Friday, April 2, 2010

Review - Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher on Kindle


SYNOPSIS

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

My Review

3 - More Sugar Please

I have to be honest, I think I am to old to enjoy this one. Also, if I had a teenager I would not want them to read it. It was sad, depressing and at times just didn't make sense but as a whole I understood how some teenagers may think suicide is the answer. And I love emotionally sad stories, this is why I think I am just to old for this specific story.

And it was a little confusing to me though, she seems so intuitive, so bright to consider suicide to be the end, maybe I can't get passed that.

I love the message in the book - you have to be careful of your actions because you never know how someone will react and the consequences.

I am unsure who to recommend this one to but for me I realised I may stop reading the young adult books, it is hard to put myself in the mind frame of a teenager again. I will defnitely read them when my 3 year old wants to start reading YA books though.

I guess this is not much of a review and I hate to only give it a 3 but I didn't really enjoy it. I felt sorry for Clay who received the tapes. I also really wanted to know more about her parents, their reaction etc.

Please share your review if you have read this one, I know many loved it. And if you are willing, how old are you? I am 34 BTW.


Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for your refreshing honest review. I think this one is probably too sad for me too.

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  2. I keep away from most YA books too. I think I am too inflexible to put myself in other age groups. Pretty sad really, since there are so many good YA books, and when I was a teen, I was reading more mature lit. So I never really got to taste that genre. But then that genre just recently sprouted with so many authors so can't blame.

    Thanks for the honest review! You taste sounds a lot like mine.

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  3. It really bothered me that the parents weren't around much in this book. I also felt like Hannah was blaming other people for some things that she brought on herself.

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  4. I'm (cough cough!) 45....and here is a link to my review:

    http://missysbooknook.blogspot.com/2009/06/book-review-thirteen-reasons-why-by-jay.html

    I don't read a lot of YA, but I did enjoy this one.

    Happy Easter!

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  5. I actually haven't read this, but it sounds depressing indeed. I like emotional books, but not when they make me feel overly sad! Great review, though.

    Emidy
    from Une Parole

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  6. This is the second review I've read of this novel today -- the other reviewer also said she wouldn't feel comfortable recommending this to a teenager. I'm not sure how I'd feel about this book. I do enjoy YA though. I'm a very immature 43 year old. :-D

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  7. I read this last year (before starting my blog) but I looked back at my notes and I had the same reaction as you did (I'm 32) - that I probably would've enjoyed it much better if I read it has a teen. These were my notes in summary:

    * I have mixed feelings about this - well, it is very engaging, I was going to read a couple of chapters before going to bed, but ended up reading the whole book instead (fast read) as I really want to find out what happened (suspenseful)

    * not sure about the end - regarding clay and another female character (don't want to put spoiler here)

    * I think I would've liked this book more had I read it as a teen. Now I just felt frustrated by the choice she made -- but then I remember when we were that age, something that seemed trivial now could be a big deal back then, so I'd still encourage YA to read it - knowing that there are consequences for your actions

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  8. I read your review right before I picked up this book. A friend of mine recommended it, and we generally have the same taste for darker, evocative stories. (I'm 26) I really felt the book conveyed what it intended to convey and in a manner that was striking enough to make it's message palpable.

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