13 Reason I Stay

  Have you ever listened to a dead person speak? In 13 Reasons Why 13 people experience this because they receive suicide tapes from the main character Hannah Baker and have to listen to all 13 or there are consequences. In a similar novel called If I Stay  the reader listens to the main character Mia Hall's thoughts while she is in a coma due to a terrible car accident. These two novels are similar due to the fact Mia and Hannah are around the same age, neither of them had very many friends and they are both focused on the topic of dying.
   The topic of death is a frightening subject yet it is used effectively in both novels. Hannah and Mia both had a choice to live or to die. Hannah's choice was to commit suicide while Mia had to choose to hold on or let herself go, "But that's what I want and I could see why it might not be what you want. So I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go. It's okay if you have to leave us. It's okay if you want to stop fighting." (Forman 181). People heard Hannah's thoughts but Mia's were silent and to herself. Hannah and Mia were around the same age, both in high school just trying to get through it. Neither Hannah nor Mia had very many friends. The "friends" Hannah had all turned against her at one point or another. Courtney is a huge example of betraying Hannah's trust by spreading rumors about her at a party she wanted to go to together as "friends" just because she needed a ride which is explained through out Cassette 3 Side A in more detail. Both novels are on the topic of death. In 13 Reasons Why  the main character Hannah is the one who died and is telling her story through tapes to each person who contributed to the reason she killed herself. She wants to make every single one of those 13 people feel responsible in a way and have to listen to everything she has to say.  In the novel If I Stay   there are multiple deaths as well as the main character Mia being put into a coma after a terrible car accident. Both themes of these novels are very dark and serious but put into a lighter mood. There are jokes made by each main character in each novel, "Now, why would a dead girl lie? Hey! That sounds like a joke. Why would a dead girl lie? Answer: Because she can't stand up." (Asher 8).  Hannah has a pretty good sense of humor considering the condition she was in at the time she made these tapes knowing she was going to end her life. These two teenage girls are similar in the way that neither of them are afraid of dying.
  Each novel is similar in multiple ways which are used effectively throughout the stories. 13 Reasons Why and If I Stay are both amazing, deep novels that people should read if they enjoy intense stories about life and difficult choices and situations. Both are strongly recommended because they are both exceptional books.