Th1rteen R3asons Why

by Jay Asher

[lessthelonely]

3/5 stars.

I don't believe I had never reviewed this book before. I remember first hearing about this book and RUSHING to get a Portuguese copy, only to find out it was out of print and had been like that for a long time. This then changed when the book became readily available again, because of the TV show release.

I am not going to be comparing this book to the TV show any more than this: I think the book works better than the show. The show, especially after season 1, lost track of the point of this book and the point of the plot. By making the story have more than Hannah's and Clay's point of view, they got a richer story, sure. But focus got lost. And the TV show definitely fumbled its own messaging in the process.

Moving on to the book itself - I read this in one sitting. Was it because this warranted it? I mean, this book is well written, I'll give it that, but truly I just wanted to have this book read and jump straight into the 1st season of the show. Reading it fast really skewed my view of this book and I remember there were things I only got when the TV show basically spelled it out for me. Though I take the blame, I also think the Portuguese translation definitely went for some good old-fashioned sugar coating.

Either way... This is one of those books that equates shock value with making a statement, sorry to say. Many kids read this and feel vindicated to know about Hannah Baker, someone who shows us just how wronged she was by her peers and because kids tend to have a harder time realizing the nuance in these things - the nuance being that Hannah Baker's tapes were not a cry for help but a plan for vengeance, thus the hating herself only fed into the hatred behind the tapes -, they might fail to see Hannah's own shortcomings, even beyond what she went through. This is probably why this book caused such a rage and fear of suicide glammorization, but the point has always been there. And the book is well-written enough to make its point shine through.

The thing is I can't really ignore the way this book is basically an adult book turned into a YA - an adult would read this and completely understand the point, but a kid who picks this book up as their first-ever autonomous read might be drawn away from the point by the flashy shock value. If you're a parent, check the trigger warnings for this book and hell, read it before giving it to your son or daughter. Not because the book is inherently harmful, but because these pieces of media are only as dangerous as much as you don't talk to your kids about these topics.

This book has a white male thriller author's favorite tropes. And I would say its way of painting things as wrong for the bare minimum before revelling in its own shock value is probably why I said this book should've been for, at least, new adults. Oh, and of course, it tries to take a more positive note towards the end, otherwise this definitely wouldn't have been published, in my opinion. Not as a YA, at least. For what it tried to achieve, it's decently well written and I will still defend, to this day, that this would've been 100% better as a movie.

If you're only interested in this book to see what the hype is about... Don't. There are better books to read.