13 Reasons Why (Jay Asher)

Have you ever wanted to know what pulled someone to suicide? What drove them to pull the trigger, tie the noose, take the pills? 13 Reasons Why takes you into the factors into the decision of one Hannah Baker.

Clay Jensen receives a package with several cassette tapes inside. When he plays the first one, he hears the voice of Hannah Baker, a girl from school who had recently killed herself. She explains that the tapes give thirteen reasons for why she killed herself, and that those involved are the ones on the list of the tapes' recipients. Clay starts to listen and soon becomes drawn into her story. In doing so, he sees a very different side to his world.

Trust me when I say you will also be drawn in. I plowed through this book and had some extremely strong reactions to this book. 13 Reasons Why is not unnecessarily graphic ( the book does not go into the details of Hannah's death nor some of the more sexual scenes), so my reactions were not tied to that. This book is simply powerfully constructed. The novel is written as a kind of dialogue between Hannah's voice on the tapes and Clay's reactions and responses. This dialogue both takes the reader to an understanding of how one can get into such a dark minds and, more importantly, demonstrates how everyone affects the decision. That includes those around the one who does the deed and those around that individual. I think that Asher's perspective adds something to the discourse on suicide. It seems like suicides portrayed as either severely ill individuals or simply victims. That is not how life works, and Asher makes that gray area, well, quite clear.

A side note: If you want to hear excerpts from the tapes, go to http://www.thirteenreasonswhy.com/tapes.php.

Beautiful prose, compelling plot, and excellent gore: The Reapers Are The Angels (Bell)

...Yeah, that pretty much sums up my opinion of The Reapers Are The Angels, a young adult novel by Alden Bell. The novel is set up in a United States--with a focus on the South--where the dead walk, and certain precautions (i.e. head-shots) must be taken to make sure the dead stay dead. The novel follows Temple, a teenage girl with a thoughtful personality and a wicked skill with a gurkha knife (seriously, she does) as she navigates a world that has been badly broken. However, the world may not be the biggest thing Temple has to contend with...

There were so many things I liked about this book--my three part summary in the title pretty much sums it up, but let me explain myself. Alden Bell has written a captivating piece of work--his descriptions, use of the third person present, and lovely diction and imagery really drew me into the work. Additionally, as stated in the third part of the action, the gore--er action--is pretty fantastic and well-described. Don't worry-it's not horribly over-the-top, but is still well-described like the rest of the book. The plot itself--while it could have gotten old because it was fairly episodic--was compelling, particularly because, at the same time, the reader gets a lot of Temple's personal ruminations. Temple's self-exploration is what makes a lot of the book so interesting and to an extent relatable. There's a great twist at the end...I won't tell you what it is. Just know that it's very well-done. All in all, The Reapers are the Angels was a rather enjoyable book--not necessairly the deepest book I've ever read, altough it did have some meaning. Definetely check this one out if you're looking for something quick, but well-written and fun to read.