This book"¦ oh where to start! Thirteen Reasons Why had my attention from the get-go and I found it hard to put down, mostly because Clay seemed so sweet that I just NEEDED to know what the heck he could have possibly done to be on the tapes. (No spoilers below, so feel free to read on, though I am not sure my opinion will be a popular one!)

It was heart wrenching at times to hear how each of the people played a part in Hannah taking her life. High school is hard for a lot of people, it was for me too, and I know that situations during that time can feel like they are life or death type of things"¦ it's oh so dramatic.

That being said, I did not relate to Hannah or feel bad for her in most parts of the book. I think we have all gone through tough times and while she didn't always get the luckiest break, she did absolutely nothing to stand up for herself "“ and we were supposed to sympathize and feel bad for her? I don't think so. I think she brought a bunch of the "reasons" on to herself and I couldn't relate or see why she didn't speak up when she had the opportunity a few times even. That didn't stop me from flying through the pages though, but once I finished Clay's tape, I definitely lost interest, but kept going to find out how things ended up.

Also, I tried to watch the show afterwards and it was TERRIBLE. People have been raving about it and I had to force myself to sit through episodes and I have yet to finish the series. It's way too drawn out and melodramatic"¦ I just can't.

I am giving it 3.5 cupcakes, since it held my attention, even though Hannah annoyed me. I mostly tried to focus on Clay and the stories that were told.

The story, although told from the perspective of Clay, is a story of Hannah "“ a teenage girl who committed suicide. In 13 tapes she unrevealed 13 reasons why she decided to kill herself. Each tape is meant for a different person who contributed to Hannah's death, and Clay is one of them.

In order to like this book, one needs to get over the selfishness a of Hannah and the way she over-reacts, and find some empathy for the character. It took some effort on my end, because while reading it I caught myself thinking multiple times that a lot of people go through the things Hannah was exposed to (or much worse) and do not end up killing themselves. I had to constantly remind myself that not everyone is resilient and strong enough to cope with the daily challenges, and that suicide in fact is a quite selfish act. I had to remind myself that rarely people kill themselves "for a reason", and do it most likely because of the chemical imbalance in their brain.

I was irritated when I found out why Clay ended up to be mentioned on Hannah's tape, and felt bad for him to go through the stress.

The book addresses sexism and bullying, and shows how rumour and hearsay can affect someone's life.

Overall I liked this book, however I am not fully sure if I would recommend it for everyone. I would probably suggest it for teenagers, just to demonstrate how badly things can turn as a result of bullying.

I did not LOVE the story, but it made me reflect. I am left with mixed fillings about this book that I am yet to digest.

"You can't stop the future.
You can't rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play"

After reading "13 Reasons Why" I tried watching the TV show and gave up on episode 3. The book is better (as it usually turns out to be).

Is this a four star book? If you consider the genre- yes it is. It is hard to find a young adult novel that takes on a serious topic and makes it entertaining without pandering to overprotective parents who want to shelter high school kids from the harsh realities they are exposed to anyways. I do think the book had a couple of flaws mainly the reactions of the male protagonist and the whole reason as to why he was even on the list was pretty weak. I won't say the reasons she killed herself ended up being the ones I had shaped in my head at the beginning of the story. In fact a few of the people on her list may have had the more typical explanations of why suicide might be considered. I even thought maybe by doing these tapes Hannah might drive a few to suicide and not necessarily the ones you wish would get kicked in the teeth for the harm they caused her. Also the fact that she never went to her parents for help but instead expected peers and teachers to read her mind is something I think a lot of teenagers do experience. That assumption that people should just know what's wrong and how to help played into her demise. Clay's reactions didn't ring true only because initially their relationship seemed like just a crush but then while listening to these tapes it turned into love? I think pity, and anger (which there was a little depicted) might have seemed more sincere given their relationship. Because of the layout of the book there was a lot of telling, the map was obviously a literary tool to do more showing- it didn't work for me. The book was entertaining and I did want to find out what happened. I'm curious to see the tv series adaptation of the book.

This book was a "must read" recommendation from a friend. There should be more awareness regarding suicide among young teens and adults, but I was somewhat disappointed in this approach. Told through the thoughts of a teen boy as he listens to tapes of a young girl's 13 reasons for taking her life, I had a bit of difficulty switching back and forth between Clay's thoughts and Hannah's dictation on the tapes. Clay's sensitivity and responses to the tapes are heartrending.

The writing was well done, with excellent insight into the subject matter. From what I understand some of the schools are utilizing the book to educate students regarding suicide. It relays the serious ramifications of what peer pressure imposes on others. The premise for this book is appropriate for teens, and it may assist in bringing to light the seriousness of the actions and reactions that lie beneath the surface of a youngster's psyche. Portions of the book brought me to tears.

It's definitely worth the read. Parents could benefit from reading this book for it's raw honesty regarding what we may consider the "little" things in life. Those "little" things are "big" things for our children. If reading this book could save even one life it's worth taking the time to read it.

The dual narration of Hannah and clay was confusing at times. It wasn't clear when the author would switch characters and I found myself having to reread entire paragraphs because I thought the other person was narrating and it was confusing. Also, the vocabulary the author used to portray the characters as teens in high school was overly simplistic and juvenile. The book was way less graphic in its descriptions of the very serious and traumatic events that took place and contributed to the suicide of the main character. Downplaying the severity of the things that led to Hannah's death trivialized the things that were reasons to end her own life. Thankfully the 13 Reasons Why television series on Netflix addressed the serious subject matter of topics such as suicide, bullying, rape, drug and alcohol addiction, and peer pressure in a way that was much more true to the reality of these traumatic events.