Bullying by students and the stigma of suicide are two important aspects of Jay Asher's novel, Thirteen Reasons Why. This book's unique format and powerful subject matter make it an engrossing read. The story reminds readers just how much their actions can affect others, even if it may not seem to. This book is a provocative look at teen suicide, one of the leading causes of death for teenagers today. As Asher uses a different approach to telling the story, the reader learns the private thoughts of Hannah Baker, the suicide victim, rather than being left with attempting to figure out why this action was taken.
Nobody expected Hannah to commit suicide. Nobody noticed the signs of suicide that this high school girl portrayed. Nobody offered Hannah the extra help that she believed to be so obviously noticeable. Two weeks after the incident, a box of seven cassette tapes arrives in the possession of Clay Jensen, a former classmate who had a crush on Hannah. The story unfolds as Clay listens the tapes recorded by Hannah; each side of the tapes coincides with a chapter in the novel that describe one of thirteen reasons why Hannah chose to take her own life.
The dual narratives that include Hannah relaying her true thoughts and feelings, via the tapes, and Clay attempting to make sense of all this new information create an intriguing and heartrending story. Below, I have compiled 13 reasons why everyone needs to read Thirteen Reasons Why.
1. There are 12 unique antagonists to analyze.
The cassette tapes relay the gruesome details of what happened between Hannah and another student. This allows the reader to learn information about all of the people who eventually pushed Hannah to the edge of what she could handle.
2. The book explores deep, complex, and potentially uncomfortable situations that teenagers face everyday.
Hannah describes the stress of being "the new girl," the anger of spreading rumors, the fear during a rape incident, and the guilt of causing a deadly accident.
3. Truth is valued.
One of the main purposes of Hannah's creation of these tapes is to express the truth. She exposes every horrific detail of the inciting incidents that lead up to her suicide without glorifying her choice.
4. The plot is well-paced, and the resolution of the novel is wonderfully executed.
The rising action builds as the reader grows anxious to figure out what Clay did to deserve to be included on these tapes in the first place, and to figure out what finally pushed Hannah to killing herself.
5. The emotional impact of this novel is very powerful, yet not overly dramatic.
By keeping all of the experiences that Hannah is involved in real, readers can connect to the book by reliving and comparing their own life experiences or even putting themselves into the shoes of Hannah or Clay.
6. The reader is provided more than one perspective.
The simultaneous narration in the book is important because it helps build suspense as the reader sympathizes with Clay while continuing to push through reading to hear more of Hannah's story.
7. The novel is entertaining for it has a perfect balance of suspense and rising action to keep the reader from falling into a completely depressing, repetitive read.
Twists and turns are cleverly intertwined throughout the plot and make for an engrossing read. All of the tapes are connected to the previous stories that Hannah shares, prompting the continuation of reading due to the curiosity of how everything is going to be resolved.
8. Readers will realize that suicide can be the result of a chain of events.
Hannah did not have one bad day and then choose to end her life; instead, a series of thirteen intense and tragic high school experiences compiled together and brought her to her final decision.
9. After reading about Hannah's story, people will be inspired to change their actions and attitudes towards others.
Learning that Hannah endured severe hardships and nobody knew the complete details about those hardships justifies that every single human being deserves to be treated with kindness and respect because it is never entirely sure what it is that they are going through during a certain time.
10. The novel reveals the thoughts, emotions, and justifications of the suicide victim.
This unconventional approach to a story about suicide does not leave the reader contemplating why the character made this choice, rather the reader receives intense details that reveal who persecuted Hannah and the exact impact that these antagonists had on her life.
11. The reader is riding the same emotional roller coaster that the characters are on.
Reading Hannah's story results in feelings of anger, disgust, denial, humility, depression, and deep sadness. Then when the narration switches back to present-day, the reader feels just as upset, confused, disturbed, guilty, helpless, and pained as Clay does.
12. The book brings people who are experiencing the same difficult issues together.
In 2011, the 13RW Project was created to give readers an outlet to write about personal experiences in comparison to the novel.
13. Readers are reminded that each person's actions have consequences that will change the lives of several people.
Sometimes, it is easy to forget that every word that is spoken, every action that is taken, and every decision that is made will directly effect not only the individual who is executing those things, but also the people who are involved in that individual's life.
