Hannah Baker committed suicide; Clay received a box of cassette tapes on his front porch after the death. Hannah Baker was Clay’s crush, so it is immensely shocking to hear her voice coming out of the speaker when he plays the tapes. Hannah tells the listeners that she made these tapes to tell each of them that they are one of the thirteen reasons for her death, so Clay had a hand in her suicide. Hannah explains everything from her freshman year to now, and Clay gets crushed with each word. He goes to all the places Hannah tells him to go, trying to find out why she did this to herself. In the end he finds out that it was only a matter of recognizing the signs and helping her.
I found this book to be very heartbreaking. When Clay’s thoughts interrupt Hannah’s narrative, every word is filled with misery, and I felt it. Asher’s writing is incredible. The story line was well thought out and detailed. But alas, the cryptic ending hath taken its hold on this book and its final pages are filled with questions and moments of “huh?” I really did like this book, although it’s not one of my favorites. I would recommend though (but not to anyone really emotional).
Taryn
P.S. I will be reviewing Runemarks by Joanne Harris next. I have read it before, however, but have developed a craving for it, so I will be reviewing it.
P.P.S. Have you noticed I made this review considerably shorter in comparison to my recent reviews. I had a mid-blog crisis where I thought, “no one’s reading this, so why should I care,” but then I thought, if I don’t care no one will ever read it, so, mid-blog crisis solved.
