Book Review - Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

'You took that hope away. You decided I didn't deserve to have it'.

Confession: I haven't watched the Netflix show based on this book, so I went into the story with an open mind and completely unaware of where the plot was heading. The result, for me, was a little mixed.

Clay Jensen receives a mysterious package in the mail that contains 13 tapes. On listening to the first cassette, he realises that the voice he's hearing is that of Hannah Baker, a student at his high school who's recently taken her own life. By listening to the tapes, and visiting the places Hannah has been in the recent past, Clay begins to put together the 13 reasons Hannah committed suicide, and why he's made 'the list'.

I liked the premise for this - the idea that it isn't one incident that leads to someone taking their own life, but rather a series of seemingly small and insignificant things that can build up to push someone too far. I felt Hannah's loneliness and desperation in the story, and although some may call her selfish and hyper sensitive, I could relate. I liked her. I understood her reasons behind wanting to finally stop her life, and by the end I was (like Clay) willing someone to intervene - even though we know it's hopeless.

Although we know the inevitable outcome of the story, I enjoyed the journey it took to get there. I was genuinely surprised by some of the revelations that were revealed, and I liked discovering things at the same time as Clay. It felt that we were learning about Hannah together. Having said that, I thought the ending was a little flat. I wanted to see how things turned out with Skye, and what he would have said and acted differently, knowing what he now knows about Hannah.

At times I also found the jump between narrators confusing and a little off putting. I sometimes has to reread previous sentences from one narrator to the other so that I could remember what was going on.

This was an easy read, and although I wouldn't call it enjoyable due to the subject matter, it was interesting, and I genuinely wanted to know more about Hannah's journey.

 - 3 stars