“If you’re listening, you’re too late.”

From New York Times bestselling book to the show everyone’s talking about, Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why has come a long way from its initial novel release ten years ago. Netflix premiered season one of the show on March 31, and it seems to be the center of everyone’s conversations as casual viewers and die-hard fans of the book discuss the differences between the book and show, as well as the controversies regarding the portrayal of the topics in the show.

For those of you who have never heard of Thirteen Reasons Why, the plot unfolds with the news of 16-year-old Hannah Baker’s suicide. Instead of a suicide note, Hannah leaves thirteen tapes behind, with each one describing the thirteen reasons why she felt her life had to end. Each reason is a person who ultimately contributed to her death and the tapes are delivered to each of these people mentioned – with severe consequences if the intended audience does not hear all of the tapes and pass them onto the next person. Readers hear these tapes through Clay Jensen, who tries to understand why he received the tapes, since Hannah was his friend, and almost something more.

13 Reasons Why, the show, has thirteen one hour long episodes starring newcomer Katherine Langford as Hannah Baker and Dylan Minnette as Clay Jensen, along with various new actors in supporting roles. Langford plays an extremely convincing role as Hannah, her face betraying every emotion that her character feels; the realness of the overall story makes it one to put at the top of your watchlist.

There are some major changes from the book analyzed thoroughly all over the Web, but the focus is still on the importance of treating everyone with kindness. You never know just what people around you are going through, and you never truly know how your choices will affect others.