Creepily realistic and sadly true to its point Thirteen Reasons Why mirrors society and tells of tragedy that suicide, teenage bullying, and how little acts add up to unforgivable circumstances. The novel centers around our hero Clay Jensen and his listening of tapes from Hannah Baker, a classmate that suicided recently. From the tapes, Hannah records thirteen reasons about thirteen people why she suicided. The tapes must be passed around to the culprits, the reasons for her suicides, and now its Clay's turn to hear his faults. As Clay learns more and more about Hannah's life, new truths come to light about the lingering darkness behind Hannah's abrupt death and the people around him. 
 Thirteen Reasons Why is undeniably a strong, noble addition to the emerging YA genre of realism and teenage-dom. Truths about Hannah's suicide are exposed that don't portray teenagers in a good light. Teenagers are jerks, they bully each other, they harm one another, and most of all they have to deal with their own inner demons. Sometimes, it doesn't have to be a single event, and Hannah shows us that. Sometimes added bullying, sparked by little things are enough to push people off the edge. Sometimes, it seems the little things are more important that everything else. 
 But as a teenager reading the novel, I could connect with everyone's emotions in this novel at varying lengths. I could feel Clay's helplessness in listening to Hannah's posthumous reasons - and even Hannah herself as she detailed the little incidents that led to her end. The jerks, liars, backstabbers that Hannah had to deal with resonate greatly with any audience, especially the target audience of teenagers and young adults. 
 Sometimes I wonder if the story would be stronger if the narrator wasn't Clay, or instead someone that was more devious - like Hannah's boyfriend Justin Foley. In some ways I want there to be more tension between the lead and the deceased Hannah, but I can see why Clay is the narrator. Suicide is not only about the before and why, but also about the things that happen afterwards and the people it affects. 
 Truly, Thirteen Reasons Why will resonate strongly with young adults struggling in a cutthroat society of liars and jerks. But it's also a saddening realization of the world's little reasons why life sucks, why teenagers are evil and what it takes to push a person off the edge.