Music

Music is a central theme in the novel because it is Hannah’s greatest passion. In the first novel, Hannah did little else but act as a supporting character to her sister, Piper, and hang out in her room listening to music in her headphones. The only things of significance that happen to Hannah in that novel involve music: attending the record expo in Seattle with Fox and receiving a Fleetwood Mac album from Fox before leaving Westport for Los Angeles. In this novel, the narrator focuses on Hannah’s interior, and we learn that music is what makes her feel most alive.

Music is presented as something that can connect two people together in an almost magical manner. Hannah and Fox begin texting one another because of the Fleetwood Mac album, and their conversations almost always involve chats about music. They even establish a nightly...