Starting The Lovely Bones

We were assigned to start a new independent reading novel for English class. I picked The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Most of what I've heard about this book is along the lines of "scary" and "disturbing", but besides those plot events, the writing itself is supposed to be really good. I'm a little hesitant about reading it just because the topic is really tough and a lot different from my usual YA science fiction novels. 

Just as a quick introduction to the book (for me and for you):

It's told by Susie Salmon, a 14-year old girl who is raped and killed. The killer so happens to be her (extremely messed-up) neighbor. Creepy. I was thinking that too. So then Susie narrates from the afterlife about her story, about her neighbor/serial killer, and about the lives of her family and friends. 

There's also a movie that was made. I'm not sure I'll ever want to watch it. Maybe you're interested. I think the book will be freaky enough to see an actual visual of it.

Also while I was searching up information about this book, I found out that the author, Alice Sebold, had a traumatizing past when she was raped in college. Terrible and horrifying.

I'm really afraid to start the book tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. I wanted a change in books so this is what I get. Please tell me if you've read it and if it'll give me nightmares. Then I'll make sure not to read it ever before I go to bed.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Hey everyone! We have a blog post due today and I've known it was coming up for the past 2 weeks, but of course I still didn't read a single page of anything. I'm still debating what to write this post on... I know most people just pick a book they read years ago and write about that... Doesn't that sound like a good idea? I hope Mrs. Bross still counts this blog post. I really really hope.

I'm picking Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher because (1) it's pretty short so maybe you guys will try reading it, (2) the structure of the plot is very interesting, and (3) there's a very strong message in this book. I also thought picking this book would challenge myself as a writer. You might see why.

Just a quick notice: this book is not happy. It's not a love story, or a brave story. Suicide. And what caused it. Nothing beautiful to it.

In the beginning, we know that Hannah Baker killed herself. And maybe that's the hardest part. Knowing it already happened. And nothing is changing it. The narrator of Thirteen Reasons Why is Clay Jensen. 2 weeks after Hannah died, he received a package containing 7 cassette tapes and 13 stories. These are the last words of the girl he once had a crush on. On the first tape, Hannah explains to the person listening, they somehow were responsible for her death and the tapes would explain why. She also instructed for them to pass the set of tapes to the next person on the list or else a second set of the tapes would be released to the public. The book follows Hannah's voice and Clay's thoughts as he listens to the audio recordings. Full of the hurt and loneliness Hannah never shared. All the guilt and blame Clay and the others will feel the rest of their lives.

No matter your experience with the topic of suicide, there's still a point to take away. Asher tried to convey how much effect our thoughts and actions can have on an individual. As his character of Hannah said, "I guess that's the point of it all. No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same" (Asher 156). Everyone needs the reminder to think a little about the next thing that comes from our mouth. We can all be a little more understanding, a little more loving. I'm sorry Clay couldn't save Hannah.