Friday, August 24, 2012

Thirteen Reasons Why

Read in: May, 2012
Format: Ebook
Source: Borrowed from Friend
Star Rating: 

Why oh why is this book in print? Not only was it repetitive and boring, but also completely out of touch from a teenagers perspective. 

Statistics: 
Nearly 8 out of 100,000 in the year 2000 committed suicide.
For every teen death, experts estimate there will be 10 other attempts.
1 in 5 teens have thought about suicide.
1 in 6 have made plans.
1 in 12 have attempted to kill themselves.
As many as 8 out of 10 have asked for some form of help before committing suicide. 
for more information please visit: 

Teen suicide is a very real problem. If you or anyone you know may be thinking about suicide, making plans to commit suicide, or have tried attempting it, please call the National Hopeline Network at 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800 -784-2433) -or- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255). 

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers 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.

Prosecution: 
Hannah was incredibly whiny. Everything that happened to her isn't an uncommon problem in today's high schools. Clay was hard to connect with. He wasn't a developed character and he seemed two dimensional. I didn't really understand the reason behind the tapes except to point fingers at all the people who teased her. She seemed over dramatic and just wanted to take out her anger on these people, even after she was dead. I found her to be a very selfish character, only caring about her own problems. 
But then, without these "problems", there would be no book. 

I am not calling her reasons "Petty" or "Impersonal". Depression is a problem, I understand that. BUT her reasons are very common. Tons of girls go through these problems, and like Weylie Huong said "Don't make a permanent decision on a temporary problem." Its high school, it might seem like such a pivotal moment of your life, but it's not. Few people have a great high school experience. We all have our ups and downs and NOTHING goes completely right. We make friends and enemies. But in a nutshell, High school is the first stepping stone into adult life, you're just still in the bubble of not having to face reality. 

Now time to get off my soap box, so moving on...

Defense: 
I found the idea about the tapes clever. Just thinking about it as Hannah is talking from the dead, yeah, that gave me some chills. The honesty the author wrote about such a sensitive topic was endearing and well needed. Unfortunately, this is a widely known problem, but isn't talked about until later on in high school, when its too late. This book, though not a very good story plot, is a much needed voice to a growing epidemic. 

Verdict: 
Not as "groundbreaking" as it seems to be thought of. I'm not hopping onto the bandwagon with this one. I could have gone without reading it and been fine.

I wouldn't recommend it.

Liked my review? Go "like" it on Goodreads. c: 

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