Hannah Baker is dead. She took her life away because she was tired of the world but more specifically she had 13 reasons to not live. Before she dies she recorded her reasons in tapes and mailed it. Clay Jensen does not want to listen to the tapes that he received after her death. He does not want to know her secret. But as soon as he discovers that these tapes list the reasons why certain people are a part of her death, he feels responsible for it and therefore continues to listen. All night he listens to Hannah and, understanding her reasons, he visits places and tries to feel things or maybe just look at the world from her point of view.
Thirteen Reasons Why has a very different presentation. I really appreciate the layout of the book. If the book was entirely written in the same font I would get confused between Hannah and Clay’s thoughts which would have been confusing and inconvenient. I like how symbols are used to represent the emotions of the story and it is a very different concept to me; I have never actually read a book with symbols. I think symbols made the book slightly more interesting.
I think a lot of people believe that this story is not a happy ending love story. I don’t think I can fully argue on that point but from my understanding I have come to a conclusion that in the end both the people developed a kind of understanding between each other. Hannah was dead but she understood the actions of Clay and Clay’s life took an unexpected turn which changed him forever after listening to Hannah. Even though Hannah is dead, I think this was a happy ending. It is because that is how it is supposed to be. Clay’s life has been impacted for the better; Hannah changed it; it is good. That is why I think it wasn’t an unhappy ending – not exactly happy, but not clichéd either.
So I am concluding that this book is a great piece of art. It not only recites us a story of a girl who died and a boy that lived with pain but also taught us some social lessons. Major issues such a bullying, anxiety, abuse, suicide and other teenage problems are dealt with with great delicacy. And every word of this book holds great significance in real life. But I think the one main lesson Jay Asher wanted to convey was that suicide is never the answer. Things could have been different but she didn’t have the capacity to move on further with her life.
Rating: 4/5
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