'Thirteen Reasons Why' by Jay Asher

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen 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.

Asher has used Hannah and Clay's dual narration to focus our attention, in this case, through a double lens, on intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect adult and teen readers alike. We a drawn into Hannah’s world and come to terms with her feeling of isolation and vulnerability fuelled by the bullying and casual cruelty that slowly drove her over the edge.

‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ is undoubtedly a contemporary realist novel, confronting issues often overlooked or dismissed as too explicit. Hannah wrestles with not only schoolyard bullying, relationships and academics but also with ‘taboo’ issues such as sex, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, depression and suicide. However what I found to be most confronting is that these are battles which she does not win.

The intricate interweaving of stories, incidents and characters leading up to the suicide raises questions as well as providing answers. In many ways, this book operates as a mystery – why did Hannah kill herself, and how did each character contribute?  

Even though Hannah admits that the decision to take her life was entirely her own, her story raises awareness about consequences, taking or denying responsibility for actions, inactions and assumptions. Asher suggests that even though someone appears to shrug off a sideways comment or to not be affected by a rumour, it’s impossible to know everything else going on in that person’s life and how we might be adding to his/her pain. He is sending a overt message to the reader that people do have an impact on the lives of others; that’s undeniable.

'When you reach the end of these tapes, Justin, I hope you’ll understand your role in all of this. Because it may seem like a small role now, but it matters. In the end, everything matters …. Most of you listening probably had no idea what you were doing – what you were truly doing' (Asher 2007 p.13).