Thirteen Reasons Why

...you need to read this book.










1. The hype surrounding the sale.
2. The hype surrounding the release.
3. Talented debut author. (With even more hype!)
4. Intriguing title.
5. Cool cover.
6. Even cooler concept.
7. Clay’s frustrated and confused voice.
8. Hannah’s troubled and hopeless voice.
9. Compelling suspense.
10. Raw emotion.
11. A setting you will long remember.
12. A premise you won’t soon forget.
13. A profound ending that will really make you think.

THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher
will be released October 2007 by Razorbill/Penguin

I ended up reading Thirteen Reasons Why "early" for one reason. Jay Asher sent me a ARC! Thanks to reading his blog, posting a message, and placing in the 2007 Smartwriters.com competition. (You can read how here.)

The package came the day before I was heading off on my family vacation so it traveled with me.





I have to admit, at first I wasn’t sure about the book. Just like when you hear a lot of good things about a movie. When you get to see it, it doesn't always live up to all the hype. I also thought maybe I was too old to relate to the experiences of the characters. Has it been too long since high school? Has that much changed? Maybe my life experiences would make the problems the characters faced seem trivial. But with each side of a new tape, I was drawn in. The problems became real. Like a snowball, each action built on the next until I completely understood Hannah’s despair.

The interesting thing is, you know the outcome. You know Hannah does kill herself. You know Clay can’t do anything to change that. But you also know something needs to change. Once I got to this point, I couldn’t put the book down. I wanted so badly for Clay to not be on the list. I wanted Hannah to snap out of it. She was making me angry. I couldn’t put the book down, until I got to the last chapter. Then I waited. I knew I wanted to control where I was, and what I was surrounded by when I read the ending. I knew I wanted to be able to reflect on everything that had just taken place in the last 24 hours.

But the real reason to read this novel is the chance that, just maybe, it might cause someone to make a different choice in their actions, that ultimately could make a difference in someone’s life.