Thirteen Reasons Why

By: Jay Asher

Narrated by: Debra Wiseman, Joel Johnstone

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package 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. Hannah's voice explains that there are 13 reasons she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why.

Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a first-hand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself - a truth he never wanted to face.

©2007 Jay Asher (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

“[Hannah’s] pain is gut-wrenchingly palpable.... Asher has created an entrancing character study and a riveting look into the psyche of someone who would make this unfortunate choice. A brilliant and mesmerizing debut from a gifted new author.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review and Editor’s Choice)

“Heavy but compelling.... Asher’s novel asks us to look at how petty cruelty can deal crushing blows.” (Miami Herald)

“It is a brilliant debut that will leave readers feeling a sense of remorse for Hannah, guilt for Clay, and hope for the lasting lesson of the story.” (Bookazine)

Good Book for Parents & Teens to Share

I enjoyed the idea, format, and execution of this book. I felt mixed emotions about the narrator, as was intended and this opened up a good dialogue between me and my 13 yr old daughter. Worth your credit if you're interesting in understanding the inner workings of a young girl's mind.

Felt like you were listening to the actual tapes..

The story is great, but what is fantastic about this book is the narration, they could've just hired some guy or girl to just read the book into a microphone and get away with it, but they didn't, you can see how much care and work is put in this narration from chapter 1, both voices (Joel Johnstone and Debra Wiseman) do an excellent job portraying their characters, and it feels like you are listening to the tapes in the book exactly how they are meant to be...

meh

Honestly thought somthing was wrong because of how it just cut off at the end. This is one of those rare times the show is better then the book.

If you want to truly experience this book to its fullest, please get this audiobook.

The book alone has so much character and presence with just the words on the page, but once it's read out loud, the story really comes to life.

The whole idea of this book is Clay is listening to tapes, so having a real recording to listen to Hannah's words made this story truly beautiful, tragically beautiful. I read this book years ago but wanted to reread it before I watched the new tv adaption on Netflix. I'm in college right now and don't have a lot of time to sit down and read, so I decided to get the audiobook and listen throughout my day. And boy, I wasn't ready for how amazing this was. I was taken aback at how incredible this story is when read aloud. It's like night and day how this audiobook makes this book come to life. You're experiencing Hannah's tapes with Clay and you get to hear his reaction along side it. It's incredible and I recommend this to anyone.

Unexplainable

This book left me speechless, it is now one of my favorite books I have read. ❤️

Yan<br />

very appealing and interesting! A must read for all parents with teenagers. life is not as easy as it seems for teens nowadays. We must try to understand.

love it

I loved the book it sucks you in and you feel like you are part of the book, you want to know what happen to the characters and everything I really love this book

Speechless

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, with reluctance. Much like the characters find out, it will not be an enjoyable listen. That said it might be a life changing listen depending on your perspective. A little melodramatic? After listening, if it changes one life would it be worth it?

What other book might you compare Thirteen Reasons Why to and why?

None

What does Debra Wiseman and Joel Johnstone bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

They bring the characters to life in a way that I could never have experienced by simply reading the book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This one is an emotional roller coaster. I personally think an audio book is a great complement to the written version. I haven't read the written version, but I have a feeling that the written version might be lacking in comparison to the audio version, which is a first for me.

Any additional comments?

This book was a recommendation based in previous purchases. In all honesty it was not one I would have been likely to find on my own. Even then I was not convinced that this would be something I would have "enjoyed." Make no mistake, this is not a book that can be enjoyed, at least not for me. When I read the available reviews there was one that talked about"triggers". I immediately rolled my eyes because I'm sick of hearing about triggers and people wanting to hide from problems today. The second was by a therapist that was basically (from my interpretation) was less than impressed for technical reasons that I am sure made sense to that person but not to me. Neither prepared me for what I was about to hear. We all have different opinions, this is mine.

I am an old guy. What I experienced in school many years ago..okay 40 if we are going to be truthful,,, is not what kids experience today. Some parts are similar, but in the electronic, anonymous age of today, the hits come quick and I suspect much faster than many of the parents of today are prepared for. For most people, much of what the characters encounter will be routine, day to day life. The truth is, that there will be small percentage that cannot handle the routine. This book resonated with me because of an event in my past, not nearly as catastrophic as what happens here. It is a relatively short listen, but for some I suspect that it will be an invaluable listen. For me, on my second run through, it is ... what? I originally said an eyeopener, but that doesn't fit. All I can say it that this is not a book that I liked, but it is one that I would highly recommend..

Possible spoiler ahead**

I wonder if that therapist would make a good #13 also. We scientists can tend to be overly conservative/simplistic when we look at things and miss what what, in hindsight, should be obvious. We can do the same as parents. When I was a kid, programming the time on VCR was our biggest issue (wow really dating myself now..lol). Today, it's a whole new game and if this book opens the eyes of even one parent or child, then I suppose the author has changed the world. I will let you decide from here.

Skeptic turned into a fan

As a Middle Ages adult I decided to listen to this book because of all of the hype in the media w/ the Netflix series. I was against this book when I started it, but, after completing I hope adults & supervised teenagers might explore this book together. I had an adult family member commit suicide this year & I found Clay's cometary extremely therapeutic. I was very conflicted throughout most of this story as I think many / most teenagers go through similar circumstance as Hannah. When reflecting the story I kept coming back to the same 3 conclusions:
1. This story will hopefully get people talking about & exploring difficult subject matters.
2. Listeners might take a step back & evaluate how they respond to others struggling.
3. We all might develop a more courage

For any teenage girls who listen / read this & can identify with Hannah, I promise you life gets better after high school! Hang in there!!! There are probably more Clay's out there than you even realize they are just to nervous or don't know how to talk to girls.

Meh...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Overall, I was totally unimpressed with the story. I just plain don't see what the hype was all about.