History YMMV / ThirteenReasonsWhy

*** She also leads Clay on ''hard'' and then acts like he's being an entitled NiceGuy -- not even for wanting to date her, but for ''not'' wanting her to date Bryce. It's one thing to say Clay misinterpreted their friendship just because Ani was nice to him and he became obsessed with her, but Ani knowingly was very forward with Clay, taking her clothes off for almost no reason around him and kissing him (and then sitting back while he apologized for kissing her). When Clay breaks down over her rejecting him, it's mostly because she rejects him for a ''known serial rapist.'' It's hard to feel bad for her having to deal with Clay's reaction when Ani made all her decisions by herself and simply didn't want to deal with the consequences.

* ReplacementScrappy
** Ani. Ani, Ani, Ani. Many saw her as a direct replacement for Hannah after Katherine Langford left the cast in Season 3. And, Ani has a lot of the traits that people liked about Hannah -- she marches to the beat of her own drum, she's clever, she can play off of different characters. The problem is, partially because the show writers needed someone who could somehow know everyone and everything because of the framing device of the police interview, Ani was made to be ''far'' too perfect, whereas Hannah's flaws at least make her interesting. Ani is shown right away to be a genius, fawned over by her teachers, whereas Hannah is a middling student at best. Ani can relate to every single character in the group from Tyler to Zach, whereas Hannah has some awkwardness. Ani always seemingly had the moral high ground and can stand up to anyone, whereas Hannah is more vulnerable. Everyone immediately trusts Ani and lets her into their lives on an intimate level, whereas Hannah never knew where she stood. Basically, she comes across as a self-insert fan fiction character with no flaws who inexplicably is the glue to hold every plot together. Worse, fans responded to her so harshly that her character was reduced to almost nothing in the fourth season.

** But, of course, there is no AssPull bigger than the reveal that Zach and Hannah had a full-blown relationship throughout the summer between sophomore and junior year (and, concurrently, that Zach lost his father that summer). It's impossible to reconcile their relationship with how Zach reacted to Hannah's death or the way his tape – which never mentioned their relationship and focused on a petty squabble instead – addressed him. Some have attempted to find reasons why this was justified, and the show attempted to HandWave it (Hannah wanted to should keep the relationship private, but didn't have a problem telling 11 people that Jessica was raped at a party), but it doesn't account for Zach not mentioning it at all. In fact, Zach doesn't like the idea of perjuring himself in court, so he reveals their relationship, but he has no problem doing so in his deposition – he says he "said some unkind things" but did not mention having sex with Hannah. Even WordOfGod confirms that their relationship was written into the show after Season 1 aired, thus making the relationship a self-admitted AssPull.

** Despite the controversy surrounding how Hannah's suicide was portrayed, pretty much everyone praised the show for its nuanced {{Deconstruction}} of issues like bullying and sexism and the effects that seemingly small and petty actions can have on a person, especially misogynistic microaggressions such as SlutShaming.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The series, well-known for its controversy, has earned a reputation for becoming increasingly dark over the years.
** In the first season, '''all''' the episodes feature painful flashbacks of what led to Hannah to take her own life. It becomes harder to watch as the events get worse and worse, to the point that audiences felt just like Clay in that ''nobody'' even attempts to explain the situation with an unbiased lens. There's also the fact that each time you feel Hannah gets better, you're hit with the reminder that she's dead.
** The second season upped the ante so much that many online discussions that praised the series were now crowded out by arguments between people who felt the show was trying too hard and sending the wrong message to the point of offensiveness, and those who found the second season's darker plot twists and dramatic moments [[SoBadItsGood unintentionally hilarious and bizarre]].
** Season 3 certainly makes this point worse, with some of the show's most evil characters being humanized and the good guys doing questionable things. In short, the cast does not offer many characters one can truly root for. A common criticism of this season is that the storyline has become so ''dark'' and [[TearJerker depressing]] that many viewers may end up giving up the series.

** Ani. Ani, Ani, Ani. Many saw her as a direct replacement for Hannah after Katherine Langford left the cast in Season 3. And, Ani has a lot of the traits that people liked about Hannah — she marches to the beat of her own drum, she’s clever, she can play off of different characters. The problem is, partially because the show writers needed someone who could somehow know everyone and everything because of the framing device of the police interview, Ani was made to be ‘’far’’ too perfect, whereas Hannah’s flaws at least make her interesting. Ani is shown right away to be a genius, fawned over by her teachers, whereas Hannah is a middling student at best. Ani can relate to every single character in the group from Tyler to Zach, whereas Hannah has some awkwardness. Ani always seemingly had the moral high ground and can stand up to anyone, whereas Hannah is more vulnerable. Everyone immediately trusts Ani and lets her into their lives on an intimate level, whereas Hannah never knew where she stood. Basically, she comes across as a self-insert fan fiction character with no flaws who inexplicably is the glue to hold every plot together. Worse, fans responded to her so harshly that yer character was reduced to almost nothing in the fourth season.

* DontShootTheMessage: A lot of people acknowledge that the show's creators are well-intentioned in trying to bring awareness to serious issues affecting teenagers like suicide, mental illness, sexual assault and many others, but that the execution can at times come across as melodramatic, exploitative and/or nonsensical. While the tackling of some subjects, such as rape culture, has been praised, other subjects are presented in an overly-simplistic or problematic manner (as detailed under DoNotDoThisCoolThing).

* AdaptationDisplacement: Most people know it was a book first, but the series is far more popular (and controversial) than the book ever was.

* EvilIsSexy: Due to being played by Justin Prentice and Timothy Granaderos, many fans see Bryce and Monty as this.

** In season 2, to recall, Jessica's first words to Justin when he returned to the school for the first time since he admitted to knowing Bryce raped her and did nothing about it were that she wished he was dead. [[spoiler:[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Tragically enough, this wish ends up being granted in the series finale when Justin dies from HIV/AIDS.]]

** Grace Saif (Ani) deleted her social media after being harassed online by a chunk of fans who disliked the character... even though one of the main themes of the show they're fans of is how harmful and wrong bullying is.

*** A few other moments involving Monty include Tony decking him in the hallway fight (especially since this was the most punishment he got in the entire second season), Zach punching him in the face in the locker room and [[KicktheSonOfaBitch Bryce blackmailing him for raping Tyler by threatening to expose his crimes throughout the second season.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** To the readers who found Hannah UnintentionallyUnsympathetic in the book (see above), her actions are framed in a very grey light in the miniseries. Numerous other characters also claim she's lying or distorting the truth. Katherine Langford also makes sure that Hannah in the flashbacks looks like a very effective Woobie -- showing that while some of her actions may be selfish, she still has a hell of a reason for them. For how successful this was, check BaseBreakingCharacter.
** Hannah was a BaseBreakingCharacter due to engaging in some fairly bitchy behavior, jumping to conclusions and being slightly whiny. Season 2 showed some much kinder behavior on her part, and some more understandable justification for her actions (like her conflict with Courtney).
*** By the same token, many people thought Hannah was less sympathetic since she never approached her parents about her treatment. Season 2 reveals that she had legitimate reasons why not, such as her mom making some InnocentlyInsensitive comments that made her feel [[SlutShaming slut-shamed]]. She also ''did'' tell her mother about the stalking, but her mother brushed it off. And to seal the deal, [[spoiler: Hannah was the one that caught her father cheating on her mother]]. All of these things, and more, have it make so much more sense why she wouldn't go to her parents about her problems.
** Following all the controversy and criticism around Hannah's graphic suicide in Season 1, in 2019 it was announced that Netflix was heavily editing the scene (the scene no longer shows Hannah's suicide in detail, instead cutting from Hannah staring into the bathroom mirror to her parents finding her body). The showrunners and producers made this decision after consulting with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
** After the negative feedback the show got for Season 3 for showing Bryce in a mostly redemptive light, the showrunners are a lot more careful with [[spoiler: Monty's death and the reaction to it. There's no flashbacks of Monty being a "good guy," and it's the people close to him (Winston, a teammate and especially his sister) that humanize him and they're understandably heartbroken that he's gone. Further underscored in the Prom episode where Winston realizes that he was only in love with the idea of Monty and had no idea about his rage issues.]]

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: The series came under fire for what some perceived to glamorize suicide (though the creators made it clear that their intention was the very opposite), noting that the idea of killing oneself to make others in their life feel guilty about their demise was a troublesome plot device, while glossing over other factors that lead to suicide beyond bullying, like suffering from mental illness and/or lack of sufficient coping mechanisms. The National Association of School Psychologists even sent a letter to school mental health professionals in regards to the show, an unprecedented step for the association.

It doesn't help either that the first season was linked to an increase in teen suicides, with several examples of teens citing Hannah Baker as an inspiration being reported.

** Mr. Porter also seems to be ''very'' disliked within the community due to being a prime example of AdultsAreUseless. While he is a [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstruction]] of the usual "useless" adult, (in actuality being one who was ''way'' [[FishOutOfWater out of his league]] compared to what he dealt with his last school, with him arguably simply not knowing what he could have done), he's still very disliked ''because'' of his lack of action. The fact [[spoiler: he's listed as the final reason that lead to Hannah ending her life]] didn't help matters either. He got better with Season 2.

** Clay is viewed as a monster for not feeling sorry that Bryce is dead, when he raped multiple people, including one of his best friends and a girl he had a huge crush. Bryce also beat the hell out of Clay to the point where he had to go to the hospital. In the fourth season, he gets this treatment for hot feeling sorry for Monty's death, when Monty 'also' raped one of his best friends and physically harassed most of the people in Clay's circle.
*** The show's stance seems to be that Clay 'needed' to feel sorry for these people dying, considering the third season concludes with Clay telling Nora Walker that he's sorry about Bryce and her saying that she wasn't sure he believed that when he said it before. In the fourth season, he publicly expresses grief for Bryce and Monty's deaths.

** The show also attempts to portray Clay as an entitled "nice guy" of his feelings toward Ani, but that would be a lot more convincing if Ani weren't actively sleeping with a guy she knows has raped multiple people, vehemently defending him from people who have been horribly hurt by him, and one-by-one throwing each of her friends under the bus and purposely casting suspicion on them for murder. It's also very clear that she 'knows' Clay is interested in her and she continues to do things that could be seen as borderline manipulative – like stripping down to her bra and underwear in front of him without asking if he's comfortable, and expecting him to be casual about it/berating him for being dumbstruck, or kissing him, then saying it was a mistake, then watching him squirm as 'he' apologized for kissing 'her' and never saying, "Actually, I kissed you." The show's stance seems to be "Ani's actions still aren't consent to a relationship," which is true, but it makes her less sympathetic that she absolutely knows what she's doing and seems to be intentionally teasing Clay.

** ''Frat-boys are the worst:'' The [[JerkJock jocks]], already [[AcceptableTargets designated villains]] in most stories, arguably come off as even worse than usual: users, abusers, molesters and even actual rapists.

* HarsherInHindsight: All the book's [[Anvilicious talk about how sexual harassment is bad]] can come across as disingenuous nowadays since Jay Asher was accused of sexual harassment in 2018 and dropped by his publisher, though he continues to deny the accusations.