Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - 13 причини защо

I think this book pissed me off so much that I left a scathing GR review and then deleted it years later because just the sight of the review pissed me off. I read this because I was desperately looking for validating mental illness representation. And instead, what I got was garbage tbh. And here’s why:

1) this glamorized mental illness. it’s manic pixie dream girl but also it frames suicide as a way to get everything you want in life. k*ll urself and everyone who’s wronged you will realize the error in their ways. they’ll suffer and cry and mourn you and wish you were still here, just like you always wanted. as an adult book, still egregious, but as a YA book? such a disturbing message to send to teens, who will absolutely fall for it, especially the desperate ones—the ones in pain.

2) centering a boy in the story of a girl’s struggle with mental illness? disgusting, honestly, but the author is a dude so I don’t know what I was expecting :)

I read this before the Netflix show and when I heard it was getting an adaptation I screamed!!!! that’s a whole other pickle in terms of the irreversible harms it’s done to the youth of the 2010s but :) :) :) ha ha anyway

Content Warnings

perth_is's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

hellbarbie666's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

stindex's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.25

Content Warnings

concernedcitizen's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

berratrixie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

accessible and easy-to-read yet still absolutely crushing and difficult to stomach.

Content Warnings

crusoe's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Positives. I am not in the target audience for this book and haven't been for years but I can imagine that it's very impactful for someone in highschool. Especially in 2007 when this book was released as mental health wasn't discussed as much back then. I think this book strikes a nice balance between sending the message that small negative actions can snowball into much worse things for the people around you while also not blaming the people on the tapes for the decision Hannah took.

I love the stylistic choice of having the story be told through tapes. Clay reacting to them in real time -especially during his own tape- makes the story conversational. It highlights different perspectives on the same events that happen in Hannah's life.

Negatives. One thing that I miss that the Netflix series does better, (even though it sensationalizes suicide far more than this book,) is that this book does not show the fallout of the tapes among those on it. (Think of Jessica and the night at the party or the harassment Tyler endures because of the tapes). Ignoring 'the snowball effect' of the tapes on the people on them while making this snowball effect central to Hannah's argument feels misguided. Then again, Hannah is not a perfect character and was never meant to be interpreted as such.

Quote. I guess that's the point of it all. No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push all the same.

Content Warnings

sydneylmeyer7's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

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