THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERTHE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL, NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES “Eerie, beautiful, and devastating.” —Chicago Tribune “A stealthy hit with staying power. . . . thriller-like pacing.” —The New York Times “Thirteen Reasons Why will leave you with chills long after you have finished reading.” —Amber Gibson, NPR’s “All Things Considered” You can’t stop … chills long after you have finished reading.” —Amber Gibson, NPR’s “All Things Considered”
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 to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.
Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. 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.
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Enjoyed the story and the way it is written. It is a work of fiction that really brings like to the struggles many people face on a daily basis. Love the bonus videos that go with the story as well.
I’ve had Thirteen Reasons Why sitting on my kindle for more than a year. I purchased it when it was on sale because it’s been on the NYT bestseller list for eons. That said, I wasn’t sure If I’d get around to reading it. If you haven’t yet heard the premise, it’s about a girl who has committed suicide reaching out posthumously, via cassette tapes, to all the people who led her down the path to taking her life. The reviews for the book have been amazing but it sounded super saccharine to me. I only picked it up after I saw the trailer for the new Netflix miniseries based on the book. It was then I realized the novel is actually a mystery, which made the premise far less saccharine and far more appealing. I started reading less than 20 minutes after seeing the miniseries trailer and finished a day later. I’m kicking myself for not having read it earlier, it was that good. Jay Asher, the author, did an amazing job of creating a heartfelt, meaningful book that bulls-eyed all the right emotional notes, never taking the book into the realm of unrealistic, fake melodrama. This book teaches so many important lessons while also being utterly riveting. It’s truly masterful in its execution.
Verdict: A must read for teens and adults alike. High schools need this book on their required reading lists.
BookBub Question of the Week: What’s a book you’ve been meaning to re-read? Thirteen Reasons Why because I just saw the trailer for the film adaptation and it’s been almost 4 years since I’ve read it. The main character: Hannah is portrayed as a youth who exhibited the classic risk factors of self-harm/suicide but who is pretty much invisible to most people in her everyday life so nobody notices. When someone is considering suicide, they literally need someone to save their life and when that person goes unnoticed, it is a tragedy. This is an important lesson to us all. We can never assume that someone else will ask important questions, that someone else will pick up on alarming symptoms, that someone else will take an interest, we must each take action ourselves and be responsible for our instincts and gut feelings. I know Thirteen Reasons Why is just a book but there are plenty of youth out there right now who are living similar experiences and feeling hopeless. I think Jay Asher portrayed realistic situations that our youth unfortunately face and he opens the reader’s eyes to this and the burden on us all to not look the other way. This is an important story.
If you haven’t read this book, you need to. I read it when it first came out and it took me less than a day to pour through it. In the end, I felt as if I was there with Clay and the other characters. Thought provoking, and mysterious.
Trigger Warning for themes of rape and suicide.
Although I couldn’t get the book out of my hands, it’s not for the right reasons. This is one of the worst books I have read, if not the worst. Clay’s thoughts and Hanna’s speech mixed was just one big headache. The book written confusingly and incomprehensibly and in my opinion, (I beg your forgiveness) the reasons for her suicide were idiotic. In any way, which is perhaps the bright spot and two stars, the reason I couldn’t get the book out of my hands is that I was bursting with curiosity to know what Clay had done to Hannah.
I have two favorite books that I read in middle school and high school for English class. They were The Westing Game in seventh grade and Thirteen Reasons Why in twelfth grade. They are both good mysteries although I would recommend that you read 13 Reasons Why untill you are in eleventh or twelfth grade because of its theme of teen suicide. The Westing Game is a good read no matter your age from seventh grade to your adult life. I know I will have my kids read both books based on their age and/or maturity level.
One day, Clay Jensen receives a box of auto tapes with no return address on them, he puts the first tape in a tape player, only to discover that the voice is of Hannah Baker, a girl who killed herself.
Along the way, Clay learns about all the reasons that caused Hannah to take her life, 13 specific people who affected Hannah’s life. How one persons actions can affect someone’s life.
I feel like this book should be read by everyone could understand the pain that people go through, and how their actions, no matter how big or small can have an impact.
I thought this was a book everyone should read.
I love this book I feel like I can relate to thirteen reasons why it’s such a page Turner.
This book was AMAZING. I read it in one sitting. It was dark and since I read it without breaks, it kinda got to me, but not a whole lot. If ever know I am going to die, I would 100% do something like what Hannah did.
This book was one of the best books I have ever read. I strongly recommend this book.
PLEASE FOLLOW:)
I thought this was a great book, it portrayed emotions very well. And I think it’s sad,that we live in a reality where things like this actually happen.
A haunting yet brilliant novel from Jay Asher that will leave you crippled in wonder.
I liked the book , but I have only one question to all of those people who dare to not say that S word : If you are so dark inside-twisted , why don’t you give yourself a purpose, and I am talking about a real one.
Sometime it works, or better yet,leave the place that it bothers you.
Very sad but might help someone with thoughts of suicide.
This book was just as chilling the second time around as when I first read it. Even though I already knew the story I still sat on the edge of my seat as Hannah tells her story over the tapes and Clay becomes sick with all the things that she went through while blaming himself for not doing more. This goes to show that Thirteen Reasons Why is still a powerful book and sheds a truly scary and very real picture of the life of someone who decides to commit suicide. I really felt for Hannah and still breaks my heart every time I think about her story.
Even though this was a book targeted to the age of teen readers, I enjoyed the story line and the writing. The theme of bullying, spreading rumors and false friendships seem to be a large part of growing up these days. But they can be just as present in adults who love to engage in drama. Hearing the effects of juvenile drama, in the voice of the girl who succeeded in committing suicide, leaves its mark on the hero and changes him in a positive way.
Realistic teen situations mixed with school misunderstandings and parental confusion and indecisive reactions. Bullying and harassment to smaller and weaker kids. Class leaders we’re worst crimnals.
No simple solutions. “Innocent” charged and guilty excused. Court a misstrial from the start. No privacy and vicious rumors abound.
Too real for most adults. Too bad it is not recognized for the good it could do and ignored for a few common “bad words” that bother parents but not the kids. They hear worse every day.
its amazing
This book is about a high school girl who commits suicide. The whole town is reeling with why it happened. One day, our main character receives a package at his door – inside are cassette tapes. He doesn’t know who they are from or what they are doing at his house, but he finds an old tape player and begins to listen. He quickly realizes they are from the dead girl. She wants to take an opportunity to explain what lead her to her decision to kill herself and the 13 people who were involved with that decision. Each person on the tapes is to receive them at some point, and then pass them on to the next person.
Our main character, Clay, is a good guy. He takes the time to listen to the tapes and follow her path to what lead her to commit suicide. And in the end, he passes the tapes on to the next person who is to receive them hopefully to help everyone heal.
This was an easy read. It was definitely a young adult novel, and a good read for those in high school. It talks about the signs of suicide and how one thing that happens to lead to many more, and for young people, it should not be taken lightly. She made connections to everyone on her list and why she made her decision. It was a little sappy, but again, it was YA. If you are looking for something that talks about a very serious topic but does it in an easy read, then this book is for you.