Thirteen Reasons Why
Realistic Fiction
Written by Jay Asher
Reviewed by H. Hill
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
“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.”
Clay Jensen comes home one day to find a package outside. He has no clue what’s inside this package. When he opens it he finds several cassette tapes. He doesn’t know that putting him in the player will have a great emotional toll on him. Hanna Baker’s, who is a fellow classmate of Clay’s, voice begins to play. 
How could this be? Hanna tragically committed suicide. One sentence on the tape will mentally scar Clay. “And if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why.” He’s one of the thirteen reasons why Hanna committed suicide. Thirteen people were “responsible” for her death. Each of the thirteen people has a side especially for them telling what they did to Hanna. Along with the tapes is a map of their town of Crestmont with specially marked locations Hanna gives according to her stories about the thirteen people. Going to these places would give the listeners a little more insight. Clay is warned in the tape that if he doesn’t listen to them they will get released publicly. Once he’s done he has to send them to the person who is a reason after him. Clay doesn’t even know what he did or when he’ll be brought up in the tapes. He didn’t even know Hanna that well; he just had a crush on her. Throughout the night he will follow Hanna’s words through the small town, learning her untold story. What are Hanna’s stories? What did Clay do to become a reason? “You can’t stop the future, you can’t rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret is to press play.”
Thirteen Reasons Why is one of those books that emotionally gets to you and makes you realize the harsh reality of life. You don’t know what is going on in anyone’s life but your own. The things you say and do to a person impacts there lives greatly. So when you mess with one part of a person’s life you’re practically messing with the whole thing. Messing with someone’s life could push them to the extreme of harming themselves or others. Therefore this book tells you to think and speak before you act. How guilty would you feel if you were someone’s reason they hurt themselves or others? Why would you want to make someone live a miserable life or make them think they shouldn’t have a life at all?
