My goodness, I don't even know where to begin with this novel, it's just... wow, I seriously don't know how to, I'll just start throwing things and see how it goes: 
 The story follows Clay Jensen, one day, he receives a pack of mysterious tapes, old-school stuff, and he's anxious to listen to them, and the he discovers that they are Hanna Baker's detailed journey, and somehow diary, to death. Her last words. But, wait, Hanna Baker killed herself. How is it that he received tapes from her? Well, she made a whole plan, where she would record in seven tapes (thirteen stories total), the thirteen reasons why, she would kill herself, in the end, a why she killed herself. 
 Each side of the tapes, or each story, explains one reason, and she mentions a person in each one, naming them as contributors to her decision. So Clay - naturally - is completely freaked out, What did he do to her? He had always had a thing for her, but other than that, nothing. 
 And the story begins. He listens carefully to each one of them, a few of her stories are quite horrible and hard to believe, until the moment she finally finishes, and kills herself. At some parts of the story, I was so desperate, just like Clay, wanting to yell at Hanna to fight! To keep living! To stop! And then you realize... she's already dead. The idea that a person can take the time, days, weeks, or months, to make tapes detailing their way to suicide, is just twisted. Why would someone do that? And why did Hanna killed herself? The answer: she wasn't strong enough, she was never able to see beyond her current situation and realize that, she wasn't always going to live in high school. By the end you can see how she practically wants reasons to kill herself, looking for reason to give up. And it's easy to see, that there was nothing to do for her, her mind was made up already, she was already dead. 
 Jay Asher's writing style is straight-forward, it's hard to tell if it's his writing style or if it is because it's his debut novel. But it worked perfectly. Jay Asher's novel will open your eyes. It lets us know that this matters are to be taken seriously. I think It's brilliant, and a must read. You won't be able to see death and suicide the same way. Ever. A valuable lesson, a strong novel, and a heartbreaking choice.