Tolog Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why
by Jay Asher
reviewed by Payton Tomkins

The book Thirteen Reasons Why was by far my favorite SSR book I have read. It is filled with drama, suspense, and irony. It also is extremely relatable, because it talks about a lot of situations that high school kids encounter. Hannah Baker has recently committed suicide, and everyone has his or her assumptions why, but nobody knows for sure. Only a select few will eventually know why she took her life, and one of those few is Clay Jenson. Before Hannah died, she made cassette tapes about thirteen reasons why she killed herself. The tapes were sent around, but only to the people involved in the tapes- just as Hannah instructed. Clay Jenson is involved with one of the reasons, but how? He and Hannah never had a strong relationship. The stories that she tells on the tapes are twisted, as well as extremely heartbreaking. Throughout the book, Clay is deeply pondering every story he has heard from Hannah. Eventually he hears his story, and the rest of the reasons why. By the end, Clay is extremely shocked by all he has heard.

This book was extremely enjoyable. The story line is very intriguing, and the narrative was engaging. I really enjoyed how the narrative went from Hannah telling her story, to Clay giving his opinion, or seeing what Clay is doing during the time he is hearing a certain part. Thirteen Reasons Why was also an enjoyable book because there was a lot of suspense. Usually I get bored reading books, but I never got bored reading this book because there was never a dull scene. Each part of the book had such detail, which also caught my eye as the reader. The only part I would change about this book is that it did not get into depth too much about Clay, which I wish it would have. Besides that, I love the book, and hope that one day they make it into a mo