em reviews: 13 reasons why

Before I start, I just have to say that 13 Reasons Why is my favorite book in the whole entire world. That is all.

"Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Live and in stereo. No return engagements. No encore. And this time, absolutely no requests. I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why."

this week: 13 Reasons Why, by Jay Asher

in a nutshell: Clay receives his classmate's suicide note in the form of seven tapes, and reacts accordingly.

extended summary: Clay's crush Hannah kills herself before the start of the book. She ends up recording the tapes as her suicide note, and sends them around to the thirteen people who caused her death, Clay presumably being one of them. The book follows Clay as he listens to the tapes, interacts with those mentioned on the tapes, and tries to figure out why he has gotten the tapes, because he hasn't done anything wrong. I'm not sure what else I can tell ya'll without spoiling the book.

the book and i: I found this book in seventh (?) grade at Barnes and Noble. And my dad bought it for me because it was so interesting to me and I needed something to read. Since then, I've read it over and over, and I'm 87% positive I've got most of it memorized. I'm not really sure why I like it so much, I just know that I do.

thirteen reasons why i love this book:

1. The plot speaks to me. I'm not really sure why/how. I just think it's really interesting. What would you do if you got a suicide note in the form of tapes? 
2. I related to Hannah. I think that's pretty self explanatory. 
3. I wanted to be Hannah. Even though she ends up dead, and pretty messed up, she still was a person that a lot of people loved. She was almost ideal, but at the same time she still had all her flaws.
4. Everyone can relate to one of the characters. At least one. I guarantee it. There's such a wide spectrum of characters that it's pretty hard not to relate to one person. 
5. I like the way it's written. Clay's narration is interwoven with Hannah's narration on the tapes. 
6. I personally think it raises awareness about suicide and suicide prevention. My copy of the book comes with Suicide Hotline numbers in the back. And I think it exposes people to this idea who wouldn't normally think about it. 
7. It's about high school students that face other problems besides suicide. Which you know, is the truth. 
8. It's an honest book. It doesn't sugar coat high school all that much, which is nice. 
9. It's got unrequited love, hatred, depression, happiness, and hope all rolled up in one. 
10. I really, really love the way he ends the book. It's a really powerful message if you read into it and apply it to your life. 
11. I'm almost 90% sure there's symbolism and stuff, I'm just too lazy to go get up and get the book right now. But I like symbolism. So. 
12. I really wished I lived in that town.
13. I think that as humans, there's something fascinating about death to us. Like why someone kills themselves. We just can't comprehend that unless we've lived it ourselves. So I guess the book is just kind of an insight into what that's like. And like reading about people who are depressed. 

end notes: Um, so ya'll should go read this. Right now. And if my seal of approval wasn't enough, they're making a movie, so you can read it and say you read it before it was popular. Cause you know, everyone wants to be a hipster. In all seriousness though, I hope you pick up a copy.

"Because it may seem like a small role now, but it matters. In the end, everything matters."

-em xx