Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I should start by saying that my first encounter with this story was through the Netflix series. There was a lot of buzz around the series when it first came out, especially amongst the middle school students I teach. After hearing some really mixed reviews, I decided to check the TV series out. I wish I hadn't. While I believe the intention of the series was to engage in a conversation about a really serious issue - mental health, suicide, and its various causes - I found the series to be unnecessarily graphic and gratuitous. There are scenes from that show that I will never be able to unsee and were only there for pure shock value.

After having seen the TV series, I was much less inclined to read the book, which should tell you something, since I am a firm believer that the book is always better. And, truthfully, it was better. It was still a hard book to read. What happens to Hannah is heartbreaking, as it is with anyone who takes their own life. However, the writers of the TV series took a lot of "artistic license" with Jay Asher's novel. The book is not as shocking and gratuitous as the series and because of that, I found it more powerful than the series. There are several things that happen in the TV series that do not happen in the novel or are greatly exaggerated for shock value. The most notable being how Hannah actually commits suicide.

The concept of the book was interesting and I can understand how it would appeal to TV producers. Thirteen tapes, thirteen episodes. Even though the book was broken up this way, I found the narrative easy to follow. I think stories like Thirteen Reasons Why are important, especially when considering the mental health crisis we have in our country today. However, when these stories are mishandled by Hollywood, it glorifies suicide and has the opposite effect. We need to do more as a society to change the hateful rhetoric, promote mental health, stop bullying, reduce stress, and provide affordable treatments without stigma. Books like this can serve as a wonderful launch pad for discussing these difficult issues with our young people, but only if they are handled responsibly. I would recommend the book, but not the TV series.

View all my reviews