13 Reasons Why has been the talk for some time now. This show that was originally a book. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher was published and released in 2007, yet the television series debuted in March of 2017. Some say that the book was better, while others prefer the tv show more. However, I was one who was more biased simply because I made the mistake of watching the series before reading the book and I think it took away from the book. Instead of imagining the characters in my own picture, I had already known their faces from the tv show.

Now, I won’t be the one to write another story about suicide or how to prevent it, not because it isn’t important, but rather because we all know very well what we can and cannot do about suicide. The main character of 13 Reasons Why is a girl known as Hannah Baker. She commits suicide and leaves behind 13 tapes that hold the reasons as to why she killed herself and who caused it. I won’t spoil the plot with all of the details, but I’ll give you a little hint. When I finished the tv show, I couldn’t look at anybody the way I once did, and the same thing happened all over again when I read the book. It truly is a haunting mystery that will open your eyes to the world.

Rather than writing 13 reasons as to why this world isn’t for you, I’ll give you 14 reasons as to why it is worth staying in.

1. You know your favorite song? Who’s going to put it on replay for hours on end if you’re not there to listen?
2. There is probably going to be a sequel to your favorite movie eventually, and you might not get the chance to see it.
3. Your dog will miss you. And if you don’t have a dog then it will be your cat, goldfish, or that one squirrel that hangs around.
4. All the possibilities that you could lose. What if you end up being the one to find the cure for cancer? Or create a candy bar even more popular than Snickers?
5. Look at the homeless, the veterans, and the children suffering from starvation and malnourishment. Or look at the victims of war and natural disasters. Look at the person next to you. Doesn’t their courage to live give you hope to do the same?
6. Think of all of the countries you won’t be able tot visit, all the lives you haven’t touched, and all the foods you haven’t eaten.
7. Music and art, something that you can express yourself in a way that only you can truly understand. Who’s going to understand it when you’re no longer here?
8. Perhaps you have complimented a stranger or made someone laugh, what are they going to think of themselves when you disappear?
9. Every day of your life is a page in your book, you wouldn’t want to end with a cliffhanger, would you?
10. You might win the lottery someday.
11. Becoming stronger and more successful at life than the people who doubted you. Prove them all wrong.
12. You have a purpose and it’s up to you to find out what that purpose is.
13. If you believe that you have never been happy before, wouldn’t you want the chance to feel what it’s like?
14. Even if I don’t know you, I know that the world loves you. That someone loves you and if that is not enough of a reason to convince you that you are loved, I don’t know what is.

13 Reasons Why changed the way I think, and how I view other people. It made me aware that even when you say things you don’t mean, it could mean so much more to the person you say it to. So yes, I would recommend this book and tv show to others. It may not be everyone’s taste, but it was definitely mine.