• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Trending:
  • Kashmir
  • Elections
Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Daily Times

Your right to know

  • HOME
  • Latest
  • Iran-Israel war
  • Gilgit Baltistan Election
  • Pakistan
    • Balochistan
    • Gilgit Baltistan
    • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
    • Punjab
    • Sindh
  • World
  • Editorials & Opinions
    • Editorials
    • Op-Eds
    • Commentary / Insight
    • Perspectives
    • Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Featured
    • Blogs
      • Pakistan
      • World
      • Lifestyle
      • Culture
      • Sports
  • Business
  • Sports
  • E-PAPER
    • Lahore
    • Islamabad
    • Karachi
Ali Jan Maqsood

Ali Jan Maqsood

The writer studies Law at University Law College Quetta and is a journalist based in Quetta. He tweets at @Alijanmaqsood12.

Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why talks of suicide

Published on: October 13, 2019 3:48 AM

After a friend recommended the book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, I had a short look over the first few pages which were exciting.

Getting to know the book was based on a suicide, a suicide by a teenage girl which contained thirteen reasons, a sort of anxiety arose within me, the anxiety to get to the story, the anxiety to know what made a teenage girl to commit suicide.

The clouds of confusion appeared for Hannah Baker, the freshman student in a high school when she is made a fool out of in front of everyone.

The book revolves around some tapes, recorded by Hannah Baker before a day of her committing suicide. The total number of tapes was seven with 13 sides. These tapes were sent to those people who had a part in her life and some of them were the causes that led to her suicide.

The book begins when these tapes were received by Clay, the boy who loved Hannah but failed to bring his words upfront, from an unknown address. He listened to the tapes at his room at the beginning unbeknownst of how could someone send tapes at a time when modern technologies had replaced the ancient devices_ unaware of the tapes that belonged to Hannah. The first tape begins with Hannah Baker speaking, inviting the clouds of worrisome for Clay.

He goes to one of his friends and takes a tape secretly from their car and sits in a hotel_ recommended by Hannah Baker_ a hotel where she used to sit when alone. He listens to the tapes one by one and follows the guidelines Hannah asked in the first tape. He wanders all the places Hannah asked for.

The book revolves around some tapes, recorded by Hannah Baker before a day of her committing suicide. The total number of tapes was seven with 13 sides. These tapes were sent to those people who had a part in her life and some of them were the causes that led to her suicide

When his turn comes, he was the one Hannah liked the most and she says to be the most impressed by him and his behaviour. She revealed some unsaid words she wished to tell him but failed. Clay, too, was sorry for the feelings unshared to her. A share of sorry occurred between them from past to present.

The book is written with past and present together to record the present reactions that related to the stories Hannah shared of past in those tapes. This made it quite easy for the readers to understand the situations well which were happening in the book.

More importantly, I recommend this book to every teenage so as to get aware of some circumstances which may lead to disappointment and discouragement and then to the appearance of thoughts of committing suicide. It is written in well English and with pure feelings. One can imagine themselves a part of the story once start from the first page of the book. Do not miss the opportunity to be the part of one of the best written pieces ever.

Thirteen Reasons Why is a young adult novel written in 2007 by Jay Asher. It is the story of a young high school student as she descends into despair brought on by betrayal and bullying, culminating with her suicide. She details the thirteen reasons why she was driven to end her life in an audio diary which is mailed to a friend two weeks after her death.

Thirteen Reasons Why has received recognition and awards from several young adult literary associations, and the paperback edition reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list in July 2011. A screenplay was written, based on the original release of the book, that became the basis of the dramatic television series 13 Reasons Why released through Netflix on March 31, 2017. The screenplay contains several deviations from the book, including additional characters and storylines.

The writer is a former teacher based in Turbat and a student at University Law College, Quetta. He can be reached at [email protected] and Tweets at @Alijanmaqsood12

Filed Under: Reviews

Submit a Comment




Primary Sidebar




Latest News

Senate beats austerity target by 500pc

Qureshi warns over Pakistan’s GSP+ future

Kim visits missile factory, issues directive

Kangana comments on women’s representation debate

Indus water sharing dispute draws global concern

Pakistan

Senate beats austerity target by 500pc

Qureshi warns over Pakistan’s GSP+ future

Indus water sharing dispute draws global concern

Normalcy returns to rawalakot muzaffarabad after security operation

Protests erupt over delayed gilgit baltistan election results amid tensions

More Posts from this Category

Business

Pakistan, Mauritius explore new trade opportunities

Federal psdp allocates Rs252bn for provinces and special areas

Food security industry face major funding gap in new budget

NEC meeting delayed as government PPP budget talks continue

Budget 2026-27 may be delayed to June 12

More Posts from this Category

World

Kim visits missile factory, issues directive

Indus water sharing dispute draws global concern

India detains and deports 5,000 Bangladeshis

More Posts from this Category




Footer

Home
Lead Stories
Latest News
Editor’s Picks

Culture
Life & Style
Featured
Videos

Editorials
OP-EDS
Commentary
Advertise

Cartoons
Letters
Blogs
Privacy Policy

Contact
Company’s Financials
Investor Information
Terms & Conditions

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube

© 2026 Daily Times. All rights reserved.

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
  • Manage options
  • Manage services
  • Manage {vendor_count} vendors
  • Read more about these purposes
View preferences
  • {title}
  • {title}
  • {title}
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.