Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why
By Jay Asher

320 pages
6 hours and 24 minutes listening time

Grade A+

Clay is a senior in high school with a crush on a girl named Hannah. Hannah, the girl who recently committed suicide. Clay comes home from school and there is a package on his front steps with no return address. He opens it, and finds cassette tapes, all numbered. As he starts to play them, he realizes that they were made by Hannah, and each side of each tape is a story of the person and experience that touched her in a way that helped her in her decision to kill herself.

This book is AMAZING. It is compelling, it is heart wrenchingly wonderful. It is touching. It is by far, my FAVORITE book I have read so far. But can a book with such a terrible topic be a favorite? I say yes. There were so, soooo many things about this book that ripped apart my heart, make it feel like my very soul was being ripped apart, but in the end, I just felt, warmed.

The events and the correlation between Clay and Hannah, and the fact that it is told from BOTH stand points at the same time, made it so much better. Listening to how Clay felt about a situation, and how it actual played out by Hannah....it really makes you think, you never really know the whole story.

I wanted so many times, like Clay, to do whatever I could to save Hannah.

See, I have been effected by suicide. A very good friend of mine killed himself 9 days before my 23rd birthday. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss him, or think back and wonder why....what was so bad? Listening to this book (which I totally recommend because it is narrated by a man and woman making it so much better), it made me look back at those times with Scott and think, what was the last thing I said to him, was that a sign of his depression, was there anything I could have done?

I will listen to this book again. I will listen to it more than just a few times. I will probably also buy this book and paper read it too. I recommend that everyone read this book. It is just so incredible, I cannot say enough good about this book.

1 comment:

Las Vegas Mama said...

sounds great, even tho it is a sad topic! I might have to check it out.