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Now, I’m not finished reading this as of yet, but I couldn’t wait to start talking about it.

For a character that doesn’t actually exist in the book when it’s taking place, Hannah is a curiously engaging character.  Her emotions leap from her voice, onto the page, and from the page into the reader’s subconscious.  I’m angry and hopeful right along with her, though she’s long dead and I’m experiencing everything through Clay’s senses. 

After all the news coverage that’s been happening about bullying and cyber-bullying and yadda yadda yadda, this is oddly . . . . refreshing?  Probably not the best word.

What I mean is that though it’s fiction, Th1rteen R3asons Why tells it like it is.  Nobody’s going to be holding these kids accountable for all the things they did to this girl that contributed to her decision.  However, they’re being made to hold THEMSELVES accountable.  They’re not going to be on trial, or on Good Morning America.  But they will have to live with the guilt for the rest of their lives, and deal with the way people who know will now look at them. 

That’s all for now.  I MUST finish this book.

**********

Okay, I’m back.

The second half of the book just blew me away.  The part that actually choked me up the most was this great line where Hannah’s talking about walking around at night, just aimlessly up and down roads, and how it’s the kind of night where it’s misty and cool.

Clay’s mental response is something along the lines of “those nights are my favorite, too.”

That was probably the most poignant part of this whole novel, the missed connection between these two characters.  Some reviews have said that Hannah isn’t a believable enough character because she doesn’t “try” hard enough to make her life better, and she “blames” other people for her suicide. 

This makes me angry.

If you’ve never contemplated suicide, then shut up.  Because I’m assuming there’s only so much “trying” you can do once you  hit a certain point, and Hannah gives people a lot of chances to prove themselves worth of trust, and she gets let down every single time.  Also, most of the people mentioned in the tapes should be blamed, for whatever it is that they did.  Yet, she still shoulders much of the blame herself, and makes note of that.  She also takes care to mention the people who deserve no blame whatsoever. 

But I digress. 

My only hope is that they do not completely ruin this story for me by diverging too much from the concept and plot for the upcoming movie. 

That is all.