#Review: Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher

Rating:  + 

                 5/5 Book Emojis 

A post shared by 📚Arjun Randhawa•⚯͛Hufflepuff⚯͛ (@bookreviewtemple) on Apr 8, 2017 at 3:44am PDT

Format:

- Paperback

Publisher- Penguin Publishers

Pages- 288

Review:

"As the stories go by, one by one, I find myself relieved when my name isn't mentioned. Followed by a fear of what she hasn't said yet, of what she's going to say, when my turn comes. Because my turn is coming. I know that. And I want it to be over with. What did I do to you, Hannah?"

Thirteen Reasons Why is the story of Hannah Baker, a new girl in High School who commits suicide after a series of tragic events that took place in her life. She doesn't leave a note or any goodbye. Or is there something? It all comes into play when Clay Jensen receives a wrapped shoebox on his doorstep with seven cassettes tapes and a total of thirteen reasons that led her to taking the decision of swallowing a handful of pills to end it, once for all. A rumor, based on a kiss, is just the beginning.

Thirteen stories about thirteen people in her life. The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: you listen. Number two: you pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be easy for you (from Cassette 1: Side A)

I started reading this book after getting notified about the Netflix adaptation that got released on March 31st. The excitement was all the more thrilling when I decided to watch each episode along with each chapter. Unfortunately, by the fifth episode, I realised that the show is pretty different from the book and I shouldn't let the show change my opinion about the book.

The writing style is quite exceptional and the author is able to tell the very important story to us all in less than 300 pages. Jay Asher has aced in dealing with such an important issue like Teen-Suicide through the means of this fast-paced and thrilling plot. The book is definitely a perfect combination of what a Young Adult book should consist of - humor (wherever possible), moments gushing with the power of adrenaline, grief, romance and most importantly, the hope for a better tomorrow.


Hannah surely strives hard to make her way out of the mud in high school and to the utter sorrow of all of us readers, she fails miserably. Clay's character is also perfectly written as a high school wallflower boy who tries too hard to figure his place out in the fast-paced life that revolves around him. The rest of the characters that come into play in this book are really very strong and Jay hasn't compromised at all in making their importance felt. By the end of this book, I'm sure, the readers will sympathise with Hannah and be left with hope for every other person mentioned in this story. The inevitable aftermath of this book will be much-required conversations about mental health and our need to curb the stigma surrounding it.


CONCLUSION: Not only did I absolutely love this book, but also, I want to share the love with everyone. This is a very important story that I believe every person should read, to understand the need to deal with Mental Health, High School bullying and also that depression is not a fault in a person's character but in their chemistry.

A post shared by 📚Arjun Randhawa•⚯͛Hufflepuff⚯͛ (@bookreviewtemple) on Feb 21, 2016 at 8:56am PST