Main Characters: Valerie, Nick, Jessica

Summary:

Five months ago, Valerie Leftman’s boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets.

Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.

Anna’s Thoughts:

I usually don’t read many reviews of books before I read the actual book, but in the case of Hate List I was completely unsure about the book itself and really needed help knowing if I should read it or not. I know I read a few reviews, but one of them really stuck with me and intrigued me enough that I bought Hate List a few days later. It was the review by Sab at YABliss, in which she says “I wish every single High School student would read this and learn from it. And no only students, but also teachers, principals and staff.” I wasn’t so sure that I could read a book on such a sensitive subject without breaking into sobs, or feeling like such a tragedy could be properly portrayed. However, Jennifer Brown debuts an incredibly realistic, powerfully moving story about a girl who can’t let go even though she has to, and feels like the weight on her shoulders is too much to bare. Which is something everyone, teenager or not, feels in their lifetime no matter what clique you belong to at any point in your life. I also agree with Sab in her saying that every student, teacher, and principle should read this – and I’ll push as far as to say every parent as well. Hate is a thing that is learned, it is passed down through families, transferred through friends, and it is something so easily avoidable when countered with patience and compassion.

Hate List has characters you love, characters you hate and characters you love to hate, or hate to love – it’s got everything in it’s 400 odd pages to captivate you, move you, touch you, then make you want to scream out from the rooftops about it and tell everyone you know to read it. Every single person in this book seems so realistic, there isn’t one flat character, not one character that doesn’t act their age, or act out of place. They’re so real and believable that I am actually quite certain I went to High School with some of them.

While I am at a loss for words over the ending, Hate List has managed otherwise to leave me speechless with only the ability to give this advice: If you are a person whose heart isn’t a froze block of stone or ice, you need to read this book. If you have a child, know a child, teach at a school or have ever went to school, you need to read this book. If you are alive, you need to read this book.