Content Warning: The following analysis contains discussions of suicide, rape, sexual assault, voyeurism, and drunk driving.

Hannah Baker starts her new high school hopeful, but vulnerable, after she was burned by rumors in middle school. Hannah is happy at the chance to redefine herself in Crestmont. Hannah has long hair and a lovely smile. She loves hot chocolate, taking surveys in teen magazines, riding her bike, blue nail polish, and poetry, which she enjoys writing and interpreting. Hannah has innocent dreams of romance but is a typical teenager; not beyond mildly disobeying her parents’ rules and sneaking out now and then. Hannah wishes that Clay would recognize that she crushes on him as much as he does on her (120). This is just about the most that Clay knows about the true Hannah before hearing her tapes, and so it is significant that these details are largely external impressions and behaviors which do not necessarily describe or reflect internal states.

As the novel’s protagonist and co-narrator, Hannah gives readers a personal narrative of how her hopes for a fresh start are slowly crushed by rumors, lies, sexual objectification and assault, and betrayals of trust.