When Clay Jenson plays the cassette tapes he received in a mysterious package, he's surprised to hear the voice of dead classmate Hannah Baker. He's one of 13 people who receive Hannah's story, which details the circumstances that led to her suicide. Clay spends the rest of the day and long into the night listening to Hannah's voice and going to the locations she wants him to visit.
The text alternates, sometimes quickly, between Hannah's voice (italicized) and Clay's thoughts as he listens to her words, which illuminate betrayals and secrets that demonstrate the consequences of even small actions. Rumors, an unwarranted "bad girl" reputation, teasing and jeers, all lead to Hannah's decision to end her life. Hannah, herself, is not free from guilt but she reached out for help in small ways and in large ways. But in the end, she was ignored and not taken seriously--at one point she was accused of faking it.
This is a devastating book. I kept on hoping that Hannah wasn't really dead. It seemed like little stuff but it was big to her. One small action snowballed and enveloped her whole life making her feel worthless and useless. Hannah was smart and pretty. She should have been the most popular girl in school. But that isn't how it worked out. It's really sad and makes the reader think about what his or her careless actions could have caused.
The message about how we treat one another, although sometimes heavy, makes for compelling reading.
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