The book is written like a suspense novel, which keeps you turning pages. The way Asher sets this up leaves you on the edge of your seat wondering how Clay fits in to the story. It is so unique, and it’s really interesting getting to watch as Clay listens to the tapes-how her voice affects him and the fact that it’s audio rather than something written making it feel “live.” I love that we get to follow good-guy Clay, knowing that somehow he’s one of Hannah’s reasons but also knowing he’s a pretty good person because of what we learn through his narration. I love Asher’s idea of having Hannah tell her story with cassette tapes. First of all, the structure of the book is just incredible. Though at the end we do get to see that Clay has changed for the better after listening to Hannah’s tapes. We know from the start that Hannah killed herself, which makes this story rather depressing. All of these smaller instances add up quickly until everything becomes unbearable for Hannah. She talks about how every time she tried to get close to someone she ended up hurt.

She recounts multiple instances of rumors being spread about her and also tells about unwanted advances from boys that were results of those rumors. We hear Clay’s commentary throughout the book as he listens through all thirteen tapes in one night.Īs Hannah tells her story, she shows how the things that happened to her had a snowball effect, getting bigger and bigger, and that once the ball got rolling it was almost impossible to stop. And we get to hear these tapes through the perspective of Clay, a boy who really liked Hannah and thought he was always nice to her, but who is one of the thirteen reasons. Hannah blames these thirteen people for her suicide-for what they did, and didn’t, do to make her want to kill herself.

Each of these tapes features a person who affected her life and what they did to make her want to kill herself. But before she died, she recorded thirteen cassette tapes, one for each of the reasons she killed herself. It’s about a young girl, Hannah, who committed suicide. April’s featured book is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. You can find the full list of my favorite books here. This year I’ve been featuring one of my favorite books on the last Friday of every month, telling you why it’s one of my favorites.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Asher Jay