Synopsis: Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several 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.
Similar to: Looking for Alaska, I Love You Beth Cooper, David Leviathan
My take: This book was the perfect combination of being a suspenseful and entertaining read, a pageturner, and at the same time presenting an important message in a powerful way. For the most part it avoids the cliches of the high school novel genre, which is refreshing. It also is not preachy or heavy-handed; it doesn't hit you over the head with its message, but instead conveys it in a more subtle way, leaving the reader more likely to embrace it than if they felt they were being condescended to or preached to. The ending of the novel actually gives a suggestion about what the reader can actually actively do once they've taken in the book's message. Often times books will give you a message about something in society that is a problem, but it won't give examples of solutions that readers could actually then go out and change the world with. This book does not have that problem.
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