Clay Jenson doesn't want anything to do with the tapes that Hannah Baker made. Hannah is dead, he reasons. Her secrets should be burned with her.
Then Hannah's voice tells Clay that his name is on her tapes - and that he is, in some way, responsible for her death.
All through the night, Clay keeps listening. He follows Hannah's recorded words all throughout his small town...
...and what he discovers changes his life for forever.
5/5 - Beautiful.
This book was hard to read, but I couldn't put it down. It deals with the very real issues of teenage suicide and all the little things that add onto an already breaking heart. This book lets you see life through the eyes of a girl that's already committed suicide, and through the eyes of a guy who barely knew her and yet feels somewhat responsible for her death.
'Thirteen Reasons Why' is beautifully tragic in a way that kept me holding my breath on every page. It's a harsh dose of reality that isn't cushioned by ideals of innocent teenage life. It deals with premarital sex, rape, and drinking, but not at all in a way that advocates them. This book doesn't beat around the bush, but tells all the dirty little secrets that have become common in teenage life, along with the results of them. It also deals with the dangers of not telling and not reaching out to those who are struggling. It also deals with the very realistic neglect of adults who dismiss the struggles of teens as a power trip. The girl who died, Hannah Baker, becomes more than just a name on a page. Clay Jenson, the boy who is taken on a journey by the recorded last words of Hannah, shows development and personal growth by the book's end.
As difficult and heartbreaking this book was to read, it is one I would recommend, but only to those who are willing to be taken on a harsh journey that pushes the limit, dealing with what we so often decide to overlook instead of diving right into it.
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