Before I write my feelings on this book, I want to remind those reading it, that it is a work of fiction. And fiction is written for one purpose only: to entertain people (two purposes if you count raking in tons of money, but let's forget that is why some people write books these days for a moment.) 
 The concept of Thirteen Reasons Why didn't seem like something I would be interested in, however so many seemed to like it that I thought I would give it a chance. A girl, Hannah Baker, commits suicide and then sends out these audio tapes to the people who were ultimately the reasons why she killed herself. The story follows Clay Jensen (one of the person on the tapes) as he listens to her story and goes to the locations she indicates around town to, I guess, somehow gain more insight into what happened. 
 I have a couple issues with this book. Firstly, the supposed reasons Hannah has for killing herself....ridiculous. Wow, I was expecting something a bit more...deep or traumatizing. The two most affecting stories she had to tell, (and I truly HATE to say this) she really got into them herself, almost as if she knew what was going to happen. If you read it, I think you would see what I am referring to. Hannah real wasn't even likable either because of what she was doing to the people who really hadn't done anything wrong to her (Clay and Tony). As I was reading it I could definitely see that this is what a grown man felt a teenage girl would apparently kill herself over. I understand the need to warn kids about the pressures of high school and harm of bullying or creating rumors, but this particular instance was not really an enjoyable piece of writing. And like I said before, that is the reason for reading fiction books. 
 Secondly, the simultaneous narration of Clay and Hannah was hard to follow. I would say I read at a fairly moderate pace and since every other sentence was another narrator, I became confused quite easily and had to go back and reread to make sure I knew what was happening with each one of them. I understand the necessity for it and I can't say that it was done poorly, but it wasn't something I personally enjoyed. 
 I don't think this book would really help anyone in anyway if that was an underlying goal. It is just another piece of fluff in a genre that already has too much. 
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