"Thirteen Reasons Why" Discussion

Only sign up for this swap if you have finished reading (or listening) to the book "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher ==OR== if you have finished watching the tv series by the same title on Netflix. If you haven't yet finished the book or show, keep this in your watch list, but please do not sign up until you have FINISHED either.

When you sign up, please leave a message in the comments box indicating if you read the print/ebook, listened to the audio book, or watched the tv series Thanks. :)

This will be an email swap, and International. You MUST send your answers to your partners via email and NOT through swap-bot PM. When you sign up, please be sure the email address you have listed in your profile is the one you want this swap sent to.

My daughter read this book, made some comments, so I listened to the audio version, and it brought up some discussion points. Good Reads has some interesting reviews for this book, so I thought maybe this could be interesting. PLEASE let's not be rude in our replies. We don't want to hurt feelings, just discuss a book.

You will answer the following questions and email them to your partners. Once you receive your swap, you will rate your partner. If they answered the required number of questions, please rate a "5".
You will have 20 partners (if 20 sign up!), but this is an email that you will send BCC to your partners. Your answers do not need to be tailored to each partner.

You will need to provide answers to 5 of the following questions. Please try to write more than a sentence, and if there is a question you really prefer not to answer, please just state that. This is for discussion and shared ideas, not to cause hurt feelings.

Questions (pick 5): 1. Did you read the book in print/ebook, listen to the audio version, or watch the complete tv series of Thirteen Reasons Why? Why did you choose to read/listen to/ watch Thirteen Reasons Why?

1. Who do you feel is ultimately responsible for Hannah's death?

2. Do you feel that each of Hannah's reasons are equal? Which 'reasons' did you find the most unexpected?

3. On topic of the tapes, what do you think of the final tape, when Hannah records her meeting with Mr Porter, rather than commenting on it after the meeting like she has for the other tapes? Did that portion affect you differently?

4. The map. Why do you think she included the map? Do you think it is important? Or did you just ignore the map.

5. The phrase "The Truth will set you free". Do you think it applies to this story? Do you think Hannah's telling the truth helped her? Or, do you think each of the people listening to the tapes needed to hear Hannah's truth?

6. The adults in the book - Do you think Clay's parents did the 'right thing' by allowing him space - freedom? - to listen to the tapes and be out and about? What about Hannah's parents, do you think they noticed any of the changes in Hannah? Why do you think Hannah chose to meet with Mr Porter at the end. Do you feel that Mr Porter made the correct choice by allowing Hannah to leave when he did?

7. Do you think any one - or any one thing - could have made a difference for Hannah? Do you think that Hannah was really as alone as she felt? Could anything have saved Hannah?

8. What do you remember most from this story? What will stick with your most?

9. Have you discussed this book with anyone? Did it prompt a discussion at all?

10. If you read/ listened to the book, do you think you'll watch the tv series? Or vice versa, if you have only watched the show, will you seek out the book or audio? (I suggest trying the audio version - the narrators did a good job of sharing the narrating and it added to the story for me.)

11. For the book readers/audio listeners: How did you rate this book? Good Reads uses a 5 star system, 1 star is "hated it" and 5 stars is "loved it". I haven't rated the book yet - I'm torn. There are 2 portions to the rating for me, the writing and the actual story. How would you rate this book? Is it possible to like the writing style but not like the story told? Or the other way around. Not only on this book, for any book.

12. Any final thoughts?

In my generation, I remember "Go Ask Alice" was still a very popular book for teen worries and issues. Do you think "Thirteen Reasons Why" will become the new book about teen issues, worries?

Recap - International swap that will be sent by EMAIL ONLY, not swap-bot messaging. (Send your emails 'BCC' so as not to share email addresses with everyone.) You will have 20 partners to email your answers to, and you are only required to respond to 5 of the 13 questions above. Please be kind, diplomatic in your responses. (Think of the class Hannah refers to in the book - this is a discussion, not a fight.) If this is a sensitive topic for you, maybe you won't want to sign up. Newbies are welcomed to join, even unrated. Profiles MUST be well filled out - several sections on your profile, and if you have questions about what to add, please ask me!