Liz

Jodi Picoult is not the author for me. I knew that when I picked up this book, having already not been a fan of 2 previous books of hers. But I won this one in a give-away, my kindle broke, and I had this laying around so I decided I should actually read it. So here are my criticisms:

1) Luke's Chapters - So boring! The first few were interesting, I liked getting his back story told from his perspective, but after awhile I just started skimming them because none of it was really essential to the plot.

2) Cara - She's awful. Very much the “nobody understands me!” whining teenager attitude through the entire book.

3) Georgie - Pretty much useless.

4) This book (and I feel this way about all the Picoult books I read) tries so hard not to be predictable but of course it is. Picoult always does some sort of twist ending, it's formulaic at this point. So from page one I'm always thinking in the back of my mind “What's the twist?” This one was especially easy.

The only character I really enjoyed was Cara's step-father, Joe. Edward, Cara's brother, was annoying in the beginning (this family thinks nobody could ever understand them) but toward the end was just meh.

Also, apparently a lot of the wolf stuff Picoult included is totally bullshit which is annoying if only because she wasted so much time on it in the book.

For the most part I really enjoyed this book. The plot was interesting, the characters were well developed and relatable, and it kept just enough mystery throughout to keep you wondering.

My biggest issue with the book was the inclusion of the plot with the elderly neighbor. It just felt really unnecessary. It didn't add anything extra to the story except to be an extra depressing plot line. I'm not opposed to sad stories but in this case it just wasn't needed and I felt the book would have been a more enjoyable and satisfying read without it.

A little slow, very predictable but wasn't a terrible read.

I read this book in one day. I loved the dual perspective. I loved that the author chose to include both the perspective of the character who committed suicide and the perspective of someone who cared for her.

I know there is some criticism that Hannah's reasons behind committing suicide were too petty. And I agree to a point. Most of what happens in the book is not far outside of the high school norm. There's not one big, traumatic event but there doesn't have to be. Depression makes you see the world differently. One set of events can affect people so differently that I have to disagree with the criticism that Hannah's motivations are too petty or that they just characterize her as a hysterical woman. So although the 13 reasons why aren't what you would probably guess are motivations for suicide doesn't mean they couldn't be.

This book was okay. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. I enjoyed it a lot in the beginning but after her arrest I felt like it became repetitive and much less reflective. I often found myself wishing she would just get to the point. I think had she waited to write this book, given herself more time to gain perspective, and waited until her legal issues were 100% over then it would've been more intriguing.