Thirteen Reasons Why is a YA fiction novel about a boy, Clay Jensen, who receives a box of tapes from Hannah Baker, but Hannah is dead, she committed suicide. Clay Jensen does narrate the story whilst listening to Hannah’s tapes, but both Hannah’s tapes and Clay’s P.O.V. are in first-person narration which makes reading the book a little confusing. Thirteen Reasons Why takes place in 2007 which is insane considering that is a sensation ten years later. This book accentuates the awareness of suicide. Through Hannah Baker, Asher portrays a suicidal teen girl who deals with a terrible school life and fake friendships, by describing Hannah’s life the reader is able to learn a great deal of what her peers put Hannah through. It is important to be aware of signs of depression in people near us because when those people are still here we can still help them. Jay Asher is prominent for Thirteen Reasons Why, but he has also written The Future of Us (with Carolyn Mackler) and What Light.
In my opinion, the story is a golden one, but the way in which it was written was confusing. Asher wrote Clay’s and Hannah’s P.O.V. in first person, which makes sense for Hannah because she is talking about herself, but the narration of Clay (in my opinion) should have been written in third-person narration to make it easier for the reader to differentiate between past and present as well as making it easier to read about the actions of other characters in the book. I encourage everyone to read this book because it does spread awareness for depression and suicide, but I wouldn’t read more books by Jay Asher. -K
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Mr. Mercedes is an excellent thriller written by Stephen King and published in 2014. Mr. Mercedes opens with the P.O.V. of Augie Odenkirk, a man going to the City Center in hopes of finding a job, who narrates the events of that dreadful morning. After that, the rest of the story continues form Kermit William Hodges P.O.V. as a retired detective. It should be known that this story is told from a third-person narration which makes it much easier to understand when King transitions from the P.O.V. of the protagonist to the antagonist. The introduction takes place in 2009 (as it is stated in the book); however, once the introduction is over the rest of the story takes place in 2014. I would say this book is a thriller; although, I am sure there are some who would call it horror. Everyone can agree that is definitely invigorating as King builds up the excitement by creating the abysmal backstory to Brady Hartsfield (Mr. Mercedes himself) and giving tidbits of information on the private life of our very own Det.-Ret. Bill Hodges. Stephen King is recognized as one of the most successful horror writers of all time and has written 57 novels and more short stories which have been assembled into book collections.
I think that Mr. Mercedes was an amazingly written story that had me up so late it was early. The suspense of the novel and my own curiosity made reading it an adventure. I will gladly continue the Hodges trilogy because I want to see these characters in action, again. I recommend this to anyone who has never read a Stephen King novel (or who has and wants to read more). It has the perfect combination of suspense, thrill, romance, friendship, and action. Whom could it not please? -k This book is about Craig. He is a teenager living in the Big Apple aka New York City. The story follows Craig Gilner as he gets accepted into a prestigious school in Manhattan, and slowly starts to dwindle down into a spiral of stress, depression, and in the midst of this, picks up unhealthy eating habits. One night, Craig unsuccessfully tries to commit suicide. He instead is brought to a psychiatric hospital. The majority of the book encircles him, his emotions, and more importantly, his journey to a better, stable, and healthier life. It also just tells a beautiful story about the wonderfulness yet tragedy that is life. It is a book that will make you cry and then cry again, once from sadness and once from absolute joy.
The book is written in first person, allowing more of a personal connection between Craig and the reader. This is a book that addresses serious matters and the stigma around mental illness in a brilliant way, through laughter and a lighthearted tone. It is definitely a book I recommend to any and everyone and since it is a book published around 2007, it isn’t too difficult of a book to understand when compared to Shakespeare. An added benefit is that the font size is so large that it somehow compels you to read. There is also a movie that was made based on the book, while I remember watching it, it didn’t stick quite as much as the book, however it is a great watch. I hope you like it! -M |
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September 2018
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