Hihi :)
I'm back (for a little while at least!)
So recently I read the famous "Thirteen reasons why" by Jay Asher and I really wanted to review it :) So here goes
Now this review is going to be hard to write because I don't know how much to give away without giving away too much. One thing I will tell you is that this book can be quite despair and it's meant to be this way. It isn't one of your usual teen or Young Adult books that have a deep romance or a happy ending at all. I for one am relieved to know that people are still willing to read serious and heart-moving books. Anyway back to the book.
The main idea of the book is the aftereffects or the events that succeed a suicide and how it affects the people who were either involved/were the cause of a person's death or their family and friends. Often we do not know why a person commits suicide, and it's hard to find out. Think about it, there was something or someone who caused another person so much pain and angst that one day they decided that living just wasn't worth it anymore.
And I get it, life's tough, sometimes you feel like there is no one for you. No one to love you, no one to care for you, no one to take care of you, no one for you the relax with, no one to share your woes with. Believe me, I feel like that sometimes too but thats not true. There is always somebody out there in the large vast world of seven billion people who will gravely benefit by your presence in their lives. It might not have been somebody you met in the past, and it might not be anybody who you know but I'm sure that someone in your future will love you so much that it scares them. But you might not have known it then, you might not know it now but there will always be someone.
The book was set in a small town somewhere in America (Asher probably mentioned it but I have never been to/have much knowledge of the states of america or where they are located) and the great thing about this book is that the readers gets to see the same setting in two POVs, Hannah's and Clay's. I really think that this is one of the best thing about the book. I think that the setting is really crucial to the plot because it shows how rumours spread in a small town and how it can have a huge effect on somebody's life.
I really don't want to give too much of the book away (because it's worth reading) so basically what happens is Hannah (the main character) made a series of 13 cassette tapes (hence the name 13 reasons why) and she had someone (I'm not telling because its a pretty major part in the plot lets call them person X) sent them to the first person on Hannah's mailing list after she died. P.S. the mailing list is just people who are mentioned in the tapes Now you might think, why bother listening to them? well the tapes contain a lot of dirt on the people she talked about, if they didn't listen to the tapes then person X publishes the tapes for all the world to hear. This story is about the emotions and events that occur after hannah dies and how people react when they find out that what they did caused another person to die.
Not lets talk about the characters! Personally I really liked Hannah, she seems like an amazing person from Clay's POV but when you listen to the tapes you realise that she sees herself as a completely different person. This is another thing that I really loved about the book, a person's views on you will differ greatly from how you see yourself. Clay's character development was amazing, at first I thought he was just this guy that liked her a lot but as the main story is told from his POV and reading about how each story (in Hannah's cassettes) affects him was shocking. Similarly person X's character development was a pleasant and welcome surprise :D (still not going to give away too much)
Last paragraph I promise! One of the reasons I picked up this book is because the idea of the after-effects of suicide aren't mentioned at all in our society and this book is an eye opener. It really makes you think about a lot of things to do with our society and it is a must read in this lifetime.
Also if you read thirteen reasons why and liked it another book similar to this is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson :)
So that's it I hope you guys enjoyed this and I'll be posting soon!
P.S.S. Happy Chinese new year!
I'm back (for a little while at least!)
So recently I read the famous "Thirteen reasons why" by Jay Asher and I really wanted to review it :) So here goes
 |
| Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers. |
The main idea of the book is the aftereffects or the events that succeed a suicide and how it affects the people who were either involved/were the cause of a person's death or their family and friends. Often we do not know why a person commits suicide, and it's hard to find out. Think about it, there was something or someone who caused another person so much pain and angst that one day they decided that living just wasn't worth it anymore.
And I get it, life's tough, sometimes you feel like there is no one for you. No one to love you, no one to care for you, no one to take care of you, no one for you the relax with, no one to share your woes with. Believe me, I feel like that sometimes too but thats not true. There is always somebody out there in the large vast world of seven billion people who will gravely benefit by your presence in their lives. It might not have been somebody you met in the past, and it might not be anybody who you know but I'm sure that someone in your future will love you so much that it scares them. But you might not have known it then, you might not know it now but there will always be someone.
The book was set in a small town somewhere in America (Asher probably mentioned it but I have never been to/have much knowledge of the states of america or where they are located) and the great thing about this book is that the readers gets to see the same setting in two POVs, Hannah's and Clay's. I really think that this is one of the best thing about the book. I think that the setting is really crucial to the plot because it shows how rumours spread in a small town and how it can have a huge effect on somebody's life.
I really don't want to give too much of the book away (because it's worth reading) so basically what happens is Hannah (the main character) made a series of 13 cassette tapes (hence the name 13 reasons why) and she had someone (I'm not telling because its a pretty major part in the plot lets call them person X) sent them to the first person on Hannah's mailing list after she died. P.S. the mailing list is just people who are mentioned in the tapes Now you might think, why bother listening to them? well the tapes contain a lot of dirt on the people she talked about, if they didn't listen to the tapes then person X publishes the tapes for all the world to hear. This story is about the emotions and events that occur after hannah dies and how people react when they find out that what they did caused another person to die.
Not lets talk about the characters! Personally I really liked Hannah, she seems like an amazing person from Clay's POV but when you listen to the tapes you realise that she sees herself as a completely different person. This is another thing that I really loved about the book, a person's views on you will differ greatly from how you see yourself. Clay's character development was amazing, at first I thought he was just this guy that liked her a lot but as the main story is told from his POV and reading about how each story (in Hannah's cassettes) affects him was shocking. Similarly person X's character development was a pleasant and welcome surprise :D (still not going to give away too much)
Last paragraph I promise! One of the reasons I picked up this book is because the idea of the after-effects of suicide aren't mentioned at all in our society and this book is an eye opener. It really makes you think about a lot of things to do with our society and it is a must read in this lifetime.
Also if you read thirteen reasons why and liked it another book similar to this is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson :)
So that's it I hope you guys enjoyed this and I'll be posting soon!
P.S.S. Happy Chinese new year!
No comments:
Post a Comment