I watched the show before I read the book. I can say this is one of those books where you'll prefer the book over the show 1000%. The book ended where it should've and the author didn't try to drag it along unlike how the show did. book >>>> show ( )

I finished reading "Thirteen Reasons Why", today. It was one of those stories that just rips your heart and soul out. It is the story of a young girl who commits suicide then sends a series of tapes out to thirteen people explaining why. As a teacher I can say I have seen or heard of similar situations and turned a blind eye or deaf ear. It made me realize I need to listen more and see people from the inside out. I believe every young teen should read this book because it reaches down to that spot that so many others tend to ignore. I gave this book a rating of 5 because it was that good. ( )

I might not read it in class after all. Sensitive issue, and talking about it from a literary angle might not be a good idea.
The books hammers home how easy it is for things to add up in a negative way and how easy it is to do harm to others, albeit unintentional.
It shows drastically how we are all tangled up in a mesh of independent yet interdependent social contacts that each affect us individually, but also combined. Obviously, adolescents are most heavily affected by that, as they are just figuring out where they stand and who they are.
Ultimately, it's not a question of blame so much as rather of awareness that this book raises. Awareness of the repercussions of our actions who might fall upon someone who is less stable or hard-boiled than we are. And this is done in an interesting "impossible dialogue" style and in a language that even 11th grader EFL learners can easily handle. Much better probably than the issue itself.
This book is going to have a lasting effect. This guidance counselor at the end, that could have been me. Not bad, but not good enough. Dedicated, but not conscientious enough...

Trigger warning- depression, suicide, and date rape.
This book shook me to my core. Hannah Baker commits suicide. But before she does, she records 13 reasons on 7 cassette tapes. She sends the tapes to the first person she blames for her suicide with the instruction to send them on to the next person on the list. When Clay Jensen receives the tapes, he decides to listen to them all. Each tape is filled with ways other students effected Hannah's life and eventually her decision to take her own life. This book was hard to read at times. It is an incredibly powerful book about how one small decision and its effect on the people around us and the ripple effect our decisions have on each other- however I can recognize that this subject matter is incredibly sensitive and controversial. I have not and don't plan to watch the Netflix series. The book was enough for me. ( )

Horribly heartbreaking. Amazing writing. Touches too close to home to write too much about. Warning, if you haven't read it, massive trigger warnings included in this book. Xo ( )