read this in grade school with no recollection of what i felt about it + watched the show when it came out (which caused such a stir that my high school had to send letters home to parents about its content!)

concluding thoughts after rereading the book and rewarding the show: the book was honestly unexciting compared to the comically dramatic tv adaptation although the characters were a bit more bearable; i liked hannah’s humor in the book and clay was significantly less insufferable. neither the book nor the tv show have a great message, or really a message at all, but reading the book proved that anyone involved with the show definitely has a kink for violence and loves tortured young women. i can’t imagine why they would take a book about suicide that includes plenty of acts of violence and say “hmm. not violent enough. how can we make this more graphic? the rape scene, the suicide scene, they’re just not painful enough. how can we do MORE?” very weird behavior!!!

anyway this book has always been polarizing but it was pretty middle of the line for me. an easy one-day read with scenes i probably wouldn’t remember if i hadn’t just watched the show.