Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher {Book Review}

TW: bullying, suicide, sexual assault.

I doubt there are many people around that HAVEN’T heard of the Netflix series, Thirteen Reasons Why.

It was one of the most watched shows when it was released and there were many that refused to watch and even banned their teens from watching it.

There was much controversy around it, and I guess it’s everyone’s choice how the show left them feeling. I have watched all the seasons of the show but I didn’t really focus much during season 3 and 4 of the show, I found them to be overkill added to the story that didn’t need anything more.

I decided to read the book as well to see how much was taken and removed from the novel when they created the show and how much impact that had.

While many have said that the book romanticised suicide, I don’t find it like this at all. As someone who has been diagnosed with two mental illnesses and has gone through years of self-harm and contemplated suicide, I can understand what the character went through, even though my story is similar but different to the main character’s situation.

DISCLAIMER: This review could contain possible spoilers based on my opinions. All opinions and views are my own.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher #bookreview #jayasher #thirteenreasonswhynovel #youngadultbooks #booktwt #bookaddict #booktwitter
Tweet

Originally published: 2007

Pages: 288
Format: E-Book

Plot:

When Clay Jensen returns home from school, he finds a package on his porch with his name on it.

Inside – several tapes recorded by his classmate and crush, Hannah Baker, who had committed suicide several weeks earlier.

When he starts listening to the tapes, he discovers that Hannah recorded herself sharing thirteen reasons about why she took her own life.

Clay is on the tapes.

He spends the night traveling around his town with Hannah’s tapes as his guide, and witnesses Hannah’s pain through her story, trying to make sense of the events that took place and his own part in them.

Thoughts:

The imagery was written well into the book, and each time a new location and situation was described, you could picture yourself being there with the characters.

I could really feel powerful emotions from certain characters and felt my blood boil so many times at certain parts, especially at moments of complete injustice. I know how that frustration feels so it was easy to understand what the author was trying to achieve with the parts where Hannah was turned away after asking for help. A lot of people thought that this would reflect negatively on heath care professionals, but that’s not what the author was trying to do, it was about highlighting the fact this can sometimes happen.

Hannah’s parents aren’t that active in the book, which was a bit of a shame because it would’ve been nice to see their efforts for justice float up from the pages.

I don’t believe that this would be the best book to address suicide and depression but it showed it in an interesting light with the story building up through the tapes and shows how suicide isn’t a single act by a person and that it has an impact on many people in the life of that one person.

The book carries a strong theme of how our actions affect others, some purposefully and others out of pure ignorance. The main theme of the book, in my opinion, would be loss and loss in many aspects, not just losing someone to suicide.

Overview:

The book highlights trauma and the effects of bullying and sexual assault. It wasn’t always an easy read and I needed to take breathers to refocus my energy. I found the book to be realistic and sometimes that’s hard for people to recognise, especially for those that have never had experience with any of the problems and situation.

My Rating:

The book has a rating of 3.87 on GoodReads. I gave it a 5.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher {Book Review} #bookreview #jayasher #thirteenreasonswhynovel #youngadultbooks #booktwt #bookaddict #booktwitter
Tweet

Have you read Thirteen Reasons Why?

You can purchase it here.

The easiest way to stay up to date with the latest posts is to subscribe to the blog!