Book Review- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

I want to start by saying that I have mixed feelings about this book.

This book is narrated from two viewpoints. One is that of Hannah Baker, explaining on a series of thirteen tapes why she chose to take her own life. Each tape is about one person, and each person is supposed to listen to all of the tapes and then send them to the person who's mentioned after them.

The second point of view is that of Clay Jensen, a boy who loved Hannah, as he listens to the tapes and tries to figure out what he did to hurt Hannah (Spoiler: He did nothing. Like, literally nothing.).

Teen suicide is a super delicate topic and it's hard to address it appropriately. This book does a pretty good job, but I still have issues with it.

On one hand, it sends a powerful message of the importance of kindness and sympathy and trying to withhold judgement. We can never fully understand other human beings, or what's happening inside their brains. But we sure as heck can (and absolutely should) try. We have the ability to perceive when others are struggling, and I personally believe that when we do, we have a responsibility to reach out to those people. It's clear that Jay Asher feels the same way.

With that said, I feel the need to point out that you can't save everybody. You can only do your best.

I also feel like this book sends a bad message to teens who are struggling. When Hannah finally decides to seek help from an adult, he is entirely unsympathetic toward her, and it pushes her over the edge. People, especially young people, need to know that there are others out there who will do everything they can to help them if they can find the strength to ask for it.

This book is a great book, but it's super heavy. It deals with mental illness, suicide, bullying, and sexual assault. It does a great job of addressing those issues, but it has the potential to be very disturbing.

4/5 stars