Thirteen Reasons Why is a 2007 young adult novel written by Jay Asher. The book was published by RazorBill, a young adult imprint of Penguin Books. The paperback edition hit #1 on the New York Time best-seller list in July 2011. The book is the basis of the television series 13 Reasons Why, released through Netflix on March 31, 2017.
Justin is the first person on Hannah's list. He is also the tenth. Justin was Hannah's first kiss, a moment that Hannah initially treasured. However, Justin embellished the story of their kiss and caused rumours about Hannah around the school. These rumors were the very first elements of the snowball of lies and betrayals that ruined Hannah's life.
Jessica was one of Hannah's first friends in Crestmont. At first, Jessica seemed like a pretty strong girl, but her insecurity and lack of self-confidence were exposed when she attacked Hannah over Alex's list. When Jessica hit Hannah, she not only signified the end of their friendship, but left Hannah with a physical and emotional scars.
Also new to Crestmont, Alex, along with Jessica Davis, were Hannah's first friends at school. As the school year progressed, their trifecta fell apart and he fell off of Hannah's grid. He appeared again on her radar when he named her "Best Ass in the Freshman Class" on a list. Alex's inclusion of Hannah on his list severed Hannah's relationship with Jessica and made the other boys at school think they had certain rights to Hannah's body. As a result, Hannah felt used and humiliated.
As the student life photographer for school, Tyler has a wide collection of cameras and lenses. Unfortunately for Hannah, her false reputation for promiscuity drove Tyler to spy on her like a Peeping Tom. He stalked and spied on Hannah from outside her bedroom, and took pictures of her for his own pleasure. By invading Hannah's privacy in her house, Tyler took away one of the last few places where Hannah felt safe and at peace. For this reason, he is the fourth person on Hannah's list.
One of the most popular and well-liked people in school, Courtney is actually fake and manipulative. After helping Hannah expose Tyler as a Peeping Tom, she spread rumors that Hannah has sex paraphernalia in her bedroom drawers. She betrayed Hannah again and again, and made Hannah doubt her ability to make "real" friends.
During the school Valentine’s Day survey, Marcus matched with Hannah and asked her out on a date. He initially stood her up, but eventually showed up 30 minutes late. As they sat in a booth at Rosie’s, Marcus tried to touch Hannah without her permission. She shoved him away, and he called her a tease in front of the entire restaurant.
Zach is the seventh person on Hannah's list. He started out in the beginning by trying to calm her down from the Rosie's incident with Marcus. When she rejected him, Zach stole Hannah's encouragement notes from the Peer Communication class. That was the only hope left for Hannah, and it was taken away.
Ryan is number eight on Hannah's list, and the curator of the school's anonymous collection of creative writing. Ryan and Hannah used to read each other's poetry and try to discern their meanings. When Hannah shared a particularly stirring and poignant poem, Ryan betrayed her and published her poem anonymously without her permission. The poem was spread widely around school and everyone, including teachers, dissected it and it's unknown author. Though no one besides Ryan (and whoever he may have told) knew Hannah was the author, she still felt exposed, attacked, and betrayed.
The night of the catastrophic party, Sheri drove drunk and knocked over a stop sign at an intersection. This caused a car accident later in the night that resulted in the death of a senior from their school. This death weighed heavily on Hannah’s consciousness and became another reason why she decided to commit suicide.
n the end, it turns out that Hannah wanted Clay to just listen to the tapes; he was not a reason for her suicide. A bit reserved and shy, Clay is widely acknowledged as "a genuinely good guy." He had a crush on Hannah, but was afraid of pursuing her because her reputation made him believe she was out of his league.
Bryce raped Jessica at the party when she was drunk, while Justin and Hannah stood by and did nothing. This is the reason he cannot receive the tapes because he most likely will not follow Hannah's rules and pass the tapes along. Besides raping Jessica, he also pressured Hannah to have sex with him in a hot tub at Courtney's house, and was the first person to assault Hannah following the release of Alex's list. Because of Bryce, Hannah no longer felt in control of her own body.
Mr. Porter was Hannah's guidance counselor, who she turned to for help in one final effort to save herself. Unfortunately, he ended up telling her to go on and forget about what happened. But this was impossible. How could Hannah get over what happened? He will be the last one to receive the tapes, and according to Hannah, he can take them "straight to hell"
Hannah is the protagonist of the story. She committed suicide for thirteen reasons, or rather, thirteen people. She tells their stories on tapes and sends them to the first people on her list. This person was to pass it on to the next after he or she listened to the whole set of thirteen tapes. Initially outspoken and confident with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, Hannah is torn down by the bullying and gossiping of her peers. By the time of her death, she is self-sabotaging, incredibly insecure, and depressed.
