Thirteen Reasons Why

I'm just gonna come out and say it. I didn't enjoy reading this book. The story was implausible, the writing was choppy, the characters were unrealistic, and it was depressing as all get out. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, tells the story of Clay--a high school kid who mysteriously receives a collection of audio tapes from Hannah, a peer who had committed suicide weeks earlier. The tapes were sent to thirteen people who had a hand in her decision to kill herself. The novel follows Clay through one sleepless night as he listens to the tapes and visits the locations they describe in some sort of twisted scavenger hunt, all the while emotionally berating himself for not having done more to help Hannah. All in all this novel felt like it was trying too hard to fit in with the (typically grim and gritty) genre of young adult literature by tackling head on the most damaging issues youth face. While I certainly appreciate novels that deal with troubling issues, I prefer them to take a slightly more hopeful tack. This novel lacked that redemptive quality, and therefore left me feeling unfulfilled. The conclusion of the novel does offer some sense of closure and optimism, but it can scarcely pull the book out of the morass of self-loathing that comprises its bulk. Yet despite my misgivings I couldn't stop reading it. I stayed up until 4a.m. to finish it. Despite being bleak and miserable, the novel is compelling. Furthermore, I realize that not every story in real life has a happy ending. Sometimes the troubled teen really does choose to end it all. Sometimes young love doesn't pan out. Sometimes we have to live with always wondering "could I have stopped her?" I feel that this novel is addressed more at well-adjusted kids who have friends who may be contemplating suicide, and it does a good job of inviting the reader to think about how our choices effect others both for good and (more frequently, in the case of this novel) for bad. For these reasons I feel this novel does have worth. However, my ultimate qualm with the book isn't its tone, but its lack of originality. Basically if you put Speak and Looking for Alaska in a blender, added just a dash of The Catcher in the Rye, and pressed liquefy, you'd end up with Thirteen Reasons Why. I don't regret having read the book, and I think it's a valuable reminder to us all of the importance of reaching out to others, but if I were to recommend a book to a teenager this would be far from the first thing I'd pull from the shelf.

Score: 6/10
Read this book if: You feel like depressing yourself and wondering about how many people in your life you may have helped drive to an early grave. Also if you need a reminder of why we should be nice to others.
Don't read this book if: You like books that make you happy, or you have access to anything written by John Green, Lois Lowry, J.K. Rowling, or Laurie Halse Anderson. They're better written, and deal with similar issues (okay, maybe not J.K., but her awesomeness overcomes a multitude of shortfalls).