Suicides are, understandably, a sensitive subject. And if they aren’t, they should be. Whenever someone has been thrown into such depths of despair that the only solution he or she can see as viable is the end to their existence, I think, no, I feel that the people around them must, in some way, question their own humanity. Are we so wrapped up in ourselves and our own lives that we refuse to hear someone else’s pleas for help? Do we drown them out because we are too afraid to get involved? Or are we apathetic to the world, her people and their problems despite counting ourselves as being one of the number?The question that I always asked myself is, “Could I have done something?”Which is a question that I believe haunts many other people who are in Clay’s shoes. Asher’s book is a journey. A tragic promenade through the life of Hannah. Every time she is let down, every time she is betrayed, every single time she gets hurt, you flinch a bit because you already know how the story ends. It’s like putting in the lines in an illustration after it has been coloured. You already know what the picture is but the lines now give the picture clarity. A meaning. Obviously, Asher’s book became less of a novel for me and more of a depiction of a true story. I mourned for Hannah, for the loss of all the potential she had, for the tragedy.If we were to get objective (which I’m not sure I can be, honestly) I’d say that the strength of the book comes from the creativity of its plot. From the sparseness of its narrative. It could have gotten melodramatic and indeed, it skirts close to it at times but somehow Asher always manages to lead us back onto track. He maintains the prose without letting it suffer from melodrama. I especially admire Hannah’s voice. It is both eerie and melancholic to be on the reading end of a suicide note.This is a really good book, you guys. Not anything like I usually consume but it’s brilliance comes from confronting the issues that fray the edges of our societies today. That questions the pain we usually hide or express in counselor’s rooms. Recommended.
