[REVIEW] Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher.

The real reason for reading this amounts to hearing all about it and seeing adverts related to “Netflix” tv show tie-in. As you can imagine there will always be comparisons to TV vs Book, but it depends on which way you watch/read them.

The book is written in 3 ways: past, present, and narrator. The ‘looking back’ past is thoughts by Clay,  and the Present is the same. However, the Narrator (of the tapes) is, as the boy Clay listens to them, voiced as if you were listening to her; Hannah Baker.

I’m sure you have by now heard of the basic storyline. The boy Clay receives a shoebox full of numbered cassette tapes (ask someone from the 80s for a definition!). It is recordings from the local girl from school who has just committed suicide.

I  still reading the book right now but basically, page by page, I am turning off my sympathy for Hannah. I also don’t really care enough about Clay to emphasise with his on-going monologue and thoughts. Hannah comes across as being obsessed by little irritating things – so much that you want to roll your eyes at her and mutter something like “that’s life” and similar sayings that you hear, as you’re growing up.

The book comes across as slightly immature and unless you can stick to hearing about silly, immature teen life I would recommend avoiding this. The more you read the more you get drawn in. I would recommend this be on the English Lit list for teenagers to read for GCSE’s as it has very interesting themes that SHOULD be discussed in a class session.