Thirteen Reasons Why in Crazy Challenge Connection

Oct 14, 2012 Carrie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, teen, recommended, bbtbrpals, realistic-fiction, tower-team, death

After finishing up this book last night, I couldn't get to sleep. I just laid in bed and thought about it. What we do everyday, what we say heck what we DON'T do or DON'T say everyday plays some roll in someone's life. You could be one of the names on someones list, you could be the one who could have said just the right thing to stop it. Or you could have been that person to set the snowball rolling. And if you are on someones list, here's hoping your role is Clay.

We are not in this world alone ...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Liz rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, 2011-book-list

When I first heard of this book, the idea of reading about suicide didn't appeal to me. Who wants to read something as depressing as that?! But I have read so many things about it lately that I wanted to know what all the hype was about.

There are two main characters in this book, Hannah Baker & Clay (I can't remember if he has a last name). Hannah committed suicide & left a set of tapes behind detailing the thirteen reasons why she took her life. Clay is the one listening to the tapes & by so d When I first heard of this book, the idea of reading about suicide didn't appeal to me. Who wants to read something as depressing as that?! But I have read so many things about it lately that I wanted to know what all the hype was about.

There are two main characters in this book, Hannah Baker & Clay (I can't remember if he has a last name). Hannah committed suicide & left a set of tapes behind detailing the thirteen reasons why she took her life. Clay is the one listening to the tapes & by so doing, allows the reader to listen in as well. The book is laid out with each chapter being assigned the side of an audio tape (13 sides total, or as Clay points out, a Hannah-Baker's dozen). I liked this because it added structure to the book that might otherwise have jumped around between stories without much transition. When I started reading the book, I struggled with the back-and-forth narration of Hannah on the tapes & Clay's inner monologue. I found it distracting & lost track of what was going on in the story. This also made it hard for me to connect to the seriousness of the situation. But as the story continued, & I adjusted to the style, I was able to relate to the characters more & more & understand the deep emotions they were feeling.

The problems Hannah deals with start out seemingly trivial - who hasn't dealt with rumors being spread about them, or been treated unkindly? But as Hannah's story continues with each progressing reaon, we are able to see the snowball effect of others' actions towards her & how it leads to her growing instability & ultimate downfall.

With so many teen suicides being reported in the news lately, I really appreciated the insight this book offered into the reasons someone may go down that path. This book reminded me in some ways of Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall in the sense of relating how individual behavior can affect others in ways we don't realize, either for good or bad.

I was glad the author, by allowing us to see things from Clay's perspective, did not condone Hannah's actions, even if he did sympathize with her. This story was heartbreaking, & I kept hoping there would be a miracle at the end, kind of a "Just Kidding!" moment where everything turned out okay, but of course, that wasn't possible. This story . . . Hannah's story, is a cautionary tale in ways, helping the reader know that the things they do or say carry consequences. It reminds us that we can take the time to think of others & treat them well, even if it's going out of our comfort zone to do so. It's a reminder that we don't really understand someone as well as we might think, especially if what we know about them is from rumors. It's a tragic story that didn't have to end the way that it did, not just because how others treated Hannah, but also because she did not open up fully until she left the tapes - she could have been helped if she would have let someone in.

I enjoyed this book, even if it was a difficult subject matter to read about & would recommend it.

4/5

"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." ~ Jay Asher, Thirteen Reason Why ...more

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Sep 07, 2010 Marla rated it it was ok

Shelves: with-reservations, made-me-cry, young-adult, zz-2010, overrated, new-adult

I was curious, but I ended up irritated. It was a sad but interesting premise, and it inspired a great talk with my teen about suicide, but it was mediocre in writing and disappointing in its reasoning. (view spoiler) ...more

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Mar 17, 2009 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Once I opened the book and began reading, I couldn't put it down. It was a page turner and a reminder of how our lives are connected and each of us affect others. This book really stuck with me. ...more

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Mar 18, 2009 Charlotte (Buried in Books) rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Where do I start with this one??

Hannah Baker killed herself, but before she did she recorded some audio tapes, telling 13 stories, about 13 people who contributed to getting her to that point in her life. She then mailed those tapes to the person in the first story, with the instructions to hand them onto the person in the next story (and so on and so on). Accompanying the tapes each person received a map, so they could follow Hannah's story.

The book is told in two very distincive voices - Hanna Where do I start with this one??

Hannah Baker killed herself, but before she did she recorded some audio tapes, telling 13 stories, about 13 people who contributed to getting her to that point in her life. She then mailed those tapes to the person in the first story, with the instructions to hand them onto the person in the next story (and so on and so on). Accompanying the tapes each person received a map, so they could follow Hannah's story.

The book is told in two very distincive voices - Hannah's and Clay who is the current recipient of the tapes. Clay liked Hannah, but was frightened off to a certain extent by her "reputation". When they did finally spend some time together Clay was puzzled by Hannah's reaction (to push him away, telling him to leave), the tapes explain why that happened.

It explores the impact that we have on other peoples lives and how we in turn impact on others. Hannah's tapes begin rather bitterly explaining the truth behind the rumours (an innocent kiss being blown out of proportion etc), but by the time we reach Clay's story the tone changes. Hannah and Clay really seem to have felt something for each other.

Overall we see how everything is connected (a car accident etc). How Hannah contributed to a rape, a death. How she could have prevented those things but still blaming others for her decision to let go of her life. But she didn't blame Clay - he blamed himself though, for letting go of her too easily.

I have to admit I wasn't particularly fond of Hannah. But Clay was another matter, he was genuinely torn apart by Hannah's death and the thought that he could have been to blame for that hurt him deeply and that guilt will always stay with him, no matter what he does in the future (reaching out to Skye).

It was an interesting idea, especially with the last story (taping her final attempt to get some help from her guidance councillor). But for me it was lacking something. The dual viewpoints were confusing sometimes. There were several references to something that had happened at Hannah's previous school which is never explained. It needed something more. ...more

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Mar 17, 2010 Kate rated it did not like it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really, really wanted to like this book. I liked the premise, I love the genre, and it came highly recommended to me. As a small disclaimer before finishing my review, I should say that I read this book about six months ago so some of the details are hazy.
First off, I found Hannah to be an annoying, whinny baby who couldn't learn to deal. This whole novel perpetuated the idea that we are never actually to blame for our actions but someone else is to blame. The reality is that no one is to blam I really, really wanted to like this book. I liked the premise, I love the genre, and it came highly recommended to me. As a small disclaimer before finishing my review, I should say that I read this book about six months ago so some of the details are hazy.
First off, I found Hannah to be an annoying, whinny baby who couldn't learn to deal. This whole novel perpetuated the idea that we are never actually to blame for our actions but someone else is to blame. The reality is that no one is to blame for Hannah killing herself except Hannah. No one made the decision for her except for her.
Now some people might say that I can't possibly understand the situation she was in, but really, I think I can. When I was eleven, my family moved to a country where I didn't even speak the same language as anyone. I was instantly the most unpopular person in my middle school/high school due to my nationality. In eighth grade, I got my first boyfriend and he made out with my best friend before finally breaking up with me. However, when it got spread around school, I was somehow the one to blame, not him. I was treated like a leper from then on. Six months after that, I was raped by someone I trusted as much as a brother.
I was never put on a "hot or not" list, however I did spend a year with a teacher looking down my shirt. In eleventh grade my family moved to a new school where my one friend spread around the rumor that my youngest sister (14 years younger than me) was actually my baby and that my parents claimed her to save my reputation. I once again became an outcast with a bad reputation.
I don't say all this to get "poor you" comments or whatever. I say it because I have been where Hannah is at, and honestly, that is just High School. You suck it up and you move on. You hope that college is better. Depression runs in my family, and honestly, I have had my fair share of it. But if I were to kill myself, I would certainly not make tapes blaming other people for my problems and then send them around to ruin the lives of multiple other people. Go silently into that dark night, do drag others with you there.
Now you don't have to agree with me. You can think that this is the most wonderful book ever written, but to me, it will always be about a girl with no redeemable qualities who couldn't take responsibility for anything and blamed the world for what she choose to do. ...more

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May 27, 2010 Chris rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, youth, fiction

I picked this book for our book club discussion this month because when it's my turn I like to try Young Adult titles. I found the premise fascinating. A teenage girl, Hannah, commits suicide, but not before she records a series of audio cassettes and sends them to a list of 13 people whom she says played a role in her decision to kill herself. When Clay Jensen gets the box with the tapes he can't figure out what he could have done to Hannah. He had been really interested in her and they'd even ...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Marisa rated it it was amazing

Very intense!
Clay comes home one day to fins a package for him that arrived in the mail. And everyone likes getting pages, right? In this case wrong. The package contains a series of tapes recorder by Hannah Baker before she committed suicide a couple weeks before. Each side of a tape is for a person who is one of the 13 people who helped her come to the decision to kill herself. Clay isn't sure what he did or why he is one of the 13 so he listens to the tapes to find out. ...more

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Jun 24, 2020 Beth rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult

It wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. Hannah is still an unattractive girl, someone too weak to make her own mark and so a victim of rumor, the only knowledge people have of her. But she was young, and still had a chance to grow into herself, but she felt the injuries inflicted on her too much. And there were some real problems -- the peeping tom was very creepy! And a lot of tiny problems -- boys hiding her compliments, friendly people who didn't want to be friends, a girl picking a boy ove ...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Annika rated it really liked it

I liked this quite a bit, but it started to feel a little over the top at the end. I listened to it during my commute and it was great because Clay was a male narrator and Hannah was a female so it really had the feel of actually listening to the tapes. Loved that aspect of it.

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Jun 24, 2017 TheReadingKnitter/ Kasey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, library, 2017

So I decided to read this book because the Netflix series came out and I wanted to read it before watching. But what an awful plot line. As awful as it was, it was very much true on how most of society is. Somewhere along the lines of growing up people get mean and ugly for some reason. If only we could have minds like children. Sad but true!

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Jan 15, 2013 Natascha rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2013

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 01, 2011 Sarah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: realistic, young-adult, needing-attention, read-2012, reviewed, english

Yowza. Really hard book. A great story, wonderfully written and seriously taxing. I could hear Hannah speak to Clay, and all the others, I could hear her as if I had known her, and it made me feel sick, with Clay, at what she said at times.

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Dec 14, 2011 Stephanie Tuell rated it really liked it

a very moving story about a girl telling her reasons for comitting suidcide over a series of recorded tapes. a real eye opener into rumors and how hurtful they can be.

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