback about a year after hardcover publication, “Thirteen Reasons Why” has remained in hardcover, with word of mouth and the author’s appearances fueling sales.

“Death and dying has always been a popular theme for kids,” said Josalyn Moran, vice president for children’s books at Barnes & Noble. “Kids like to read about situations that are worse than theirs and figure out that ‘O.K., my life isn’t so bad.’ ”

The book enjoyed a short run on The New York Times’s children’s chapter books best-seller list last spring. Last fall the publisher released a revised hardcover edition that included a new Q. and A. with Mr. Asher.

Razorbill also commissioned the flagship New York office of Grey, an advertising agency, to develop a YouTube campaign featuring videos of a cassette recorder playing Hannah’s tapes, as read by the actress Olivia Thirlby, who played the title character’s best friend in “Juno.”

“Thirteen Reasons Why” re-entered the chapter-book best-seller list in November at No. 10. When next Sunday’s list is published, it will rise to No. 3.

“It was not a book where a whole house runs out and pushes like crazy, and you have to have success right away, because you spent all this money,” said Benjamin Shrank, publisher of Razorbill. The company paid Mr. Asher a low six-figure advance for two books.

With its thrillerlike pacing and scenes of sexual coercion and teenage backbiting, the novel appeals to young readers, who say the book also gives them insight into peers who might consider suicide. “I think the whole message of the book is to be careful what you do to people, because you never know what they’re going through,” said Christian Harvey, a 15-year-old sophomore at Port Charlotte High School in Port Charlotte, Fla. “You can really hurt somebody, even with the littlest thing.”

Ms. Harvey, who bought the book with a gift card last year, said she stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish it and immediately recommended it to friends. The school’s book group read the novel in October, and when Mr. Asher visited Port Charlotte in February, about 35 students bought a copy.

“Thirteen Reasons Why” was partly inspired by a relative of Mr. Asher’s who had tried to commit suicide. The idea of using tape recordings, he said, came from a visit to a casino in Las Vegas, where Mr. Asher used a recorded audio guide on a tour of an exhibition about King Tutankhamen of Egypt.

Something about listening to a disembodied voice made Mr. Asher, now 33, think, “This would be a really cool format for a book that I had never seen.”

At the time Mr. Asher, who had dropped out of college to pursue a writing career, was trying to sell comedic picture and chapter books for younger children. Before he sold “Thirteen Reasons” to Razorbill, he said, he submitted a total of 11 manuscripts to publishers. All were rejected.

He was working as an assistant children’s librarian and as a bookseller at a local store in Sheridan, Wyo., six years ago when he started reading a lot of young adult fiction. One day, he said, the idea for “Thirteen Reasons” just hit him, and he wrote what eventually became the first 10 pages that night.

The eerie, sardonic voice of Hannah, the suicide victim, came easily. The character of Clay Jensen, the boy whose reactions to the tapes provide another thread through the novel, was based on Mr. Asher’s own high school memories.

Booksellers have embraced the novel from the beginning. “I’ve read a lot of titles that are pretty dark,” said Kris Vreeland, the children’s book buyer at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, Calif. “But not something that was specifically that kind of a format and never anything that really dealt with suicide from the perspective of the person who has committed suicide.” Ms. Vreeland said the store had sold more than 250 copies.

Mr. Asher was planning to write a lighthearted high school romance as his follow-up to “Thirteen Reasons,” but the intense feedback from readers, he said, caused him to abandon that manuscript halfway through. “I didn’t want them to be let down by my next book,” he said. Now he is working on a novel that “will go into the complications of high school relationships.”

That’s enough for fans like Gabrielle Dupuy, a 17-year-old junior at Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda, Fla., who heard Mr. Asher speak at her school. “As soon as he told us he was working on another book,” Ms. Dupuy said, “I was like, ‘Can I preorder it now?’ ”

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Book Review

Thirteen reasons why.

Contemporary

Razor Bill, an imprint of Penguin Group
ALA/YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2008

Year Published

“Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

Clay Jensen doesn’t know why Hannah Baker committed suicide, but he’s about to find out. Before she died, Hannah recorded a set of cassette tapes, one side for each of the 13 reasons she chose to take her life. Each reason relates to a person. Each of those 13 people must listen to her tapes, then pass the set on to the next person. And Clay is one of them.

When the tapes arrive in the mail, Clay is confused. Aside from making out with Hannah at a recent party, he didn’t know her well. Despite her loose reputation, he really liked her, and he would never have done anything to hurt her. Surely there was a mistake; he can’t be responsible for Hannah’s suicide. But Hannah has threatened that the tapes will be made public if he doesn’t follow her instructions. So he pops the first tape into an old stereo system in his parents’ garage.

The first name on the tapes is Justin Foley, the first boy Hannah kissed. Clay knows him as an average guy who is popular with the girls. He also knows that Justin and Hannah did more than just kiss — or did they? According to the tapes, the rumors were false, spread by a boastful Justin. To Justin, the rumors meant nothing. But for Hannah, a newcomer, those rumors were the beginning of a reputation that would be impossible to shake.

Clay is hooked on Hannah’s story, but he doesn’t want to keep listening in the garage where his family could walk in at any time. Under the pretense of helping his friend Tony start his less-than-reliable Mustang, he steals Tony’s Walkman. Hannah has also left Clay a map, starred with significant locations that she will mention throughout the tapes. Clay walks to the first location while listening to the next tape.

The first star on the map is Hannah’s old house, now the home of an elderly man who was involved in a serious car accident earlier that year in which a high school student from Clay’s school was killed. The second name is Alex Standall, the boy who named Hannah “Best A–” in the freshman class. While Alex may have meant it as a twisted compliment, it only served to spiral Hannah’s reputation even lower. Boys now felt that they had the right to touch her whenever they felt like it. Clay remembers the girl who was voted Best Lips. He was mesmerized by them and even made out with her — all because of the list.

The third name is Jessica Davis, another newcomer who was friendly with Hannah until more false rumors (this time about Hannah and Alex) caused Alex and Jessica to break up. At the location of the third star (a coffee shop), Jessica scratched Hannah’s face, leaving behind a fingernail and a crescent-shaped scar.

The fourth name is Tyler Down, a peeping Tom who waited, armed with a camera, outside Hannah’s window. Hannah invited Courtney Crimsen (fifth name) over to help her catch the crook. Courtney cared more about using Hannah than she did about being friends. Courtney got Hannah to drive her to a party, then ditched her. And at that party, Courtney started new rumors about Hannah.

On the bus ride to Tyler’s house (fourth star), Clay runs into Skye Miller — his middle school crush. Over the past few years, she has isolated herself from the world, and Clay wonders why, but he gets off the bus without really talking to her. When he reaches the house, Tyler’s window is broken and duct-taped, and Marcus Cooley, Alex’s friend, is there with a rock. Clay refuses to throw it.

Listening to the sixth story, Clay learns that Hannah was Marcus’ “soul mate” on the Oh My Dollar Valentine survey. Marcus asked Hannah for a date at Rosie’s (next star), then almost stood her up. When he finally arrived, he groped her, even after she asked him to stop.

The seventh tape is the story of how Zach Dempsey stole notes of encouragement from Hannah during their peer communications class, and how the class refused to help when Hannah made an anonymous comment about considering suicide.

The eighth story is about Ryan Shaver, who stole one of Hannah’s poems and exposed it to public ridicule. Clay listens and continues to travel to each starred location — now with Tony’s help. Tony knows that Clay stole his Walkman, because Tony is the one Hannah asked to make the tapes public if her instructions weren’t followed. Clay thinks back to the times he was too afraid to ask Hannah out, and wonders if things would have been different if he’d only had the courage to speak to her.

The ninth story is Clay’s. Right away, Hannah admits that Clay doesn’t belong on the list, that he didn’t do anything wrong. She just wants him to hear her reasons and to know why she committed suicide. Hannah talks about how much she liked him and about the party where they lay on a bed and kissed and how she pushed Clay away because she was so afraid of getting hurt.

The 10th story is about Justin again. After Clay left the room but before Hannah could make her exit, Justin Foley and Jessica Davis lurched in. Hannah hid in the closet. Jessica was so drunk that she passed out before anything could happen. Justin left, but then reluctantly allowed his friend, Bryce Walker, to go into the room and rape Jessica. Hannah did nothing to stop it.

When Hannah wandered back into the party, she was visibly shaken. Cheerleader Jenny Kurtz (11th story) offered to drive her home. It was raining, and Jenny knocked over a stop sign. Hannah tried to convince her not to drive the rest of the way home and to report the downed sign. But Jenny refused. Hannah walked to a nearby gas station to call the police, but by the time she got there, it was too late — an accident had already occurred on the corner that was missing a stop sign. It was the accident involving the elderly man who lived in Hannah’s old house.

The 12th story belongs to Bryce Walker. Hannah, spiraling fast, was determined to make some bad choices. At an after party, Bryce asked Hannah to join him and Courtney in a hot tub — in their underwear. Courtney left, and Bryce started groping Hannah. She didn’t resist. He had sex with her. On the tapes, Hannah says that she was finally giving in to her reputation and that she was using Bryce to let go of herself.

The last tape, the 13th story, is about the school guidance counselor, Mr. Porter. Already determined to commit suicide, Hannah hopes he can talk her out of it. But he fails to get Hannah to open up to him, and she leaves. He doesn’t follow.

Help Prevent Teen Suicide

Christian beliefs.

On the tapes, Hannah tells Mr. Porter that he can take the tapes to h— and that she might see him there.

Other Belief Systems

Authority roles.

Clay’s mother tries to be involved in his life, but she too willingly believes his lies and excuses. Late at night, she brings him money to buy food at Rosie’s Diner, but even when she realizes that the tapes aren’t part of a school project, she doesn’t act. Obviously hurt by the lie, she still tells Clay that she trusts him.

Hannah’s parents notice her sliding grades and ask for weekly progress reports. They also ground her. Hannah deceives and disobeys her parents. She goes on dates when they are out of town, lies about boys and sneaks out of the house to go to parties after her parents are asleep.

Mr. Porter is a friendly teacher and guidance counselor. Despite his willingness to meet with Hannah, he fails to stop her from committing suicide. Hannah blames him for not caring enough. Mrs. Bradley is the peer communications teacher. She is universally liked and respected by her students, but she still misses the warning signs of Hannah’s impending suicide.

Profanity & Violence

Profanity includes the terms a–, jacka–, h— and p— . Crude words for private anatomy are used. God’s name is frequently misused.

A girl is raped. After contemplating other ways to commit suicide, Hannah takes pills and dies in a bathtub. Two boys have a fistfight at a party.

Sexual Content

Tyler waits outside Hannah’s bedroom window with a camera and takes pictures of her. In an attempt to catch the peeping Tom, Hannah and Courtney pretend to have a sexualized conversation. Hannah gives Courtney a back massage. Courtney pretends to find sex toys in Hannah’s dresser drawers and starts a rumor about them later. When the girls pull up the blinds, Tyler runs away, frantically trying to put his penis into his pants.

Hannah sits in her underwear in a hot tub with Courtney and Bryce. She doesn’t want to get out because her wet underwear has become see-through. She allows Bryce to fondle her breasts and genitals (very graphic description) and then have sex with her.

Students fill out a survey and pay to receive the names and phone numbers of their “soul mates.” A middle school-aged Clay has an erection when a girl offers to kiss him. Lists circulate about who is hot (or not) and unofficial “awards” are given for the best body parts.

Teens play spin the bottle. They kiss, lie in bed together and make out. High school boys repeatedly touch, grab and grope Hannah, even after she tells them to stop. People around her ignore her discomfort.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Smoking: The store clerk at Blue Spot Liquor is described as having the face of a walnut from smoking too much. Although Hannah only goes there to buy candy, ads for alcohol and tobacco cover the windows.

Suicide: Hannah is fatalistic, and she doesn’t claim responsibility for her actions, blaming the people around her for her decision to take her own life. While this novel condemns suicide as a poor choice offers suggestions for suicide prevention, it also validates the notion that if a person commits suicide, he or she will have the power from beyond the grave to make people pay. If part of the allure of killing oneself is that people will feel horrible for what they did, then this story presents suicide as an effective tool for achieving that goal.

TV Review Tie-In: Producers sometimes use books as a springboard for TV shows. Because of this, a TV show may differ from the novel. To better understand how this book and the TV show differ, compare this book review with Plugged In’s review for 13 Reasons Why .

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, thirteen reasons why.

In THIRTEEN REASONS WHY Clay Jenkins finds a box of cassette tapes recorded by one of his classmates, Hannah Baker, who killed herself two weeks earlier. Over the timeframe of a night filled with mystery and emotion, Clay listens to all of the recordings while wandering around town.

There are more than 13 reasons why Jay Asher’s debut novel is a must read. First of all, the premise is unlike any I have read. On Cassette 1: Side A, Hannah says, “I hope you’re ready. I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why I’m not saying which tape brings you into the story. But fear not, if you received this lovely little box, your name will pop up --- I promise. The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: You listen. Rule number two: You pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be easy for you.”

Good guy Clay is freaked out. He can’t imagine why his name would be on the tapes. He used to work with Hannah at the local movie theater and had a big-time crush on her. What role does he play in all this?

The author does a flawless job of building the story with the unique structure of alternating Hannah’s voice on the tapes with Clay’s as he listens in real time. The reader is immediately drawn in and, like Clay, wants to uncover Hannah’s secrets --- and, more importantly, the reasons why she felt her life had to end so tragically.

Though the subject is dark, THIRTEEN REASONS WHY is a masterfully written and gripping tale. As Clay travels through his small town with a map provided by Hannah (a bonus gift in addition to the tapes), he visits the sites of several of the incidents linked to the people on the cassettes. As secrets are revealed, Clay’s opinions of his classmates are altered, deeply affecting his view of human nature itself.

Jay Asher is clearly a talented writer, and I can’t wait to see what else he has in store for his fans.

Reviewed by Kristi Olson on June 14, 2011

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Publication Date: June 14, 2011
Genres: Fiction , Young Adult 12+
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
ISBN-10: 159514188X
ISBN-13: 9781595141880

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - review

I go from reading about one Hannah ( in Trouble by Non Pratt ) straight into another. This time, it's a bit different from a teenage pregnancy and this time, it's a teenage suicide. Cheerful books I read. However, whilst suicide isn't the cheeriest of topics, this is probably one of the most inventively written books I've read.

Clay Jensen receives a parcel one day from Hannah Baker, who two weeks earlier, committed suicide. Inside are several tapes, each with recordings of the thirteen reasons why she killed herself. I tell a lie, the parcel has actually been sent from someone different who is featured on the tapes. He steals a Walkman and spends the night trailing across the city listening to these tapes. The only reason he got the tapes? Because he's one of the reasons Hannah killed herself.

Whilst reading this book, I picked up scents of a few other books that I couldn't help but compare Thirteen Reasons Why to. Paper Towns by John Green was one of the first, as he trails around after this girl in the many different places she's marked and the clues she's left. Weirdly, I also find myself comparing this book to A Song For Ella Grey . Tragedy is just the one word reason as to why I'm doing that. Fangirls of either of them, rejoice!

I was a bit put off by the layout of this book. The idea of using symbols to mark where the tapes are playing or not is good, and the use of the cassette numbers and Side A or B to mark chapters is also pretty nice, but the fact that whatever Hannah is saying is marked in italics really puts me off as well. It makes it harder to follow, as Clay is also providing his own commentary.

However, in the '13 Questions' interview at the end, the author, Jay Asher, said that he got the idea for this book from the multimedia guides you get in museums. He found it strange that something non-present knew what they were talking about and it correlated to what you were looking at. Why did I tell you that? Because I think that's the twist that makes this book what it is. If it were just a book about why a girl committed suicide, then this book probably wouldn't have been as interesting as it is. But it's the element where Hannah, even though she's dead throughout the entire storyline, is still present, that makes Thirteen Reasons Why as mystifying as it is.

I leave this review with saying well done to Jay Asher. I really enjoyed this book and it's a really well written novel. It was only whilst searching for this book on Google that I found out that Jay Asher collaborated with Carolyn Mackler to write The Future Of Us.

Thirteen Reasons Why isn't a love story. It's a story in it's own little dimension. And that's something that's hard to achieve. And as for a movie adaptation? Universal had them back in 2011, said Selena Gomez was to play Hannah and that's all we've heard. Keep your eyes peeled, fangirls…

Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop .

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