13 Reasons Why: Book vs. Series
Developed by Brian Yorkey, Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why (2017) is based on Jay Asher’s 2007 novel Thirteen Reasons Why. Recordings left by Hannah Baker draw Clay Jensen and his classmates into the events preceding her death.
From Books Adapted
Which books each season covers
The book supplies one season, not four
Season 1 adapts the novel's main story. The later seasons continue the characters' lives beyond it.
| Season | Book and coverage |
|---|---|
| 1 | Thirteen Reasons Why, through Clay's experience of Hannah's tapes, with expanded stories for other characters. |
| 2 | An original continuation, centered on the court case against the school and further accounts of Hannah's life. |
| 3 | Continues the television story beyond the novel, with a new central mystery. |
| 4 | An original conclusion taking the students toward graduation. This is the final season. |
| A guide, not an exact match: shows move scenes and storylines between books and seasons. | |
The novel's main story has been covered. Seasons 2–4 are not adaptations of three further Asher books.
What changed from the book
Clay takes several days to hear what the book fits into one night
In the book, Clay listens to Hannah's tapes over a single night. The first season spreads that listening across several days.
Asher explained that the longer timeline lets Clay confront people between tapes. It also gives those characters stories beyond what Hannah says about them. The book stays much closer to the exchange between her recorded voice and Clay's immediate responses.
How it was adapted
It was first planned as a movie
Selena Gomez initially intended to play Hannah in a movie adaptation. The project had a screenplay before it became a Netflix series, with Gomez as an executive producer.
Asher said the movie format required too much compression of the thirteen stories. Television gave each one more room, rather than fitting the whole book into roughly two hours.
About the book and the series
- Author
- Jay Asher
- Year
- 2007
- Pages
- 288Buy book
- Audiobook length
- 6 hr 24 minGet audiobook
- Narrator
- Joel Johnstone, Debra Wiseman
Clay Jensen receives a set of cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, a classmate who has died by suicide. Listening as he walks through town, he follows her account of experiences involving people he knows and waits to learn why she has included him. Familiar places take on different meanings as Hannah’s voice interrupts his own memories of their time together.
- Creator
- Brian Yorkey
- Writer
- Brian Yorkey
- Year
- 2017–2020
- Episode
- 59 minWatch on Amazon
- Seasons
- 4
- Episodes
- 49
- Network
- Netflix
- Cast
- Dylan Minnette, Katherine Langford, Alisha Boe, Brandon Flynn
- Genre
- Drama, Thriller, youth
- IMDb
- View on IMDb
Recordings left by Hannah Baker after her suicide draw Clay Jensen into the secrets of his classmates at Liberty High. While he tries to understand what happened to her, other students fear what the tapes could expose, and Hannah’s parents seek answers from the school. The investigation and its aftermath strain friendships as the students confront violence, grief, and their own responsibility for one another.
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