katekintailbc | Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Reply)

Thirteen Reasons Why
by Jay Asher
(Audio)

Just astounding.

I had a hard time getting a hold of this book. I put it on hold three times through the library's electronic catalog and accidentally let the hold expire twice. Third time was the charm, however. And once I started listening to it, I couldn't stop. The general concept of the book is that a young girl who committed suicide recorded her thoughts on audio tapes and sent them to people responsible for her mental state. The main character, Clay, had a crush on the girl and is shocked to received the set of tapes. Just as he spends an entire night unable to stop listening, neither could I stop listening to the book. And I think audio is definitely the way to go on this one. It's read by two people (man and woman) so the voices of Clay and Hannah are easily distinguished. And you get to hear all the emotion well... and the book is full of emotion.

The story is more than just a set of warning signs for suicide, though I hope that the message there touches many and helps people recognize others who need help.

We become intimately acquainted with Clay--who is a brilliant, sensitive boy you can't help liking. He is completely broken up by Hannah's suicide and as much as he wants to hear her voice and find out why she did what she did, the emotional path she takes him on is a difficult one for him. It made it so much more emotional because we not only feel for Hannah in her story but for Clay, reacting to her story.

There is also an added dimension, brought forth by the tapes. Each person "called out" on these tapes must listen then send them to the next person. So the listener can't help but wonder who else will appear in the tapes and who has listened to them already. And the listener must face these people in life and in school, knowing now the truth of what happened--the truth of many little secrets that were just too much for Hannah to cope with. The listener also gets a map to follow, to visit the spots Hannah talks about on her tapes, making it all the more real and vivid. And even though we get Clay's thoughts and reactions, we as readers (and Hannah and Clay) can't help but imagine how the other people implicated in the tapes reacted to certain things. It's fascinating. And after the listener finishes, he or she must be responsible enough to pass the tapes on, knowing that his or her secret will be revealed to others (if the cycle breaks, the tapes will go public and EVERYONE will know). It's a doosey of a legacy, that's for sure. Creative and understanding, just like Hannah was.

After I finished earreading it, I actually went back and listened to the first few chapters again, because it's told in a bit of a circle/flashback. I absolutely loved all the dark places the book explored so beautifully. And it brought so much more depth to the issue than I could have dreamed possible.

This was definitely one of the best books I've read all year. Both the content and the storytelling were phenomenal. I wish this had been a book I'd had access to when I was a teenager, contemplating suicide.