Thirteen Reasons Why is a book about a teenage girl who committed suicide. It takes place after her death when a friend of hers finds an audio tape collection. Listening to the tapes, he finds out that she left them for specific people to hear after she died, in order to help them realize that their actions made her miserable, and to seek revenge on them by making them feel bad.
Reminiscing on her past, she explains why she made certain decisions, and what was going through her head at the time. There are two narrators to the story, one is Hannah Baker telling her story, while the other is Clay Jensen. Each thing Hannah discusses in the book is apart of the bigger picture, it is a snowballing attempt.
The tapes were intended to be passed between the thirteen people who greatly impacted her choice for suicide. The first tape is about her love for her first real boyfriend, and how he betrayed her. The small role he played in her life, changed the dynamics of her social life for the rest of high school. As a new student in high school, Hannah relied on a few girls when she started school, one of which was Jessica. Her first boyfriend, Alex, turned Jessica and Hannah against each other.
Basically, other people's actions caused Hannah to become miserable. While the actions may have seemed harmless at the time, in the greater spectrum, they all impacted Hannah's life tremendously. When Alex makes the school think that Hannah is promiscuous, when she is not, Hannah becomes heartbroken. After Jessica leaves a scar above Hannah's forehead the school became infatuated with hearing the tales of Hannah Baker. A creepy boy named Tyler, fueled the fire by sneaking yp on her and sending nude photos of her to the entire school. This only made her reputation worse, and the rumors started by a seemingly innocent girl didn't help Hannah's situation. The book goes on to reveal the true Hannah Baker, and the hardships she personally dealt with in high school.
While spilling out her thoughts and feelings into this tape, the boy who uncovered them gets to know the real Hannah Baker, even though she was dead. He begins to fall in love with her, although it is too late. It is quite tragic. This book is a heartbreaking, and eye opening. Although the book is fiction, it makes the reader think realize that what you say and do, effects more than just you, and in ways you may have never intended, or even thought of. I give this book a four out of five tapes, because it was very intriguing and well written.
