Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Published by Razorbill; October 18, 2007
Hardcover, 304 pages
Borrowed from library

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.

- Description from Goodreads.com

Whoa, this completely blew my mind. This book was so good. Like, a read-straight-until-you-finish type book which is  exactly what I did. If you haven't read it yet, read it. NOW. And I know I say that for practically every book but seriously, if you take one thing out of my blog, it should be that this is a good book and you should read it. 

OK, so  that was two things but give me a break, I stayed up 'til midnight reading this book. When I started this book, I actually didn't realize that it was Jay's debut book so when I finally realized that (just like how I finally realized the significance of the 1 and 3 in the title), I was so blown away. Jay crafted an amazing story and it's so shocking to think this was his first novel. Jay, where have you been before this book??????

The book deals with some very serious topics and this can be very overwhelming but the way Jay set it up, I didn't feel that. And I mean, not that I didn't feel sad or in a very melancholy mood - I did, just that it wasn't like gritty. It was more a story of how the little things you do can create a giant thing, even if you're not aware of it at the time. I liked how the story unravelled as we went along and we discovered, with Clay, who Hannah was and why she committed suicide.

It's a wonderful story and I learned so much more about bullying and suicide from this book than any of the workshops and guest speakers my school has invited. I felt very connected to this book and I could understand the emotions the characters felt even if I haven't been in their situation. 

Great book, guys! You should totally read it and if you have read it, I hear the audiobook version brings a whole new light to it. 

:) Annie