Audiobook review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

 Book: Thirteen Reasons Why 
Author: Jay Asher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Composers: Joel Johnstone and Debra Wiseman

Clay Jensen’s first love records her last words.

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 thirteen 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.


Oh wow.

This was my first audiobook and it scared the living shit out of me.

I've already read Thirteen Reasons Why and I had instantly loved it. I'd loved how heartbreaking and sad it was. I loved how mysterious it was. I loved how 'new' this whole idea was. Seriously.

One afternoon, when you're back from school, you see a package lying outside your door which by the way, is addressed to you without a returning address. This game of anonymity ALWAYS attracts people and so it does that to you too. You open the package and find seven tapes. Now you're thinking 'Huh?' , but you need to know what this is, so you go ahead and play it. And out comes the voice of a girl, who committed suicide weeks ago, accusing YOU of being one of the thirteen reasons why she committed suicide.

Trust me. That is some original awesomeness, right there.

We have Clay Jensen. The lucky protagonist who finds those tapes lying outside his door with Hannah Baker's words embedded in them. The funny thing? He LIKED Hannah. And there was nothing that he ever did to hurt her. Then why was his name there? WHAT HAPPENED? WHY WOULD SHE GIVE UP ON LIFE?

Well you're about to find out.

Like I said, I had already read the book and there was something about Thirteen Reasons Why being turned into a film with Selena Gomez as Hannah Baker. (WHAT?!)
And so I went googling around to randomly stalk each and every news that came by and somehow, I came across this wonderful fan-made trailer that looks SO REAL. I almost just died of all the shivering I was doing.

Check it out!

Anyhow, the video has some voice overs and I was so fascinated and frankly scared. Later, I found out that they were taken from the audiobook! And I knew that I just had to buy it! So I had gone ahead and bought it. And then, I promptly, forgot.

Anyway. I was talking to Zemira and she was telling me about her audiobooks when I finally remembered about the ONLY one I had and I decided that I would read it soon. But after that moment, I just couldn't take it off my mind and I finally sat and started listening to it.

Joel Johnstone and Debra Wiseman who play the roles of Clay Jensen and Hannah Baker respectively, have done a fantastic job! The voice modulation chilled my bones and even made me laugh at one point. And the pace was absolutely perfect. And I have to applaud Debra's voice modulation because the pain and sarcasm in her voice were so believable and right. I'm still DYING.

When I'd initially read Thirteen Reasons Why, I was an emotional ball of heartbreak. The second time, I read it, I started noticing my tiny annoyance when it came to Hannah. I can see what was happening and I understand what she was going through but there was this part of me that just wanted to go ahead and pound her till she had broken all her bones. Yet. It was still heartbreaking.

And then I heard the audiobook and I, don't know, I started to see what she was saying and I started to NOT get annoyed with Hannah. Her explanation of how she wasn't strong enough to live and face things kept riling me up and I kept on thinking how 'I' would never give up but then I realized how every person is different and how Hannah is not me and I am not Hannah. And I understood.
But this time , it wasn't just heartbreaking.......it was CREEPY.
At the point when it was just Hannah's voiceover, it was as if she was talking to ME! And like I said before, Hellooo creepiness!

It was so engrossing! I was at it since last night!
I'm tutoring kids for the summer and when those kids came by at my place, I almost felt like shooing them all away and postponing the class. Since I couldn't do that, I just went ahead and started teaching them but I was so distracted! I don't blame myself at all. It was HANNAH.

If you wish to ever, PLEASE GO AHEAD AND LISTEN TO THOSE DAMN TAPES!