I just finished reading Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and I am just kinda speechless.So before writing about how I feel about it, I’ll give you some background.
The first time I really heard about this book was when I attended a talk by Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency. She used it as an example of a book with an amazing hook. And I think the reason is that you can sum it up in one paragraph and that one paragraph makes you wanna read it. Like, now.
Clay finds a bunch of tapes leaning against his front door. Excited, he tears them open and pops them in his dad’s old stereo. But when he listens to them, he discovers they’ve been recorded by Hannah, a girl who committed suicide a few weeks before and each tape represents 13 reasons – and 13 people – why she chose to take her own life.
Do you want to read it now?
Then I read about Jay Asher, the author. In fact, I read a post by him in the SCBWI forums from three years back with the title ‘Ready to quit’. That says it all, right? He’d been writing for years, getting rejections for years and they’ve preserved that post just to show talented writers out there that you can’t give up.
And this kinda ties into Thirteen Reasons Why because Hannah simply gives up. She gives up on life and for the reader, this is heart-breaking and Clay’s frustration and anger at her for just-giving-up is one of the factors that makes you feel so much when reading this book.
There are many reasons why I love this book. Here’s Thirteen Reasons Why (sorry, it has to be done)…
1. The teenage experiences – the ones that snowball to create one big ball of fury and fear and hurt? The ones that, in this book, drove Hannah to suicide – felt very real for me. I’d been through a few of those, for sure! Jay Asher says he asked his wife and female friends about experiences that had an impact on their lives and you can tell. This kinda stuff happens.
2. Which leads me onto the way Jay Asher manages to delve inside a girl’s head, despite being a boy! Really works.
3. I like the way Hannah’s story is interweaved with the few hours Clay spends listening to it. I think, without Clay’s ‘present life’ interjecting, it could be too much, too emotional. It gives the reader a break, like Clay sometimes needs to take a break.
4. As you follow Clay around, you really feel like you’re on a journey with him – and her.
5. Hannah’s voice is strong. It’s bitter and it’s sad and it’s fun and it’s cute.
6. The setting is vivid. You can really picture the areas Clay visits.
7. The characters Hannah describes match the kind of characters we mould ourselves into when we’re teens
8. The writing style. It’s subtle, beautiful, moving.
9.The depiction of Jay’s mum is good. She’s not controlling, she seems to understand what he’s going through without him having to tell her.
10. It made me angry. I wanted to shake Hannah and scream in her face and tell her to snap out of it. Not just Hannah, the fools who led her to commit suicide.
11. Clay’s anger matches the reader’s anger – shown through small actions like him clenching a fence near the end of the book. Clever.
12. It made me cry. This is always a good thing. Before I Die had the same affect on me and that book has stayed with me for a long time after I read it. I know this one will too.
13. It made me want to write on a weekend when I have major writer’s block!
So go read it. Because this one’s special. And if you’re a writer, be inspired – Jay Asher didn’t give up. You shouldn’t too…
