Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

The reason I didn't have this in my "What I'm Reading" sidebar is because as soon as I got it, I had read it. My book club, the Rogue Readers (motto: "leaving no page unturned") has chosen this as our first book of the year. One thing I both love and hate about my book club: I do not have the same tastes as most of the people in the club. The great part is, I get to read things I wouldn't normally read, the bad part is that I have to read things I wouldn't normally read. (The only book I've truly disliked was No Time for Goodbye. It's your typical trade paper suspense novel- I am a completely unashamed book snob.) A love for the classics is preferred, an appreciation of them is essential!

I was very excited to read this book: the reviews were raving. The book is about a high school girl named Hannah Baker who has very recently committed suicide. Before she did, she recorded herself on audio cassette tapes. There are thirteen people/events/reasons that brought her to decide to end her life. On the cassette tapes, she gives those reasons and mails them to the thirteen people they involve. Each person listens to the tapes and passes them on to the next person. If they don't get passed on, a second set of tapes will be released publicly (in which case, the people they are about will face consequences. Some of the things that happened were illegal.)

Everyone who read this book said every middle schooler, high schooler, parent, and teacher should read this book. It would be life-changing. In sum, I had high expectations. I hate going into a book with high expectations- again, I was let down. Don't get me wrong- the book was good. But it wasn't life-changing. Not like Same Kind of Different as Me was life-changing. Most of Hannah's reasons seem small, and while they do build on each other, and in the end lead to devastating events, something was missing. Certainly the actions of others affected and influenced her in deciding to kill herself. But, there was also something inside her that was bent toward her decision. I would have liked to hear more about that.I think she was also weighed down by the guilt of some of her own actions. I wanted to know how that affected her decision. I also thought it was strange to hear so little about her parents- what a small role they played! She says in the beginning, "I know my parents love me," and then they're never mentioned again.

All that to say, I thought it was an ok book, but it seemed one sided. I was confused about why she wanted to die. As the reader, I want to feel what Hannah is feeling, and I didn't feel like suicide was an option, much less the only option. If Jay Asher had gone into some of those missing elements above, a heavier weight would have been felt and understood by the reader.

A good book, but I wanted more.