3 stars SPOILERS (kind of)
I recently bought this book on a whim, simply because it was cheap, thinking it was one of those books that I’d buy but probably never get around to reading. You know like ‘oh it’s only £2, how could I not buy this?!’ and then it stays at the bottom of your book shelf gathering dust for years before you re-find it and inevitably hand it over to the charity shop for a new owner to gather dust. The only thing that stopped this inevitable fate from happening was about a week after I purchased it I saw a trailer and found out it was being made into a Netflix show so I thought I might as well give it a go. IT WAS A SIGN. Well not really, but I had a long train journey coming up and needed a book to read for it. The trailer and the fact I bought the book would not leave my head so I ended up picking it up and taking it with me. And I can say whole heartedly that I am so SO glad that this book did not gather dust on my book shelf.
When Clay Jensen comes home one day he finds a shoe box of cassette tapes addressed to him. These cassette tapes are from his classmate Hannah Barker. Hannah Barker committed suicide two weeks previously. These tapes contain the thirteen reasons why Hannah Barker killed herself. Clay is one of the 12 people Hannah has asked the tapes to be passed onto and we learn Hannah’s heartbreaking story through Clay listening to her tapes.
The story is so clever and heartbreaking, it really makes you think. It makes you think in so many different ways and that is what is so incredible about this book. It makes you think about your actions, what you may think is nothing and shrug off may have a huge effect on somebody else’s life. It shows what a snowball of events can do and how no reason is too small a reason. To hear these tapes through Clay you get the feeling of how horrible it must have been for him to essentially listen to his friends suicide note, but this is not even a scratch, and does in no way take away, how much harder life must have been for Hannah. The last story on the tape really got to me, how she just wanted someone, anyone, to understand, to tell her not to give up.
The book helps so much with bringing awareness to signs of suicide and how if we see these signs we should not ignore them, we should reach out to them. Not only do your actions affect people negatively but also a positive reaction from someone can change everything. And that’s what is so great about this book. It ultimately shows that we should be more aware of how we act towards people, especially if that person is asking for help in any way, shape or form. There are two people who can truly relate to this book. Those who have had these thoughts and those who have noticed someone they care about have these thoughts. And if you are either of these people this book will really hit home for you.
The only negative thing I can add towards this book is that I didn’t like Clay constantly interrupting Hannah’s tapes. You could argue that it was needed to show his emotions throughout his listening but personally I found it a little off putting. I would’ve rather the whole tape was written out and then whatever Clay wanted to say was added in afterwards so that nothing could lead you away from Hannah’s story.
This book is such an important read and it’s so important that this is a YA novel as it is important that there is more awareness from a younger age about these issues. I wish that I had read this book when I was a teenager. A really great book that is definitely worth a read, at any age.
Bethan O'Brien 