English 485: Expedition Adolescence

13 Reasons Why and Jay Asher hold a special place in my heart. For a short story, I remember when I was about in the 7 th or 8 th grade and I would always go to Wal-Mart with my grandma on Fridays. She would buy me one book every time we would go out (she’s the best) and I pointed out 13 Reasons Why one day. She refuses to buy and told me I had to ask my dad if I could buy it and it was just such a headache. A few weeks later I was out with my mom and saw the book. I grabbed it and told her it was for a school project just so I could read it. I have never wanted to read a book so bad, but I had to have it. Once I got home with it, I went straight to my room and hid it under my bed. I would wait until my bedtime, shut the door, turn the lights out and read a chapter of 13 Reasons Why . I instantly fell in love with this book. It made me feel so many emotions on a level I had never felt before. Empathy, fear and just sick to my stomach. It was a book that really changed my perception...

      13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is very controversial on the subject of suicide. There are many aspects about this book that I liked and disliked, but whichever the feeling, I became very passionate on the subject of suicide. I also chose to write my research paper on the matter in order to educate myself more on the subject.      Hannah Baker is one interesting character. Not only did she decide to take her own life, but she decided to take a dozen people down with her. I was able to watch a few of the series, and like her character a bit more, but throughout most of the story she just bugged me. Yes, she did have reasons for each person on the list, but lets be honest, most of them had no idea they were doing anything wrong. There's a lot she could have spoken up about and not felt the need to kill herself. This being said, I know that if she didn't actually kill herself there would be not story, but I'm approaching this more in the light of whether ...

             13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher might be one of the most suspenseful novels that we have read for the semester. This novel may have not been one of my favorites just because of how the topic was presented or displayed throughout the novel. Though, I appreciate the awareness of bringing light to this issue, I just feel it could’ve been designed with a better plot that didn’t justify suicidal reasons because the honest truth is there is such a variety it is just impossible to narrow it into 13, and everyone’s situation may be different not concerning with others at all.             I feel like I was so unmotivated to read this novel because the series ruined it for me which may I add I wasn’t too fond of as well. I think my major issue is how it drags out the plot of this tragic event and how we are entertained by things that led to someone killing their self, but ...

            Before reading the book 13 Reasons Why , I watched the Netflix series and I somewhat liked it, but the book, not so much and now, I’m not too sure if I still like the Netflix series even after re-watching it. Don’t get me wrong, the series is decent, but I think my issue is with the storyline. I think this is because I get the feeling as though there is a lot missing in the development of the story and there is a lot more details I think that could have been added to the storyline and plot. Another issue I have with the book and the show especially, is the “build-up” to the suicide. It’s almost as if Hannah killing herself is the grand finale and this just doesn’t sit well with me. The show seems to be structured to create suspense and anticipation of the suicide at the end. Yes, the suicide is the highlight of the show, it is the main reason why the show was created but the way it was portrayed just doesn’t sit ...

The major difference between the show and book 13 Reasons Why is the timeline. Clay is determined to finish the tapes in one day because curiosity and wanting to know what he did makes him eager. The show extends that to overemphasize the dramatic realization from Clay that he had a part in Hannah’s death. He is much more internal in the show whereas in the novel we get his thoughts, reaction, and responses to Hannah’s revelation. Through the show the actor for Clay had to really embody the emotions that we are told from Clay himself in the novel, to just solely looking at the actor’s facial expressions, body posture, and tears. I felt like the novel was more subtle (if that’s possible) with the tapes being revealed and listened to whereas the show seemed more suspenseful and packed with action from Clay. Clay in the novel seems to go through the emotions as he gets there but the show makes it look like Clay secretly knew he played apart. Overall both materials illustrated th...

I will confess that I rolled my eyes when I saw that we had to read 13 Reason Why . I might have been because of my age, and I thought that it was a "book" that young people (I am 28.. so high school age kids) just took it as a trend and starting to view it because it was "cool". BUT now that I have had to the chance to read and view the series my personal view for the storyline has changed. As mentioned in class, I think this is the same view that "adults" might have if they gave the book and series a chance. Since I had never watched the series nor read the book, I decided to read the book first and then see how it was portrayed unto screen. By doing this I found that my view towards the characters changed. At first I disliked the main character, Hannah, and thought that she was being selfish by trying to ruin other peoples lives (since something like this can have a domino effect). I will add a disclaimer that I am not victim blaming, I think that anyon...

    13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is NOT a book I enjoyed. At all. I think the novel is shallow, Hannah Baker sounds like a girl who only cares about herself and is so stuck in her own head that it's like all of the negative things that happen to her define her life. The characters are ill-developed, they are not explained, there is no second side of the story that I think is extremely important to the plot. Before I get too into it, the book has a lot of flaws. But, from what I've seen of the Netflix series, it's pretty good. I still don't like the story, but the show is much more detailed and portrayed a lot more appropriately than the book, in my opinion. I will go into detail about the comparison between the book and the show as well as what I like and dislike about each.    In the book, 13 Reasons Why , I want to talk about the issues with the character Hannah Baker. Before I start off, I want to say that I'm not trying to make any rash or harsh opinions about s...