A review by mandler_
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
4.0
Re-read in 2023:
New rating: 4 stars
This book isn't perfect and there are many people that say that it glorifies suicide. To some extent that is true. I think Jay Asher could have strengthened the messaging in the book in order to unequivocally say that it wasn't the answer, however I think most people read this book and see Hannah Baker as the main character. I've read reviews say that it's hard to empathize and connect with her, and that this is a bad thing. She comes off as whiny and looking for an excuse to suicide herself.
Some of these things may be true and valid, however, I think they are intentional.
The reader is not supposed to be able to connect and empathize with Hannah. She is gone. She is dead. She is unreachable and untouchable. She is a voice only to be listened to. We get Clay's perspective. He is the voice of reason and the voice telling the reader that things may not always be as bad as they seem to be. He is the voice saying suicide is not the answer and there are people there who support you and are willing and wanting to love you.
I think this book shows just how irrational suicide really is and how we all understand and internalize things differently. For some, something is small and meaningless, while to others, that same thing is huge and all-consuming. It is not up to us to determine these things for other people. They are just as valid thinking and feeling the way they do as the way we do. Suicide and depression don't usually operate rationally. Things get bent out of shape and the smallest things prove to the sufferer that life is not worth living.
Again, I think this book is not perfect. It's messaging can be hard for some people, and ultimately, I think it makes some people uncomfortable, thinking that they have a much larger role to play in someone's life. In a highly individualistic society, such as the United States, we often think that people should be able to handle everything alone and that the world is just and fair, when really, this world is different for everyone. We need empathy for each other. This book shows that, stating multiple times that Hannah doesn't fully blame people, but she records these messages for people to understand that they impacted someone's life in ways that they may not have known.
Clay is the eyes and ears of the reader. He does not have much personality and this can come off as boring to some readers.
This is a heavy topic, and as stated above, people may feel uncomfortable with it (for the reason provided previously or just the fact that it's a very heavy, sad, deep topic). Everyone has a different experience with mental illness, depression, and suicidality. That is all okay. Everyone is totally fine to have their opinion, however, as Clay does at the end of the story, we need to open our eyes, think about who we see around us, then open our mouths and speak, letting people know that we see them and they are there, and we value and care for them in ways that we may not have expressed previously.
New rating: 4 stars
This book isn't perfect and there are many people that say that it glorifies suicide. To some extent that is true. I think Jay Asher could have strengthened the messaging in the book in order to unequivocally say that it wasn't the answer, however I think most people read this book and see Hannah Baker as the main character. I've read reviews say that it's hard to empathize and connect with her, and that this is a bad thing. She comes off as whiny and looking for an excuse to suicide herself.
Some of these things may be true and valid, however, I think they are intentional.
The reader is not supposed to be able to connect and empathize with Hannah. She is gone. She is dead. She is unreachable and untouchable. She is a voice only to be listened to. We get Clay's perspective. He is the voice of reason and the voice telling the reader that things may not always be as bad as they seem to be. He is the voice saying suicide is not the answer and there are people there who support you and are willing and wanting to love you.
I think this book shows just how irrational suicide really is and how we all understand and internalize things differently. For some, something is small and meaningless, while to others, that same thing is huge and all-consuming. It is not up to us to determine these things for other people. They are just as valid thinking and feeling the way they do as the way we do. Suicide and depression don't usually operate rationally. Things get bent out of shape and the smallest things prove to the sufferer that life is not worth living.
Again, I think this book is not perfect. It's messaging can be hard for some people, and ultimately, I think it makes some people uncomfortable, thinking that they have a much larger role to play in someone's life. In a highly individualistic society, such as the United States, we often think that people should be able to handle everything alone and that the world is just and fair, when really, this world is different for everyone. We need empathy for each other. This book shows that, stating multiple times that Hannah doesn't fully blame people, but she records these messages for people to understand that they impacted someone's life in ways that they may not have known.
Clay is the eyes and ears of the reader. He does not have much personality and this can come off as boring to some readers.
This is a heavy topic, and as stated above, people may feel uncomfortable with it (for the reason provided previously or just the fact that it's a very heavy, sad, deep topic). Everyone has a different experience with mental illness, depression, and suicidality. That is all okay. Everyone is totally fine to have their opinion, however, as Clay does at the end of the story, we need to open our eyes, think about who we see around us, then open our mouths and speak, letting people know that we see them and they are there, and we value and care for them in ways that we may not have expressed previously.