Thirteen Reasons Why
Dark
Intense
Depressing

Thirteen Reasons Why

Jay Asher2009
Read this sensational mystery bestseller before you watch season two of the golden Globe nominated Netflix series, executive produced by Selena Gomez. There are 500 reasons why I love this book...' Jennifer Niven author of All the Bright Places You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play. Clay Jensen returns home from school one day to find a mysterious box with his name on it, outside his front door. Inside he discovers a series of cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush. Only, she committed suicide two weeks earlier. On the first tape, Hannah explains that there are 13 reasons why she did what she did - and Clay is one of them. If he listens, Clay will find out how he made the list - what he hears will change his life forever. If you're affected by any of the issues raised in Thirteen Reasons Why, click below for a list of UK-based support organisations that can help. http://po.st/UKHelplines
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Reviews

Photo of Mharie
Mharie@mhariea
5 stars
Aug 22, 2024

it still fascinates me all those shit happened in one day but okay we not wasting any minute now HHAHA. ily hannah:(

This review contains a spoiler
+3
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ShannonT@sweetivy
0.5 stars
Aug 17, 2024

I had no idea what was going on in this book

Photo of Chulandon leanday Bradley
Chulandon leanday Bradley @chulandon
5 stars
May 20, 2024

I think that this book really makes you think about how you treat people while they are alive. In my family we have a saying that you should always do or say nice things to people because you could be the one person that stops someone from committing suicide. I also wonder why clay went after skye at the end of the book? I feel so bad for Hannah and if it was me I would have tried to be her friend or at least noticed that something was off and talked with her about it.

This review contains a spoiler
+5
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Monicap@insult_the_glory
3 stars
Apr 29, 2024

somewhere around 3.9 stars. This was good. There were feels. There was a journey, and our MC learned something, yada, yada, yada. But..... I have some slight issues with the premise. As someone who suffers from depression myself, I would have to say I don't know that I can think of any human who would put that much planning in place for their suicide. I wouldn't. I mean, the couple times that I've, well, almost... you know, I wrote a quick, one-paragraph note on my computer and printed it out. That's it. I mean, I get it. I get why it was done that way. if it wasn't, well, we wouldn't have a story, would we? But still.

Photo of Athiril Ard
Athiril Ard@blackbufff
4 stars
Feb 25, 2024

** spoiler alert ** lebih tepatnya, 9/10 lumayan sekali, bukan? oke, yeah, buku ini memang menarik sekali. aku membacanya dengan imajinasiku yang kemana-mana. dan, di sela-sela membaca buku ini, semangatku untuk melanjutkan tulisanku--yang ingin kujadikan sebuah novel--tiba-tiba muncul. dan itu yang kuharapkan sejak dulu. tapi, dengan bodohnya, aku juga melakukan kesalahan fatal sehingga aku hanya bisa memberi 9 dari 10 untuk buku ini. kenapa? aku menonton serial netflix-nya di sela-sela membaca. sungguh, sungguh bodoh. gara-gara menonton serialnya, aku langsung terspoiler sejak episode pertama. karakter favoritku, Tony, diungkapkan kedoknya di episode pertama di serial netflix-nya. padahal, di bukunya, Tony baru diungkapkan agak akhir. dan itu membuatku kesal. sungguh, aku ingin sekali memberi 10 dari 10. tapi, karena kehodohanku sendiri, aku tidak bisa. Tony, karakter favoritku, kuhancurkan sendiri.

Photo of yel
yel@ashuulinksu
4 stars
Feb 24, 2024

★★★★☆ 4.00 STARS "No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people" The very first time I read this about five years ago, I know I felt a tugged in my heart as I make my way through this. But at that time, I overlooked a lot of important things. I just simply read it and get over and done with it. I just didn't knew then how this story has way a lot deeper emotions rooted into it than I let mysef noticed. Now that I re-read this, the things that I overlooked slapped me right in the face. I cried then, thinking the sympathy I have had for Hannah. But now, I cried even more thinking how other people think less of the pain a person was forced to encounter in his/her everyday life. "Hannah just wanted an excuse to kill herself" Imagine the anger I felt re-reading that line all over again. Victim-blaming, a very common disease spreading in the society. She was not trying to seek for an excuse to kill herself, she was trying to look for a reason to continue holding on. To know that someone cared. But all she received were reasons to keep coming back to the wrong side of her battles. Reasons to continue thinking about an awful idea she was trying to pushed her mind off. Reasons to think of just letting go of the little hope she once had. I was glad to read this book again. I am now seeing this in another light, apart from the way I saw this then-- a book with shallow messages and meaning that I thought were the only things the author wanted me, us, to see. I liked it now better, to be honest. I can feel the emotions a hundred times more than I used to, undestand each lines better than I did. I'd probably pick this book up again someday.

Photo of chloe rae
chloe rae@heychloerae
5 stars
Feb 14, 2024

This is one of those books that after you read it, AND LOVE IT, you'll give it to all your friends (even the non-reading ones) and make them read it too. IT'S SO GOOD. It's on my list of Top 10 Most Favorite Books of All Time. I don't quite know what number it'd be, but it's up there. It's just so...captivating. And INTERESTING. The concept is so cool and different and even now, years after I've read (and re-read) this novel, I've never found a book quite like it. It does deal with a few heavy topics but I first read this when I was pretty young and I barely noticed. It's just so heart-breaking and inspiring at the same. Stop what you're doing right now and go buy this book. It's stunning.

Photo of Jyc
Jyc@joeesuuu
5 stars
Jan 12, 2024

★★★★★ // the book is honestly influential for my high school self. if i read it again, i probably wouldn’t like it, much less agree with its message. if anything, the tv series adaptation ruined whatever good memory i have of this novel. but the 5-star rating stays, if only for the memories.

Photo of Eden
Eden@gardensngraves
3 stars
Jan 11, 2024

I'm still conflicted on how I feel about this book. It was a great book but I feel like it was very overrated. I did not cry and I never really laughed but the book was still good. It was greatly written. The ending was mysterious and left me with a lot of questions. It does make you think about the people around you and your own life. I do recommend this book but not for the reason everyone stereotypes it for

Photo of ꕀ *🫖
ꕀ *🫖@tokiberry
2.5 stars
Jan 9, 2024

changed my initial rating from 4 stars to 2 and a half. it was suspenseful, but i was expecting so much more from the ending.

+1
Photo of Corn Dawg
Corn Dawg@kat_985
3 stars
Jan 7, 2024

I had no business reading this book when I was 11 years old

Photo of Geetika
Geetika @geetening
3 stars
Dec 18, 2023

As story that is important to know, yet tedious to understand and trains my brain to live and process two different simultaneous scenes at the same time.

Photo of Libertad Aguilar
Libertad Aguilar@li_bee
2 stars
Sep 27, 2023

** spoiler alert ** I liked this book. It gave insight to real bullying cases and teen society. However, I found Clay's character to be cheesy at times. He was your typical "brooding-unknowingly handsome- quiet-sensitive-deep" guy. Twilight has paved many many roads and this is just another devastating romance. Oh and I don't think I'm alone when I say that suicide isn't a solution. Some kids can't see through this.

Photo of Hannah Yang
Hannah Yang@hannahyang
2 stars
Sep 18, 2023

I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why. I feel bad for giving this book two stars because it's about a girl called Hannah who committed suicide. Have I no sympathy for my own people? Trust me, I so very badly wanted to love Thirteen Reasons Why. I had it on my to-read list forever, it's rated pretty highly, and I loved the idea. Yet, I was disappointed by this book. Thirteen Reasons Why is about Hannah Baker, a girl who committed suicide. Before she swallowed the pills that killed her, she made a ton of cassette tapes addressed to certain people whose actions and decisions have lead to her suicide. So far, so good. She sends them out to the first person, and they're meant to be passed along until every person who's ruined her life to this point understands why she did what she did. I'm listening to someone give up. Someone I knew. Someone I liked. I did not dislike the book because of her reasons. A lot of people seem to be complaining that her reasons were petty and selfish. The things she went through were things people are constantly going through, and some - like the Best Ass one - would even be seen as compliments. Most of them are about guys who've flirted with her. That's not so bad, is it? It isn't. But for her, it was bad. Suicide is a touchy topic because there are so many grey areas. It's not some black and white thing, where one deeply traumatic experience ruins everything. For a lot of people like Hannah, little things build up and become unbearable. Even if you don't think she had a good reason to commit suicide, she has the right to decide what she does with her life. If you disagree with that, you're saying that because she had a pretty nice life, she didn't deserve to choose how she felt about the things that were happening in her life. So, I thought Hannah's reasons were justifiable. A little harsh to smack those people in the face with her reasons, but there was nothing wrong with the actual reasons. I did like the way the story was told, for the most part. The switching sides of Hannah telling her story and Clay's reactions was really unique. It was the characters that were such disappointments to me. They just didn't come to life. (I don't mean that in a bad pun way, please don't take offense.) I just didn't see how Clay and Hannah connected. I didn't feel the care they apparently had for each other. While at times, I could relate to Hannah, about people not caring, about not deserving hope, about being used, etc. Clay didn't do anything for me. He was just there. The people in her stories were just stories to me - I didn't feel anything from any of the characters. I also didn't understand the need to introduce Skye, and the ending with her didn't feel significant at all. In a book like Thirteen Reasons Why, the characters had to be everything. I needed to feel aching sympathy for Hannah, the same pain and anger as Clay, I needed to feel something and I did not. Honestly, that was a huge shock for me. This is coming from someone who cried because I saw baby sea turtles dying in a documentary. Such an emotional book, dealing with such touchy topics, and I didn't even bat an eye? What am I, inhumane? A lot of you cared, just not enough. Seriously, with quotes like that in this book, bookstores and libraries should give out boxes of tissues with it. This book just didn't click with me. Perhaps I had just expected too much from it, or perhaps I was just unable to relate to this particular set of characters. I simply don't think this great idea was executed well. Sure, the emotions were there. Hannah had a very real depression hanging over her, and that's something a lot of teens nowadays can relate to or at least imagine (sadly). But in a book that requires so much feeling from its reader, I felt nothing. But a lot of you will. So, surprisingly, I end this review with a recommendation. Although this book didn't work with me, I know it will connect with a lot of you. So, if you ever get the chance, pick it up and give it a read. Maybe you'll enjoy it, and maybe you won't. I hope it offers you more than it offered me. You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything... affects everything.

Photo of Nessa Luna
Nessa Luna@octobertune
4 stars
Jun 3, 2023

I've been wanting to pick up this book for years, but for some reason I never did. Then finally, I was at the Waterstones in Amsterdam and I saw it there, I decided to just go for it. It was this lovely silver edition that I hadn't seen before, and I personally like the colour silver (it's a Slytherin thing), so yeah. Thirteen Reasons Why is about Clay who receives a box full of cassette tapes on his doorstep. On these tapes, Clay hears the voice of Hannah Barker, a girl who killed herself not long before that; the first girl that he loved. According to Hannah, these tapes are the reasons that she killed herself, the people who made her want to kill herself. And if Clay listens to all of them, he'll hear why he's on there. (view spoiler)[When Clay finally arrives at his story, it turns out he is not at all 'to blame' for Hannah's suicide, which I found a bit odd. Why include him then? It was the noly part of the story that didn't make sense to me, why make all this fuzz about thirteen reasons - thirteen people - being to blame for Hannah's suicide and then say that Clay had nothing to do with it? Hmpff. (hide spoiler)] I thought it was a very strong book, because it talks about subjects that I had very close encounters with. I myself am depressed, have been ever since I got bullied and lost all my friends in high school, and I don't think I'll ever really get over it; I personally never had suicidal thoughts though, or let's put it this way - not in the way Hannah and probably thousands if not millions of other people on this planet have/had. I do know people who had that, but luckily I've never lost any of them (at least, not to suicide). I liked Clay as a character, and Tony as well (I have to admit I pictured him as a younger Tony Stark, but that is all because of the name). There was one thing I was confused about, and that was Tony's role in all this. (view spoiler)[I mean apparently he and Hannah had been friends at school, but I don't know she never mentioned him in all this, and I didn't even know that he was going to Clay's school until he said it near the end of the story. Yeah it wasn't really necessary for this to be mentioned in the book, but it kind of came out of nowhere, idk. (hide spoiler)] The book was written really well, and I found myself unable to put it down - I wanted to know all the reasons Hannah decided to kill herself and I wanted to know it now. What I also liked was that apparently, Hannah's tape have been recorded by someone and are available to listen to on hannahsreasons.blogspot.com. I haven't done it myself, but I might do it soon now that I've finished the book. In the end, I enjoyed this book - even though it felt weird to read about someone who had killed herself, and I really liked Clay as a character. I recommend this book to people who 'like' stories about depression and suicide (okay not like, but... You know what I mean). Just read it, okay! And to all those people out there who are depressed and/or are having suicidal thoughts: Talk to someone, someone you know you can trust. Go to a doctor, a friend at school, a guidance councellor at school (idk if you have those at your school). Just talk to someone, okay? There are people out there who care about you, don't forget that!

Photo of Shaimaa Emad Fekry
Shaimaa Emad Fekry@shimaa
4 stars
Jun 1, 2023

I don't think I need to write a review on this guy right here, but I'm gonna say this, it's very beautiful simply written short and very thrilling, it's very good especially if you're a beginner at English books. BUT as you probably know it's all about issues as suicide rape and depression, so if you're suffering from ANY simple problem reagrding these, THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT BOOK FOR YOU!

Photo of Victoria
Victoria@veespages
5 stars
Apr 8, 2023

I absolutely loved it. Painfully real and sad.

Photo of Liana
Liana@lxna_amar
3 stars
Mar 16, 2023

** spoiler alert ** Not much to say on this since I’ve watched the series. Enjoyed the book i probably wouldn’t recommend it but it was decent. It was quite short and it felt like nothing rlly happened bcse it was Clay Jensen listening to Hannah Bakers (the main character) tapes and the book ended with him talking to Skye. She also committed suicide with pills in the book unlike the series. Negatives: . it was short . It makes suicid look supreme and amazing . There was absolutely no point for Clay to be on the tapes in the book she didn’t even explain her reason . Tony didn’t deserve the fact that she included him

Photo of Megan O’Connod
Megan O’Connod@abookishrevolution
5 stars
Mar 5, 2023

This book was an emotional rollercoaster. It is one of my favourites I've read all year. It was long overdue and I should have read it sooner. 10/10 recommend

Photo of Cat Josephson
Cat Josephson@themorrigan12
2 stars
Mar 1, 2023

I wanted to like this book, I really did. But it just felt like... unrealistic representation. Not to mention I couldn't stand the two main characters. That said, I did end up finishing the book - so, 2 stars. This really wasn't my cup of tea, but I can see how some people would like it.

Photo of Sarah Pino
Sarah Pino@hoysarah
4 stars
Feb 10, 2023

Every story gave Hannah plenty a reason to kill herself and it really made me sympathize with her.

Photo of Emily Chernisky
Emily Chernisky@parisiamoon
4 stars
Feb 3, 2023

Wow. Just wow. This book is something else. I love Jay Asher's works and how he really makes you think about the stories he writes. How you can identify with the characters and their emotions and thoughts. How he drops the pen so suddenly, but yet one expects it. In this story of a girl who committed suicide and the need for one Clay Jenson to know why he received the tapes and why the girl he liked decided that her life was no longer worth something. This story of undeclared love, bullying and a series of unfortunate events demonstrates the best and worst aspects of high school. The complexity of this social hierarchy that has been instilled for generations. I recommend that those who read this book are not sensitive to suicide and other common issues in today's society (such as sexual harassment). All in all this is a great read.

Photo of Aishling
Aishling@nilghias
3 stars
Jan 28, 2023

** spoiler alert ** I'd watched the first 4 episodes before deciding to read the book, and one of the main differences I noticed is that the book as a very different feel so it. I the book we see Hannah being more isolated, she's not as close with Clay as she appears in the show. I can see where the idea of the book is coming from. It's kinda there to say, even though you may think that something that's happened to someone is only a small thing that wouldn't affect them too much, that small thing could be the breaking point after another lot of small things, that we have no idea how someone really feels. I didn't get all that interested into the book until Clays tape came up, before that I was kind of rushing through it cause I honestly just wanted to know how it ended. But then the feels hit of course. The ending kind of makes you realise that it's not too late to try and help someone if you think there's something wrong. The whole book made me very sad but I think the intentions were good.

Photo of sam
sam@samvskh
5 stars
Jan 23, 2023

I don't know why so many people before ne hated this book, I personally really really liked it. I've been wanting to read this for a long while now and I've only gotten around to reading it now because of the Netflix trailer for this book. However, even without the trailer I would've still read it, but at a later time. The way it was written was engaging and the whole book was just a huge page turner, like I really didn't want to stop reading, and I actually read every single word instead of trying to skim, it's that good. I have to agree with the majority though, Hannah's reasons weren't as strong as I thought it would be. But however, everyone has their own tipping point and if this was Hannah's then so be it. Hannah's POV's were also a lot more interesting than Clay's, understandably but nevertheless, I enjoyed them both and I liked Clay. He was really just a nice guy, and if I were in his position I would've done the same things he did, he was realistic.

Highlights

Photo of Kaitlyn Kuehn
Kaitlyn Kuehn @kaitlynkuehn03

“You can't go back to how things were. How you thought they were. All you really have is now.”

Page 206

-Hannah

Photo of Kaitlyn Kuehn
Kaitlyn Kuehn @kaitlynkuehn03

“Take away this mask of flesh and bone and see me for my soul alone…”

Page 191

-Hannah

Photo of Kaitlyn Kuehn
Kaitlyn Kuehn @kaitlynkuehn03

“You can hear rumnors," l said, "but you can't know them.”

Page 66

-Hannah

Photo of Kaitlyn Kuehn
Kaitlyn Kuehn @kaitlynkuehn03

“When you hold people up for ridicule, you have to take responsiblity when other people act on it.”

Page 53

-Hannah

Photo of Kaitlyn Kuehn
Kaitlyn Kuehn @kaitlynkuehn03

“I've heard so many stories that I don't know which one is the most popular. But I do know which is the least popular. The truth.”

Page 29

-Hannah

Photo of Violet Markey
Violet Markey@vi0l3tmark3y

Du wolltest, dass deine Welt zusammenbricht. Deshalb hast du es getan. Du wolltest deinen Untergang beschleunigen.

Page 257
This highlight contains a spoiler
Photo of Violet Markey
Violet Markey@vi0l3tmark3y

Vielleicht habe ich mir aber auch gewünscht, dass jemand mit dem Finger auf mich zeigt und fragt: „Spielst du etwa mit dem Gedanken, dich umzubringen, Hannah? Bitte tu das nicht, Hannah! Bitte!“

Doch in Wahrheit war ich die Einzige, die diese Worte ausgesprochen hat. Tief in meinem Inneren habe ich sie an mich selbst gerichtet.

Page 171
This highlight contains a spoiler

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