Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

• Pub. Date: October 18, 2007
• Publisher: Razorbill
• Pages: 288

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

First Line: "Sir?" She repeats. " How soon do you want it to get there?"


Review: Thirteen Reasons Why was something that has been sitting on my shelf for months and I finally picked it up to skim it not knowing that hours later I would be so deeply invested in the book. This book was not a light read. You already know how it's going to end, there was no supernatural event that would bring Hannah back to life, she is dead. You know that from the minute you open up the pages and start reading. There is no climax, or anything it's strictly tapes that have her voice on it telling her reasons on what led her to finally give up on life and kill herself. I'm not going to lie I had a heavy heart reading this book the whole time.

The book was thought provoking, a few times I found myself thinking did she really kill herself over something like that but then I had to remind myself everyone handles things differently and that we all have different breaking points in life.  And then to take all those small things and stack them on top of each other, well it can become a mountain of a hell hole for who ever is going through it and in this case that was Hannah.

Clay - we listen to the tapes through his eyes and I liked how Asher developed and had his character grow within listening to those tapes. It  was just heartbreaking to know how much he cared and if he had stepped up a little bit more instead of wondering if all those rumors about her were true she might not have taken  her life. 

Thirteen Reasons Why was dark, haunting, and truly captivating all at once. This is a book that I think should be read in classrooms and by everyone at least once. Even if you think this is not your cup of tea ( Me! I was one of those people ) I highly recommend giving this book a chance.

Review: Immortal City by Scott Speer

Immortal City by Scott Speer

• Pub. Date: April 3, 2012
• Publisher: Razorbill
• Pages: 336
• Series: Immortal City #1

Jackson Godspeed is the hottest young Angel in a city filled with them.

He's days away from becoming a full Guardian, and people around the world are already competing for the chance to be watched over by him. Everyone's obsessed with the Angels and the lucky people they protect - everyone except for Madison Montgomery.

Maddy's the one girl in Angel City who doesn't breathlessly follow the Angels on TV and gossip blogs. When she meets Jackson, she doesn't recognize him. But Jackson is instantly captivated by her, and against all odds the two fall in love.

Maddy is swiftly caught up in Jackson's scene, a world of glamour, paparazzi - and murder. A serial killer is on the loose, leaving dead Angels' wings for the police to find on the Walk of Fame. Even the Guardians are powerless to protect themselves in the face of this threat & and this time it's up to Maddy to save Jackson

First Line: : "At 3a.m., the Pacific Coast Highway was nothing more than a grey ribbon winding through the ocean fog."

Review: 

For some reason even though I am tired of reading angel books I still pick them up hoping for something new and original and Immortal City did a great job in putting a new spin on angels. I don't think I've ever come across a book in which angels only save you if you can afford to hire them to be your personal guardian angel. They are not this divine and all out good save the world type angels, they are in it for themselves and are the worlds biggest celebrities. And believe me when I tell you Speer's did a fantastic job describing what their red carpet lives are like.

This book could have been 5 stars all the way but there were flaws one being the main character and her indecisiveness with Jackson Godspeed the most famous soon to be guardian angel. One minute she wanted to be with him and the next talked herself out of it because she couldn't imagine a simple human girl and an angel ever working out. It got annoying but once she finally got over it I started to like her more. As for Jackson, he was well fleshed out and some of his actions made him a hundred percent swoon worthy.

Besides the romance between the two there was also a murder mystery going on as well. Someone was killing the angels in a very gruesome manner. I found the murders interesting but not the detective who was investigating it all, which ruined a little of it for me since at times I just wanted to skim past it but knew I had to read it if I wanted to know what was going on with the angel killings. I do give it up to Speers I really was in the dark until the end when it came to who the murderer was, I didn't see that one coming at all. But what I did see coming a mile away was Maddy and her big revelation at the end.

Even though I had the issues that I had with the book somehow it still worked. At the end of it I still came out feeling like I read a book that was worth the read and I didn't waste my time.