Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Live and in stereo.
This is the first Clay Jensen has heard from classmate and high school crush Hannah since she killed herself two weeks earlier. Hannah goes on to recite the thirteen reasons why she committed suicide in Jay Asher's sentimental teen drama.
What made this book interesting for me was Asher's interesting structural choice of telling two stories at once; Hannah's tragic suicide story and Clay's emotional reactions. Although sometimes difficult to keep up with, this kept the storyline somewhat engaging.
So yes, the story did have its positives, but then there are the negatives… To me, Hannah's thirteen reasons seemed shallow and unconvincing: 'so and so touched me, so and so spread rumours.' By the end of the book, all of Hannah's excuses seemed to have merged into one big blame game. Maybe I'm being harsh, or maybe I just couldn't relate to Hannah properly. But then again, I couldn't relate to any of the characters. Their actions, reactions and interactions did not seem at all properly justified, leaving me feeling faintly annoyed with every character in the book.
In case you were wondering, I would not recommend this book. I couldn't empathize with the characters and out of the many teen novels I have read, it definitely does not stand out as one of the best.
'Thank you' - Hannah's last words to all of those whose lives she had ruined by blaming her suicide on them. Thanks for that, Hannah.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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