13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is a great book to read when you really want to get sucked in. Usually, when you think of someone committing suicide, you think of a huge reason why they did it. Hannah Baker was a bit different. She killed herself not because of one event or one person, but because of the small acts of cruelty, betrayals, and uncertainty of many other people. Some of the events might have seemed irrelevant to the person, but to Hannah, it was her life. This makes the book have a spectacular moral that makes you wonder if you’ve ever depressed someone in an act of carelessness.

Throughout the book you get to explore the town with Clay, listening to the voice of Hannah. Clay Jensen, a freshman in high school, comes home to a box of audio tapes one day after school. After listening to the first tape for 5 minutes, he learns that Hannah Baker has recorded the 13 reasons why she killed herself, and he is one of them. Clay wants nothing to do with the tapes, especially since she died just a week earlier and he never got to tell her that he loved her. Hannah Baker was a new girl in the school and unfortunately, things hadn’t been going her way. Rumors had been started about her, people took advantage of her, and no one seemed to want to learn who she really was. Then, she realized that everything connected together and it was too much for her to handle. After her last try of life failed, she killed herself.


Every tape in the book has its own level of suspense. Some more than others, but the book is still hard to put down on every page. Imagine the tension Clay had when he first started listening to the tapes, you could feel it through the pages. Every line, you read faster and faster, dying to feel Hannah’s pain and tie up all the reasons into one. Clay literally gets sick to his stomach when he’s listening to his tape; this is the part he’s been waiting for. What was the big secret? You’d think there’d be a sigh of relief when all the reasons have been stated but there’s actually more uncertainty than before. This is a great read for anyone looking for a thriller and a wonderful lesson.