If you liked Looking For Alaska by John Green, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is a great book for you. Both books have bittersweet plot lines dealing with death, and grieving. These books also both have a stereotypical awkward boy, who can rise to the occasion when he’s needed and do very unpredictable things. Both books are cleverly split into different parts. For Looking For Alaska, it’s before and after, and for Thirteen Reasons Why, it’s each of Hannah’s tapes.
“No return engagements. No encore. And this time, absolutely no requests. I hope you’re ready, because I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why it ended.”(Asher 7). Looking for Alaska’s dark plot pairs beautifully with Thirteen Reasons Why’s. Although Looking For Alaska mainly focuses on a fatality that wasn’t a decision, Hannah Baker’s suicide and Alaska Young’s car crash still put a somber spin on the books. Both girls were undeniably strong, and in some cases, could be considered fearless. Hannah and Alaska don’t seem to have any fear of death, as most people do. Both female protagonists also meet an early demise, which makes the plots eerily similar. Miles Halter and Clay Jensen could possibly be the best of friends. Miles originally went to boarding school, with one of the prominent reasons being that he had few friends. Clay isn’t considered friendless, but he is far from suave. Miles and Clay are both revealed to be stronger than they seem at several points in their respective books, developing the plot and their characters simultaneously. Looking For Alaska’s ‘Days Before’ and ‘Days After’ titled chapters are quite a clever way to split the book up. Jay Asher used a similar technique with Thirteen Reasons Why, splitting the chapters with different tapes, and different sides of the tapes. The ways that the books are divided make the book more compelling to the reader. ‘Cassete A Side B’ or ‘10 Days Before’ is much more interesting than ‘Chapter Three’. Fatalities. Bittersweet. Somber. All words that can be used to describe Thirteen Reasons Why, and Looking For Alaska. From writing style to main characters, if you liked Looking For Alaska by John Green, you will love Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. |
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