"No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people."
Clay Jensen returns home from school one day to find a mysterious box with his name on it, outside his front door. Inside he discovers a series of cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush. Only, she committed suicide two weeks earlier. On the first tape, Hannah explains that there are 13 reasons why she did what she did - and Clay is one of them.
If he listens, Clay will find out how he made the list - what he hears will change his life forever.
Thirteen Reasons Why is a profound, hard hitting and emotional YA book following ordinary high school student Clay in the aftermath of of his first love's suicide. Clay is the protagonist of the novel, but it's Hannah's story. Her witty humorous tone takes the reader on a journey that becomes increasingly dark and helpless as we learn what led to Hannah losing all hope. It's a very difficult story to read as Hannah often describes her dark thoughts in detail. Additionally, some of the incidents that lead to her suicide seem small and inconsequential until added with the strain on her mental health provided by other situations no one could have known about. This provides food for thought, making you honestly think as a reader about how our actions are impacting the lives of others in ways we may never know.
I picked up Thirteen Reasons Why after seeing the hype in the bookstagram community and also around the TV show. This book is a really important read and it's great that hard hitting topics are being brought into mainstream media and provoking necessary conversations surrounding mental health, however I didn't really feel that the book actually lived up to the hype. Also, I feel that although it's important to provoke conversation around mental health and teen suicide, it shouldn't be shown in a way that sensationalises or even normalises these feelings. It's important to me that young people consuming this kind of media are learning about how to recognise signs of poor mental health and reach out for help, not seeing at as something that romanticises suicidal feelings.
Honestly, this book is doing a great thing in encouraging important discussions in mental health, sexual assault and support systems for young people in school. However, it is a really tough read and I did find it quite upsetting. If you are affected by any of the issues raised within the book, you should reach out for help and support as that is the message Jay Asher is sending out to his audience. Ultimately, Hannah takes responsibility for her own actions and we recognise as readers that Hannah's situation could have been prevented had she been provided with proper support or reached out for help.
Honestly, this book is doing a great thing in encouraging important discussions in mental health, sexual assault and support systems for young people in school. However, it is a really tough read and I did find it quite upsetting. If you are affected by any of the issues raised within the book, you should reach out for help and support as that is the message Jay Asher is sending out to his audience. Ultimately, Hannah takes responsibility for her own actions and we recognise as readers that Hannah's situation could have been prevented had she been provided with proper support or reached out for help.
8/10
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in Thirteen Reasons Why, please visit https://www.papyrus-uk.org/# or https://youngminds.org.uk/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwnPLKBRC-j7nt1b7OlZwBEiQAv8lMLOwONmklIHvyZD-qHVq7HMbb8RspNj4rTOabELc0m0kaAnWQ8P8HAQ
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