Tag Archives: Suicide

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher
Razorbill
Published October 18, 2007

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Thirteen Reasons Why

An unexpected package greets high school student Clay Jenson at home one day. It bears no return address. Inside are seven cassette tapes. Curious, Clay pops one into a dusty player and is shocked to hear the voice of his crush, Hannah Baker, who died by suicide just weeks earlier. Clay is stunned. Through the tapes, Hannah promises to reveal the names and circumstances in which thirteen people contributed to her suicide. But how can he be one of them? He liked her.

Hannah’s story sends Clay spinning through town, visiting locations Hannah has marked on a map, reliving each scene through her eyes. His journey changes his perceptions of Hannah, his classmates, and himself, but not always in ways one expects.

My Review

Author Jay Asher tackles the topic of teen suicide with gravity and realism but without glamorizing or romanticizing it. While Hannah’s tapes cast blame and accusation on others, sometimes justly, the back-and-forth narrative gives Clay an opportunity to raise reasons why Hannah was not out of choices, and why her death was a tragedy but not an inevitability. Gritty and powerfully told.

Content

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some crude language but no cursing.

Sexual Content
Reference to masturbation. Two scenes in which a girl is raped. One is not described at all. The other has some graphic details opening, but cuts off quickly. In one scene teens gather in their underwear in a hot tub.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Reference to a teen killed in a car accident, but no description of the event. See sexual content.

Drug Content
Under-aged drinking at a party.

Save

Review: You Know Where to Find Me by Rachel Cohn

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

You Know Where to Find Me
Rachel Cohn
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published March 4, 2008

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Two cousins share a world of made up stories, dreams and long summer days until one, the perfect, beautiful one, chooses the unthinkable: to end her life. In the wake of that loss, the one left behind, Miles, must find her own way through her first summer without Laura. Friends and family rally around her to try to draw her out of her deepening isolation and depression, but their efforts often fall short and they are unable to touch the gaping wound inside of her. Miles’s story is a powerful, emotive tale of a girl walking through grief not knowing what is on the other side and if she can make it through and who, if anyone, will stick with her through that dark journey.

This was a tough read for me. I felt like the drug abuse was portrayed as this kind of glamorous experience, even though there were some consequences. It was explicit enough to almost feel like a how-to in some places, which was really too much for me. I deeply invested in the characters, but that investment also made it difficult for me to get through some of the darker parts of the story. Normally, I’m up for all the angst. I’m not sure why this one really haunted me (not in a great way) or what. Sensitive readers may find this one to be a bit too much to bear.

Language Content
Light. Very little bad language.

Sexual Content
In one scene, the main character touches a boy inappropriately on top of clothes. The scene is very brief. Laura’s father is gay, but the story does not delve into his relationships. Two men kiss near a fountain in the background of one scene.

Spiritual Content
Miles, despite calling herself an atheist, expresses anger toward God and briefly discusses the possible existence of heaven with another character, who expresses a belief that it does exist.

Violence
None

Drug Content
Yeowza. Before Laura’s death, the girls shared pharms like percs and oxys they snatched from parents’ unused prescriptions. Twice Miles visits the home of a renown drug dealer and checks out his stash. She depends more and more on the pharms and their effects after Laura kills herself and presents them as really benevolent for much of the duration of the story, though other characters do encourage Miles needs to quit using.

**SPOILER ALERT**
While Miles drug use is pretty explicit, the consequences include an accidental overdose and a commitment to rehab. She feels relieved to be breaking free of her addiction, even though she knows it’s going to be an uphill battle.

Save