13 Reasons Why is a popular young adult book that came out in 2007 written by Jay Asher, but just recently did it come out as a series on Netflix on March 31, being produced by Selena Gomez.

The stories center around a teenage girl who killed herself, Hannah Baker. Before killing herself, she records 13 tapes and the people who caused her to kill herself. One of the 13 people is centered around the show, Clay Jensen, wondering why he is on the tapes and wondering what he did that caused a girl to kill herself.

In my opinion both the show and the book are worth the watch and the read, but with some differences.

The show contains, some sexual content, mention and showing of rape (they say when they are going to show these scenes in full) , usages of drugs and alcohol, and swearing. All in all, this show is rated TV-MA. While the book does explain the scenes, they aren’t as explicit as they are in the show.

Below are going to be the comparison of the book and the show, so SPOILER ALERT.

In the book the focus is only on Clay . It’s more of a conversation between Clay and the tapes, with interruptions of the real world. In the show however, Clay is still the focus, but it’s not a conversation between him and Hannah anymore, it’s another element to the story. Everyone has something going on and we see what it is, such as the struggles of Justin and his mom, the struggles the Bakers go through without their daughter (which I will go into depth a bit more), and a strange backstory to Tony, who is not really explained in the show or apparent in the book.

Speaking of Tony, right away he reveals himself as the “guardian” of the tapes and talks to Clay about the tapes and about the other people on the tapes. Their relationship is much closer and his relationship between Hannah is also revealed, along with the other people on the tape. In the book, Tony only interacts with Clay and doesn’t speak to the other people.

There was so much diversity in the show. There were so many main actors who represented what a real high school is. Although in the book, the characters aren’t specified, but it’s nice to see many different people represented.

Hannah’s parents are also fighting a lawsuit against the school, something that wasn’t mentioned at all in the book, again showing how the show wasn’t just going to focus on Clay. The show explains how Hannah’s parents are trying to make sure that the school pays for their daughter’s death. It also doesn’t help that Clay’s mother is one of the lawyers with the school and against the Bakers.

The behavior is so much more vivid in the show.  For example, they don’t shy away from the Bryce scenes, which is what made this show so powerful. It plays the part of a typical teenage conversation with many unneccessary F-bombs and plenty of awkwardness between Clay and Hannah.

Probably one of the biggest differences, in my opinion anyway, is how the story ends. In the book the tapes are given to the next person and Clay reaches out to Skye, someone who seems suicidal and was an old friend of Clay. In the show, Clay does reach out for Skye, but he doesn’t give the tapes to the next person, instead he gives them straight to tape 13, Mr. Porter. Once giving them the tapes, Clay and Skye leave school and take a ride with Tony and his boyfriend.

While trying to listen to the tapes, Mr. Porter is told that Alex Standall (tape number 3) has attempted suicide and is in critical condition. Justin (after being kicked around by his mother’s boyfriend for the last time) runs into Bryce. They both share a drink while Bryce asks how Clay found out he raped Hannah. After a long silence, Justin tells him everything about the tapes, finally realizing that everything Hannah said in those tapes was true.

In my opinion the book was so much better, but this show was amazing, and I recommend both for they are good by themselves. Don’t compare the book and show and you’ll find your favorite of the two.