I need to start out by saying I have not read the book... that being said i enjoyed the story the show gave. It depicted mental illness and some hard things that young people deal with and can't articulate well. My one complaint is that the show jumped a lot. It would go from a school dance to months later in college with no transition. It seemed to lack the filler that answered many of my questions. The characters would encounter a situation and there would not be any background or further information provided to the viewer. Personally, i wanted and needed that detail to fully understand. Overall, the show was well cast and gave a good dramatic performance. The editing just wasn't there for me.