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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
well i read this a while ago
its shocking thrilling and devastating i admire the truth and that finally someone had the desire and courage to say and write such a book
its shocking thrilling and devastating i admire the truth and that finally someone had the desire and courage to say and write such a book
alright people time for a review
high-schooler hannah baker has taken her own life, no one knows why. clay jensen gets a mysterious package on his doorstep, cassette tapes. he pops one in and it’s hannah baker, explaining why she took her life and if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re apart of why she died. there are only two rules: 1.) listen to all the tapes and 2.) pass them on to the next person, or else a second set of tapes will publicly be released, telling all of what happened to hannah.
so buckle up and go through all seven tapes, two parts on one tape each, 13 stories hannah tells. 13 reasons why she took her life.
so to begin, i think the book and show are about the same, it basically covered everything but changed a few things. I didn’t really enjoy this but it was an interesting read and definitely something i’ve never read before, those are just the pros, though. Clay has to be the best character in this book and show as well.
The cons you ask? Well... (TW: mention of suicide, sexual assault)
- why does hannah think the world owes her ? just because life wasn’t going her way and was too hard for her for once in her life the world ends for her
- i don’t know why clay got the tapes other than to know why hannah took her own life, she even said herself he did nothing wrong to her but yet he still felt guilty all through out the book ? (even after he listens to the tape about himself and found out he did nothing wrong)
- i don’t understand why hannah thought everyone should’ve helped her and reached out to her to help her, she had ample opportunities to ask for help, get therapy or counselling. clay even offered to help her, he listened to her but she pushed him away and ignored him, making this poor boy feel as if he didn’t do enough
- yes, a lot of bad things happened to hannah baker, but SHE needed to reach out herself, some people noticed the signs of her being suicidal but they weren’t quite sure. how is everybody supposed to help someone when they reject any sort of help offered to them ?
- she literally walked into mr.porter’s office and he tried to help her but she left and well.. you know what happens next. i do feel bad for hannah in a way but the amount of time she complained on the tapes that she needed help, to be heard, how come she couldn’t do it when she was alive ? people can’t read other peoples minds
- hannah had the potential to be a great character and while i do hold some sympathy for her, and she is a victim too, i wish jay didn’t make her so one-sided and the ‘pick me’ girl
- one of the things i don’t understand that Jay wrote is that hannah watched her friend jessica get raped by bryce, she watched as justin let him (he only said “let her rest” and didn’t bother to put up a fight, and hannah watched from the closet not helping, she was drunk but sober enough to know what happened) and she goes to his house to attend his party, strips down and gets into a hot tub with him knowing what he did to jessica, knowing how violent he is and what he could do ? I am NOT victim blaming, hannah didn’t deserve getting raped, but it didn’t make sense to me why she would do that, knowing what he did to jessica
Now, i wish this story could’ve gone farther, more in depth, i wish we could have seen different perspectives of the people who were on the tapes reacting (like Justin, Bryce, Zach, etc) how it affected everyone and what they did after; how they moved on with their lives, did everyone listen to the tapes and mail them to the next or did tony release the second copy of the tapes publicly and if so, how did it go down? i have a lot of questions, although the show answers them i feel unsatisfied with how the show dealt with the topics; suicide and rape. i wish jay had released a sequel before the show came out so the show (for the second, third and fourth season) had more to go on so it didn’t become the train wreck that it inevitably became.
overall, it was a refreshing read in a way, i had never read something like this before, i do think jay didn’t properly handle the sensitive topics of suicide and rape well, it seemed rather forced into the story. the writing style however, balancing between clay and his adventure with listening to the tapes and how we get to read what hannah says in the tapes is very nice to me, especially since she left a map of places that were important to her story. i think this story could’ve been more properly and accurately executed, and more carefully written.
final rating: 3/5 stars
high-schooler hannah baker has taken her own life, no one knows why. clay jensen gets a mysterious package on his doorstep, cassette tapes. he pops one in and it’s hannah baker, explaining why she took her life and if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re apart of why she died. there are only two rules: 1.) listen to all the tapes and 2.) pass them on to the next person, or else a second set of tapes will publicly be released, telling all of what happened to hannah.
so buckle up and go through all seven tapes, two parts on one tape each, 13 stories hannah tells. 13 reasons why she took her life.
so to begin, i think the book and show are about the same, it basically covered everything but changed a few things. I didn’t really enjoy this but it was an interesting read and definitely something i’ve never read before, those are just the pros, though. Clay has to be the best character in this book and show as well.
The cons you ask? Well... (TW: mention of suicide, sexual assault)
- why does hannah think the world owes her ? just because life wasn’t going her way and was too hard for her for once in her life the world ends for her
- i don’t know why clay got the tapes other than to know why hannah took her own life, she even said herself he did nothing wrong to her but yet he still felt guilty all through out the book ? (even after he listens to the tape about himself and found out he did nothing wrong)
- i don’t understand why hannah thought everyone should’ve helped her and reached out to her to help her, she had ample opportunities to ask for help, get therapy or counselling. clay even offered to help her, he listened to her but she pushed him away and ignored him, making this poor boy feel as if he didn’t do enough
- yes, a lot of bad things happened to hannah baker, but SHE needed to reach out herself, some people noticed the signs of her being suicidal but they weren’t quite sure. how is everybody supposed to help someone when they reject any sort of help offered to them ?
- she literally walked into mr.porter’s office and he tried to help her but she left and well.. you know what happens next. i do feel bad for hannah in a way but the amount of time she complained on the tapes that she needed help, to be heard, how come she couldn’t do it when she was alive ? people can’t read other peoples minds
- hannah had the potential to be a great character and while i do hold some sympathy for her, and she is a victim too, i wish jay didn’t make her so one-sided and the ‘pick me’ girl
- one of the things i don’t understand that Jay wrote is that hannah watched her friend jessica get raped by bryce, she watched as justin let him (he only said “let her rest” and didn’t bother to put up a fight, and hannah watched from the closet not helping, she was drunk but sober enough to know what happened) and she goes to his house to attend his party, strips down and gets into a hot tub with him knowing what he did to jessica, knowing how violent he is and what he could do ? I am NOT victim blaming, hannah didn’t deserve getting raped, but it didn’t make sense to me why she would do that, knowing what he did to jessica
Now, i wish this story could’ve gone farther, more in depth, i wish we could have seen different perspectives of the people who were on the tapes reacting (like Justin, Bryce, Zach, etc) how it affected everyone and what they did after; how they moved on with their lives, did everyone listen to the tapes and mail them to the next or did tony release the second copy of the tapes publicly and if so, how did it go down? i have a lot of questions, although the show answers them i feel unsatisfied with how the show dealt with the topics; suicide and rape. i wish jay had released a sequel before the show came out so the show (for the second, third and fourth season) had more to go on so it didn’t become the train wreck that it inevitably became.
overall, it was a refreshing read in a way, i had never read something like this before, i do think jay didn’t properly handle the sensitive topics of suicide and rape well, it seemed rather forced into the story. the writing style however, balancing between clay and his adventure with listening to the tapes and how we get to read what hannah says in the tapes is very nice to me, especially since she left a map of places that were important to her story. i think this story could’ve been more properly and accurately executed, and more carefully written.
final rating: 3/5 stars
adventurous
fast-paced
Sometimes tricky to keep the two voices separate. Very similar to the Netflix series. Well written but not very detailed-the trade off of a quick read I suppose.
One of those 3.5 situations. The story was engaging and there was enough mystery to pull me through to the ending. It is a difficult subject to be sure, and I can see why a fair segment of readers might feel it glamorizes suicide. I do not agree, but I can see why it can be viewed as such.
My problem with the novel Is the extent to which the reader is manipulated. However, I cannot really be too harsh on this point given that I readily participated all the way to the end.
Overall, a challenging and emotionally charged topic presented in a way that engages the reader to the end, with some important lessons hopefully taken away.
My problem with the novel Is the extent to which the reader is manipulated. However, I cannot really be too harsh on this point given that I readily participated all the way to the end.
Overall, a challenging and emotionally charged topic presented in a way that engages the reader to the end, with some important lessons hopefully taken away.
I hate that she kills herself and this is not a spoiler because the book starts after her death. The story premise is fascinating and compelling. I loved reading it. But the Pollyanna me was not so okay with the fact that she is dead even after I found out her 13 reasons why. I especially hated the one chapter where she makes a choice that I think is out of character. So although I have a lot of problems with the plot, it was so interesting and hard to put down and I loved the way it skipped back and forth between two points of view. It is also one of the few time I have found a male author's depiction of a female character's feelings and thoughts accurate (again, except for that one chapter).
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Dark insight into teenage trauma.
I watched the show before I read the book (always a regret), but I do now think they did a great job with the show. Clay, quite self absorbed and needy. Hannah, quite dramatic.
Really good concept and idea, easy to read, I liked Hannah and Clays dialogue running in parallel, even though it was confusing at times.
Shows how much the snowball effect can influence a person, and how someone’s actions can have major consequences. Jennys really impacted me (along with obviously Justin’s), some really interesting stories.
I watched the show before I read the book (always a regret), but I do now think they did a great job with the show. Clay, quite self absorbed and needy. Hannah, quite dramatic.
Really good concept and idea, easy to read, I liked Hannah and Clays dialogue running in parallel, even though it was confusing at times.
Shows how much the snowball effect can influence a person, and how someone’s actions can have major consequences. Jennys really impacted me (along with obviously Justin’s), some really interesting stories.
This was a very sad book. Know your reader because it has a lot of the hard teen issures in it. A set of tapes shows up on Clays door and they are recorded from a girl who committed suicide. She is telling everyone what role they played in her decision. It kept the pages turning but not for someone looking for a light read. 9th grade and up.