Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life.
The 1 New York Times bestseller and modern classic that's been changing lives for a decade gets a gorgeous revamped cover and never-before-seen additional content, including: An introduction from its award-winning author, Jay Asher; The until-now-secret alternate ending for Hannah and Clay that almost was; Early notes and ideas of how the story came to be; Deleted scenes; And more!
You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and as he follows Hannah's recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever. My best friend growing up, her father committed suicide. I hope she never reads this book. People who are clinically depressed, people who feel like they have no other option but to kill themselves, don't do it because of a tiny, trivial reason.
They do it because there is an imbalance in their brain, or something so horrific happened to them that they feel like they can't live in their own skin anymore. If we hadn't had a glimpse inside of Hannah's head, I would have thought that maybe she was in a such a dark place that she felt like she had no other option but to kill herself.
However, we hear Hannah voice throughout the story through her tapes. She doesn't sound depressed. She sounds vindictive and petty. Why doesn't she think about how her tapes could make someone else kill themselves, huh?
To make it seem like a friend or loved one, doing something minor or mundane, could cause a suicide is a horrible seed to plant. It takes years for loved ones of suicide victims to stop blaming themselves. Does my childhood friend deserve to question, "If I just cleaned my room or didn't yell at my dad that one last time, would he have not killed himself?
Sure, teenagers could be a lot nicer to each other. I'm all for anything that reduces bullying and objectifying of women. If readers take away that message from this book, than I guess I'm okay with that on some level. But for the reader who struggles with bipolar disorder or clinical depression, the teen with the mom who won't get out of bed, the husband whose wife ODs on pills Don't dissect your life and think about what you could have done differently.
Maybe we find out more about Hannah after that point. I wasn't interested enough to find out. View all 60 comments. I bought "Thirteen Reasons Why" after hearing so much about it on the internet - and from my 3 sons - and I just knew I had to find out what the hype was all about for myself. Actually I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and found it very compelling so I'm a little apprehensive about leaving a positive review after reading so many negative comments about it, but I suppose it is only everyone's opinion.
I started reading this book at bedtime and whenever I woke up during the night and throughou I bought "Thirteen Reasons Why" after hearing so much about it on the internet - and from my 3 sons - and I just knew I had to find out what the hype was all about for myself. I started reading this book at bedtime and whenever I woke up during the night and throughout the next day when I wasn't reading it, I was constantly thinking about the characters - it had such a pull to it.
I didn't have a problem with the writing style at all, the unique way in which the author, Jay Asher, created a dual narrative between Hannah on the tapes and Clay listening to them and commenting was very unusual and new to me, and I really took to it - it played out perfectly in my mind. I imagine everyone knows the blurb to this book so I won't go into that other than it is aimed at a young adult audience.
Some people believe that Hannah was selfish and petty with a 'I've been badly done to' attitude but who knows when the straw will break the camel's back? We've probably all experienced bad times at senior school at some point or another and know it can have a very profound effect on your emotions at such a vulnerable age. Does the book glorify suicide? Does it make someone want to go out and take their own life? I have my opinions but you'll have to read the book and decide for yourself.
What I do know is - it's a work of fiction and I read it as that, but I'm much older and wiser than most of the average readers of this book and I think that does make a big difference. I don't think I'll be watching the TV show should it make mainstream English TV as it is primarily aimed at a much younger audience and I think I'd rather remember the book is it was originally written. I would say don't be put off by any of the negative reviews you may come across, I dithered for a while over reading it, but I have to say it's a book that I did enjoy reading and I know will stay with me a long time.
View all 57 comments. I hope no one suicidal or anyone that has seen the effects of suicide ever reads this. Hated this. View all 23 comments. View all 38 comments. This book was very engrossing and suspenseful, but in the end it just pissed me off. I don't know how to put this in more delicate terms, so if I make my case rather bluntly or insensitively, I do so only because I don't want to tiptoe around what I really feel.
Basically, I understand why some people turn to suicide as the only option out. I understand the feeling of helplessness and misery that could make a person decide that taking herself out is the only way to stop the pain. But after experi This book was very engrossing and suspenseful, but in the end it just pissed me off. But after experiencing the aftermath of suicides in my extended family and, more pointedly, in my graduating class in high school, I have erased it as any option I would ever consider for myself.
And even though I understand why people would kill themselves, that does not mean I agree that they are making the right choice. When the suicides happened my senior year, the school was loathe to talk about it except on a student-by-student basis. They believed that making too much out of the suicide glorified it and encouraged other kids to commit suicide in order to get the same attention.
I don't know that I disagree, but I do know that not providing teenagers with information means they create their own answers, which can be worse. But I also remember that everyone wondered about their personal relationships with the people who died, if seemingly inconsequential statements contributed to the final act of despair.
This book is basically saying, "Yes, in fact, your actions are one of the 13 reasons why I killed myself. Don't get me wrong, the people who Hannah blames for her downward spiral were all jerks to her. But she wasn't the only person in the school tormented by these people. The tapes portray Hannah as the number one target at school, but didn't we all feel that way except for those handful of people who claim to have loved high school and who I will never understand?
What makes it worse for Hannah than for anyone else? Why do some of us survive it and she couldn't? Or better yet, what actions of Hannah's, inspired by her own unhappiness, contributed to the despair of another person who may later consider suicide?
I think that the author was trying to say that there is never one single reason for a person to commit suicide, and that we should be aware of how we treat other people because we don't know the power of our own seemingly inconsequential actions. He was telling us to reach out to people who seem alone and vulnerable even if they try to push us away. I agree with all of this. However, the author failed to make the point that different people deal with life in different ways and have different capacities for dealing with it.
He needed to make the point that Hannah wasn't strong to begin with, that she was already emotionally vulnerable or unstable. Because otherwise, everyone who survives high school gossip and cruelty would be a triumph, when really I've found that it's quite commonplace.
Most people did not kill themselves in high school despite 13 or more reasons to do so. I've never been the kind of person who is comforted by thoughts like, "Think how much worse someone else has it. Your own problems will always seem bigger that anyone else's because they are your own. But the author never explained why these experiences crushed Hannah while others somehow got by. I'm not saying it couldn't happen that way.
But why couldn't she - specifically Hannah - handle it? In the end, this book just made me mad because we are led through this narrative in which we succumb to Hannah's interpretation of events and her justification for her death. If the author's point was to show that the average cruelties of high school, when taken together, can lead someone to suicide, then he also needs to show why it doesn't.
I don't believe in sugar-coating life for teenagers, and I don't believe in censoring books because they may "encourage undesirable behavior.
And it pisses me off that a book would give me a reaction opposite of what I claim to believe. Jan 29, Christy rated it really liked it Shelves: ya-challenge , audio , four-stars. I do love books that make me cry and since the book is being made into a Netflix series next month, I thought why not give it a go. Honestly, I have conflicting feelings about the story itself. However, it was story that I feel will stay with me.
It had profound moments and it was a mesmerizing read. As I was listening, I was dying to see who was going to be next, how everything would go down, and waiting for the big WHY to be answered. Shelves: ya , contemporary , much-heard-of , reviewed , psychological , overrated-as-hell. This was even worse than I thought it would be. Hannah, I know you've been treated unfairly and you wanted to get back at the people who wronged you.
But I was totally dumbfounded by this roundabout way of doing so which actually includes you losing your own life in the process. All those preparations and time and planning. Such a waste. And Asher's writing didn't help the matter either: not suspenseful enough. View all 22 comments. I have seen a lot of mixed reviews on this book.
The subject matter - suicide - is controversial. The show they made of this book is controversial. Because of that, I am going to avoid too much commentary on the subject matter and just say that the content of this book is serious and does affect teenagers in different ways.
I didn't have the easiest if teenage years, but I made it through okay, so it would be easy for me to say that this story is an overreaction. But, I would be a fool to not un I have seen a lot of mixed reviews on this book.
But, I would be a fool to not understand the we we all different and a cautionary tale like this one could result from the same events that another person might just brush off.
It is important to keep that in mind. As to the book itself, I give it bonus points for creativity of delivery. Learning what happened along with the narrator and hearing his emotions since he was directly affected is pretty powerful.
I did find myself a bit on the edge of my seat ready to find out what happens next. Also, this book is a quick read. I think this is important to help make it feel like we are along with the narrator in real time.
Remember going in that the subject is suicide and if that bothers you, do not read this. However, if you are open to exploring the mind of someone going through this sort of pain, I think it could be a moving and enlightening experience. View all 17 comments. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
High school junior? Hannah downs a bottle of pills shocking her classmates. Post-mordem a box of cassette tapes is sent around to 13 of peers, all of whom played a part in her ultimate suicide. The summary of this story is just as shitty and ridiculous as the book. There is no discussion of feelings of depression outside of how she was hurt by classmates, which, may represent the surface feelings of a depressed person, but the execution is not believable. Also, the fact that this young girl c High school junior?
Also, the fact that this young girl commit suicide because of alienation at school is not portrayed in a believable sense either. Also, the narrator one of the thirteen does not take away a very deep message from the experience.
When he should be realizing that Hannah gave up, instead he goes on blaming himself he, himself did not belong on the tapes and ultimately decides to talk to a girl who is an outsider.
Gives people who commit suicide a bad name. Jun 06, Alejandro rated it really liked it Shelves: novel , romance , drama. Nothing justifies suicide. This is the tenth anniversary edition of the novel which includes a new foreword by the author, along with some comments about the process of the original publication and even the original ending not used in the finished novel.
Certainly films and TV series are great pr Nothing justifies suicide. Certainly films and TV series are great promoters when the stories are based or inspired on a previously published work. Enjoy both. Life is too short to limit yourself… …and also, life is too short for you making it even shorter than it was supposed to be.
Hannah Baker is a teenager girl who commits suicide but not without leaving her reasons why behind in the form of cassette tapes where she tells in her own voice which people around her, she considered responsables for her own decision of terminating her life. That's one of the beauties of this book, it wasn't written as a guideline to follow, it was intended to show what someone did and then you have to ponder about it. She was a teenager.
Do you remember what was like to be a teenager? When any trouble was a gigantic drama for you? When your social life in school was everything? When you do dumb mistakes? Even leaving behind those cassette tapes could be yet another mistake without pondering the consequences for those still alive.
To judge is easy, to help is hard… …choose the hard path and live. And if you can't give a word of encouragement, better don't say anything.
Well, I guess that less than that would make a really short book, right? Never forget that this is a book after all and the more pages, more it will be considered worthy to be read.
Who can tell if your daughter or your grandson, or your great-granddaughter, will be the one to find the solution of a world problem? If you or someone in your future lineage has a role to play, that role is the same of unique as you and your legacy. You are alive for a reason. Everything affects everything. Will I judge you if you decide to suicide yourselves? Only God can judge in this life and in the next one.
But trust me, any suicide will have consequences and never will be good ones. You never are alone. View all 37 comments. Apr 23, Michael Britt rated it did not like it. Full disclosure: if you read this book and it helped you, don't read on. This is not for you. This book has one of the most dangerous messages out there. It glorifies suicide. And I find that utterly disgusting. I almost didn't review this book, because it's a sensitive subject: teen suicide. Or even just suicide in general.
One of the saddest things ever is when someone so young feels like they have no way out other than taking their own life. It's never the right answer, but I still find it sad Full disclosure: if you read this book and it helped you, don't read on.
It's never the right answer, but I still find it sad. I wanted to find this book sad, I really did. But I feel none of that for Hannah, after reading this book. This isn't a sad story of a girl who tragically takes her own life. This is a story about a young woman who is cold, calculating, malicious and vindictive.
This isn't a girl who feels utterly hopeless; it's a girl who says "this is ALL your fault and I'm gonna show you. Some of the stuff that happens to her is horrible, but most things are very petty. This was probably the part that caused me to hate this book. How dare her? I think the only book with a worse and more dangerous message would be Mein Kampf.
Like I said above, the book glorifies suicide. It sends the message that your suicide can be a weapon of revenge. This is by far the worst way you could possibly waste your life. It also goes as far as using her one attempt to talk to her counselor, and her counselor ignoring her, as an example of "no-one will truly care for you unless you take your life". There is someone out there who cares for you. Taking your own life is never the answer.
This is not the tragic story of a young lady that feels she has no way to improve her life: it's a revenge story. This is the first book that I've read that has made me legitimately angry. I've never felt so much disgust towards another person in a book. If I could give this book a negative rating, I would. View all 27 comments. Jun 12, Luffy rated it it was amazing Shelves: 5-star. I distinctly remember reading a review for this book and I said to myself, "I can see myself reading it.
This book reminded me a lot of Pike's books. Chain Letter was a masterpiece. It's a sad story. My heart goes out to Hannah Baker initially. Her character arc made me sad and sentimental. The book is full of suspense but the human element is forever etched in my I distinctly remember reading a review for this book and I said to myself, "I can see myself reading it. The book is full of suspense but the human element is forever etched in my mind.
The book is about a boy who gets some cassette tapes from the girl who loved him, but killed herself. It was a fantastic read. There are so many books floating around. The headache is to pick one up, and hope you've chosen well. View all 8 comments. Oct 11, Nataliya rated it it was ok Shelves: reads. 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. She tries to tell us that we should care enough to see what someone is going through and maybe - by caring enough - to be the one that can make the snowballing effect stop.
I see it. I understand it. I agree. Because it may seem like a small role now, but it matters. In the end, everything matters. Those who will be told - you are the one to blame for a suicide. Those who are disproportionally told - the responsibility is yours to bear for one careless act or gesture.
She does not know or care if her tapes will be the last straw for anyone listening to them. She does not care at all. She was spiraling down, and it seems almost anything would have pushed her deeper and deeper into the state from where there was no escape.
Yet she prefers to single out a few people to lay blame on, and most of them do not deserve that, but the blame has been already doled out and witnesses made. Misery loves company, and Hannah relentlessly soldiers on, blaming others for small and petty and mean things that snowballed for her and led to her suicide. And she knows where it can lead, and does not care.
At home. Even at school. Not the revenge tapes that she makes sure reach the intended audience, but just a narration of a girl who is depressed and driven to commit suicide by the combined snowballing shittiness of life. I feel for Hannah but I abhor her selfishness and callousness and the way the story seems to condone apportioning blame to everyone around her, leaving them with the burden of guilt, mostly undeserved. I dislike how he author chose to frame the story and the implications of those choices.
Suicide framed as revenge is not good. A story of suicide told through vindictive finger-pointing pettiness cheapens the intended emotional effect. View all 51 comments. Rating: Review: This novel was gripping since page 1. Hannah Baker was a newcomer in the town and school. Her reputation was tarnished by the guy her senior during her first days in the town.
Later on, she was accused of betrayal by her new friend that she stole her guy all three of them are classmates. That guy sort of used Hannah to make her ex jealous and to get back her Rating: Review: This novel was gripping since page 1.
That guy sort of used Hannah to make her ex jealous and to get back her. Hannah was devastated and failed to convince her friend. She witnessed horrible things to crush her soul.
She was continuously abused by the people around her. She tried to give hints as to what she is going through. And that she was depressed and slowly losing hope. Starting from the first incident to the last, everything was connected. Everyone was responsible. She wanted them to know how badly they affected her life to the point where there was no turning back. So before committing suicide, she recorded 13 reasons on the tapes with recording about 1 person on each side of the audio cassette.
After listening, each one of them should send the tapes to the next person on the list. What I didn't Like: I think Hannah Baker was suicidal and had psychological issues but she realized that too late. She was in denial of her mental condition. She denied help of those who wanted to help her like Clay and even Mr. I get that school and high school could be a problem period for some or many people.
Those who are sensitive or very emotional suffer the most. But Hannah didn't occur like any over-sensitive or emotional girl to me. She was insecure, yes. Over-sensitive - no. Emotional - absolutely not. She was fun-loving, calm and collected. She was smart enough to know whats wrong and whats right for her. Then why did she go back to the people she already knew she couldn't trust.
She herself let them harm her. Then why blame others? I wish he had never left Hanna alone even when she asked him to. The idea of this novel was unique. Sending audio tapes to those who were the reasons of one's suicide so they could know how their actions affected others lives - genius!
Final Words: This is a good book to read. Especially for teens and highschoolers. I hope people do realize how their words, gossips or little actions scar other's lives. Those who are suicidal, should seek help.
There is no shame in asking for help or confiding your darkest fears to a counsellor or a trusted friend. Life is a precious gift and both good and bad times pass. Life is all about ups and downs. Killing yourself may end your suffering but it passes the everlasting pain to those who love you. Those who see troubled souls around them should come forward to help without pitying them and making them uncomfortable, vulnerable or hard to open.
And please accept help when offered. That doesn't make you weak. The Mystique Reader Blog View all 15 comments. I've owned this book for years but never felt drawn to read it until the recent hype surrounding the TV show. I want to recap the show for Snark Squad, but I wanted to start with the book so I could talk to how the show performs as an adaptation.
What I found here was a story that I don't think had bad intentions, necessarily. I found that I understand, for the most part, why the ideas here resonate with people. It's a story perhaps about the ways we treat people and how those small interactions I've owned this book for years but never felt drawn to read it until the recent hype surrounding the TV show.
It's a story perhaps about the ways we treat people and how those small interactions ripple and snowball. It's a story that perhaps resonates with a lot of the experiences of high school and growing up and that strange microcosm where rumors are spread and believed and relationships are forged and dismantled over single interactions and where adults miss the nuances of what it means to be there, at that time and age.
All that said, I also found a story that I think failed on a couple of major levels. The first, I would say, is that it isn't written with much style, grace, emotional depth, description or nuance. I mentioned in one of my updates that it is very linear. Even when we are listening to Hannah talk about past events, the main action of the story is pulled by Clay's thoughts and steps and it reads in a very "I did this and then I did that and then I did that" kind of way.
That, coupled with Asher's descriptionless and plain writing, made this seem so disconnected from the very weighty subject at hand. I know that must not be true for everyone who read it obviously some people connected emotionally but I just thought there was some emotional depth lacking here. It was almost too simplistic, too fast, too easily consumed.
It felt superficial. Another example of the poor writing was the repeated use of the narrative question to lead the reader. I know that Clay is discovering information here, but that is too often conveyed with some form of, "why would Hannah do that? What was Hannah thinking? Was it x person? Was it y person? Am I next?
Is this me? It's a cheap device. The repetition in general just spoke to me of an idea that either wasn't fully fleshed out or a writer that didn't have the skill to give this story the treatment it deserved.
Bad writing turned this into a reductive depiction of suicide. I was totally grateful, but emotionally it was really hard. The pressure got to him. The book still sits unfinished on his hard drive.
Mackler pitched the idea of a book written by both of them, told from alternating points of view. He loved the concept, and not just because Mackler is one of his favorite authors.
Not surprisingly, Hollywood has also shown interest in Thirteen Reasons Why. But eventually somebody managed to convince him: Disney star Selena Gomez.
He met with her and her mother at an L. We had a fun talk about the book.
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