Books Like 13 Reasons Why (5 Book Recommendations)

Thirteen Reasons Why is a popular book written by American author Jay Asher.

By far his most famous work, Thirteen Reasons Why won Asher various awards including New York Times Best Selling author, and helped him sell more than 3 million copies worldwide.

Books Like 13 Reasons Why (5 Book Recommendations)

With impressive success, it didn’t take long for Netflix to pick up the book and adapt it into an even more popular Netflix series.

A story full of tragedy, teenage drama, bullying, love, and loss, Thirteen Reasons Why is a hard-hitting book that will leave you in tears.

The book tells the story and tragedy of Hannah Baker, a high school freshman that committed suicide.

The story centers around her family and supposed friends as they pick up the pieces.

It isn’t long until the true reasons behind her death come to light.

As the title would suggest, Thirteen Reasons Why tells us the 13 reasons why Hannah Baker killed herself.

If you loved Thirteen Reasons Why you’ll love this selection of similar books!

If you enjoyed reading Thirteen Reasons Why, then you’ll also enjoy reading History Is All You Left Me, Before I Fall, If I Stay, The Fault In Our Stars, and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.

Read on to learn more about these 5 book recommendations.

Themes In 13 Reasons Why

Suicide

The most important theme in 13 Reasons Why is suicide.

The book examines how different individuals process Hannah’s passing as well as how suicide is final.

In the book, Asher carefully navigates the subject, evaluating how complex the issue is and how there remains a stigma around it.

Aside from making the reader think, Asher delves into the varying factors that influence a person’s decision and how the scars left behind impact their loved ones.

The book also encourages people to speak up, whilst also showing how hard it can be for people to speak up.

Grief

There is also a big element of grief in 13 Reasons Why.

In fact, it could be argued that this is the most common theme readers experience as they are exposed to the thoughts, feelings, and anger Hannah’s family and friends feel.

The book shows how everyone deals with grief differently and how it’s okay to grieve.

As you can imagine, this creates great sadness, depression, anger, and relief throughout the story.

There are some great lessons readers can take from the themes of grief in this book.

Love

The other main theme in 13 Reasons Why is love. Love can be found in many different forms in this book.

Whether it be someone simply holding a friend’s hand, someone falling in love with someone they shouldn’t, or simply good old-fashioned love, the story is packed with it.

However, love in 13 Reasons Why is shown mainly through friendship and family.

Every character in this book relies on a friend’s love at some point. One of the main characters Clay is usually involved in one way or another.

Books Like 13 Reasons Why

History Is All You Left Me – Adam Silvera

History Is All You Left Me (Deluxe Edition)

If you found yourself getting tears on the pages of your Thirteen Reasons Why book, you’ll definitely need some Kleenex tissues for this Adam Silvera book.

History Is All You Left Me is a hard-hitting book that will make your eyes well up and your heartache.

The story centers around Griffin, whose first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, tragically died in a drowning accident.

Creating unimaginable pain for Griffin, his world implodes.

Although the two weren’t seeing each other at the time, Griffin didn’t for one second think they wouldn’t work things out.

The future Griffin imagined for himself has gone well off course. To rebuild his life, Griffin must first get over the past.

Pros

  • Just like Thirteen Reasons Why, this book will get you thinking.
  • If you’re a sucker for love, this Adam Silvera book is perfect.

Cons

  • History Is All You Left Me doesn’t have much of a backstory as Thirteen Reasons Why.

Themes: Love, loss, grief, mental health, and tragedy.

Before I Fall – Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall

If you enjoyed the thrill and mystery of 13 Reasons Why, you’ll thoroughly enjoy Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.

Like 13 Reasons Why, Before I Fall is jam-packed with high school drama, heartache, love, secrets, and mystery.

Before I Fall tells the story of Samantha Kingston, a girl who has it all.

She has the looks, the popularity, the trophy boyfriend, and the perfect lifestyle. However, all of that changed on February 12.

From that day, Samantha lives the last day of her life over and over again for the next week.

She’ll have to solve the mystery to break the cycle and discover the true value of everything she stands to lose.

Before I Fall has also been adapted into a film.

Pros

  • Before I Fall has been adapted into a film you can watch after reading the book.
  • Samantha’s mystery keeps the reader gripped throughout.

Cons

  • Before I Fall is a hefty read with almost 500 pages.

Themes: Mystery, self-worth, values, love, despair, and teenage drama.

If I Stay – Gayle Forman

If I Stay

The next book I have for you is If I Stay by Gayle Forman.

Wonderfully written, this heart-wrenching book will leave you thinking about the power of love, the importance of family, and how important the choices we make can turn out to be.

Full of drama, sadness, love, mystery, and grief, If I Stay explores the events that follow the tragic loss of a young teenager.

Until that day, 17-year-old Mia lived an ordinary life.

However, when she emerges from an accident with no memory of what’s happened, things start to get strange.

Things get even stranger as she watches her own injured body being taken from the wreck.

Struggling to put the pieces together, Mia must now work out what she’s lost, what’s left, and make a very difficult decision.

You’ll definitely look at life differently after this book.

Pros

  • If I Stay is an incredibly thought-provoking book.
  • There are two books to read.

Cons

  • Some readers found this book quite slow going.

Themes: Love, mystery, confusion, self-awareness, family, friends, grief, and decision-making.

The Fault In Our Stars – John Green

The Fault in Our Stars

You might know The Fault In Our Stars as a popular film. Despite finding more success as a film, The Fault In Our Stars was first a book written by John Green.

If you decide to read the book, you quickly come to realize that it is one of the loveliest and saddest books you’ve ever read.

This heartwarming story tells us about the life of a teenager called Hazel. Hazel has never known anything in life but terminal cancer.

However, her life of illness and worry takes a surprising turn when the handsome Augustus Waters appears at Cancer Kid Support Group. Hazel’s story is about to get started!

Insightful, raw, humor full, sad, relevant, and extremely bold, The Fault In Our Stars is an ambitious read that will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Pros

  • This book is beautiful. You’ll want to read it all in one sitting.
  • This is another book that has been adapted into a film.

Cons

  • Some readers might actually find this book too hard and upsetting to read.

Themes: Love, life, happiness, adversity, adventure, battle, illness, and grief.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before – Jenny Han

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (1)

The final book on this list of books similar to 13 Reasons Why is To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.

Like 13 Reasons Why, this book follows the story of a girl that has left letters for the people in her life.

If you enjoyed 13 Reasons Why for teenage drama, hopeless romance, and love, this book is perfect for you.

Unlike 13 Reasons Why, this book is a bit more upbeat. The story centers around Lara Jean.

Lara Jean decides to write letters to every boy she has ever loved or had a crush on. She keeps the letters in a box under her bed.

However, things take an unfortunate turn when all the letters are somehow mailed. Lara has to learn to deal with her past lovers face to face.

Pros

  • This story is more upbeat than 13 Reasons Why.
  • This book is also a Netflix film.

Cons

  • The story isn’t as impactful as 13 Reasons Why.

Themes: Love, teenage drama, hopeless romance, family, friends.

Final Thoughts

In this post, I’ve shown you 5 books you will also enjoy if you loved 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

Although 13 Reasons Why is quite hard to beat, there are still plenty of good reads out there that you can enjoy once you’ve finished it.

All of the books on this list follow similar themes and stories to 13 reasons Why. They might not be as dark and upsetting as 13 Reasons Why but they still have a lot to offer.

Common themes you’ll find in every book on the list include love, teenage love, teenage drama, loss, sadness, mystery, and mental health.

Now you have this list at your disposal, you should pick out the first book you want to read.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is There A Second 13 Reasons Why Book?

No, there isn’t a second 13 Reasons Why book. To date, Asher has no plans of writing one either.

Are The 13 Reasons Why TV Series And Book The Same?

Whilst the main storyline and characters are the same in both, there are some differences between the 13 Reasons Why book and TV series. The book was adapted to make it more suitable for TV.

How Many Pages Does 13 Reasons Why Have?

13 Reasons Why has 288 pages.

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Noah Burton