Hate List

During the spring of their junior year, Valerie Leftman’s boyfriend Nick Levil brought a gun to school and opened fire on their classmates and teachers. Many were killed or wounded, both physically and emotionally. Valerie stopped Nick from killing a fellow classmate and was wounded in the

Show More

process, but because of her involvement in writing the “Hate List,” a notebook filled with names of students who were targeted in the shooting, many have implicated her in the terrible tragedy as well.

Now, at the start of her senior year, Valerie’s leg is mostly healed, but her heart has most certainly not. She still misses Nick, who killed himself after that terrible morning, and those surrounding her still make her feel guilty about her supposed involvement with that day. What will it take for Valerie to heal and be free of her guilt—if that is even possible?

HATE LIST has to be breaking new grounds in YA fiction: has there ever been a book about such a difficult subject? It is uncomfortable, heartbreaking…and yet ultimately hopeful.

The book jumps between that fateful spring morning and days following immediately, to the start of Valerie’s senior year, to various Valerie-and-Nick moments across high school. While the consistent changes in chronology may be unsettling at times, it does more to draw readers into Valerie’s past and mindset, helping us understand what, exactly, happened on May 2nd, her long-lasting connection to Nick even after the tragedy, and what she’s thinking now. Valerie herself may not be the most sympathetic protagonist around, even in her situation, but inevitably we accept her and all of her twisted thinking.

However, I wouldn’t say that this is one of my favorite books dealing with school shootings—Columbine by Dave Cullen does that better, I think—nor is it an easily believable portrayal of high school and adolescence in general. I guess I was expecting something that would delve more deeply into the psychological aftereffects of a school shooting on someone who was falsely implicated; however, HATE LIST deals with Valerie’s family and social issues much more than her psychological healing. That’s why I particularly enjoyed the scenes with Valerie’s psychologist, Dr. Hieler—one of the most interesting characters in the novel—because it allows us to access Valerie’s mind more than any other point in the novel.

It’s not a particularly mind-blowing novel—especially with underdeveloped supporting characters and a scatterbrained, free-spirited art teacher that just screams “amateur character cliché mistake!”—but HATE LIST will still be an interesting read for most people. It will be a great way to introduce the horrifying traumas of school shootings to younger readers who are not yet ready to read heavily researched true accounts of events such as Columbine.

Show Less

Hate List literally had me spellbound. It was beautifully written. The author took great care with each character. I loved the way the characters were developed throughout the story. The central character, Valerie, is so incredibly broken because of what happened at her high school in the Commons

Show More

on May 2nd. This is a story about carelessness to others and what hateful abusive bullying behavior does to the spirits and souls of the targeted ones. It is so so sad yet lovely…the horrors are almost unspeakable, the pain is certainly too much to bear and yet it is a beautiful exquisite telling of what happened on that day and through out the year that follows. I cried for many of the characters because this story was so real and you wish that it were not so real. The author wove Valerie’s character flawlessly. Her relationships to her mother and her father and her brother are well thought out and very realistic. Valerie works so hard for each and every peaceful moment that you become her cheerleader even though she is flawed. The ending is written so masterfully that it takes your breath away. I wanted Valerie to be happy again but…we are left to wonder and perhaps even worry about her. This book should be required reading for anyone in high school right now…a sort of see this, heed this, listen to these words.

Show Less

Told entirely from Valerie’s point of view Hate List is a powerful, emotional and turbulent ride through recovery. We watch as Valerie relives the events of early May when the person she loved most in the world perpetrated the crimes she though they were only pretending to plan. We watch as she

Show More

struggles through therapy to try and put the pieces of her shattered life (at school and at home) back together in some small way. We watch as she fights to remain in school despite the loathing and persecution of surviving classmates.

Valerie is the picture of a scared yet powerfully strong young lady. Having survived the unimaginable she perseveres through therapy where we quickly learn that in the end, despite all of the negativity and judgement she is indeed a hero. She’s shaped people’s lives (some for the good some for the worse) in a way, again in the end, that allows her presence at Garvin to be be one of positivity and inspiration. Brown wrote this struggle evenly and with great realism — allowing a certain cadre of characters to show their contempt for Valerie and her actions; to hold a grudge, while others embraced her heroism and worked diligently to help her understand that not only is she a good person but a person who stood in front of bullets and saved people’s lives.

My adoration for Hate List exceeds my ability to formulate coherent speech to describe it. There is honestly not one thing wrong I can find with this story. Well I take that back there is maybe one thing, Valerie’s father. By the end of the novel I wanted to jump into the pages and smack him upside the head. Despite this feeling I believe that Brown has crafted his characterization into a believably realistic picture of betrayal of the cruelest kind. His distrust and disbelief in Valerie is initially warranted but falls into the category of “be the adult in this relationship” or “put your big boy underpants on”. Having said that, it is this relationship that made me feel the most emotion. Particularly given his hypocrisy related to responsibility for one’s actions and trust worthiness. He really wasn’t one to judge in this story.

The thing of it is that this issue only goes to show how everything in Valerie’s life, both before and after the events with Nick at Garvin High occur, intertwines together to create the worst of circumstances. There is a strong foundation of dysfunction on which her reliance on Nick is built. Her shaky home life contributes to her virtual isolation at school and the ultimate creation of the hate list. Her dependence on Nick as her one good thing, her safe place pushes her life into complete disarray when he’s no longer there and she has no one else to fill that void. It is in this aspect where we see the most change in Valerie as she slowly moves from that place of isolation to navigate back into living and breathing society. One of the best elements of the novel is showing how people’s lives were completely changed by the events. Unsuspecting friends were made, forgiveness was given by some of those most harmed by Nick’s actions, and ultimately the school and community were able to work through the healing process while including Valerie.

On that note, I have to say that I really liked that Brown didn’t take the opportunity to make this story about gun control. Preaching to the reader about how things could change or how things are done wrong. There was no discussion of legalities or politics as it related to the issues of school violence and I appreciated the fact that this story was about the emotional aspects of such events.

I rarely rate a novel I read because of the subjectivity of it all but in the case of Hate List I’m going to step outside that general rule and give it five stars. It was one of the most phenomenal reads of the year and one that I’ll likely go back to several times. Further, I would advocate that this book be included in every required reading list in every school system in the country. It delicately and realistically handles the issue of school violence but more importantly it handles the emotional aftermath with such dignity and grace that despite what a reader initially believes Valerie’s role was in the shootings by the end they sympathize for her and root for her success as she struggles through.

As I end this review I strongly encourage (hell I’d demand if I thought it would work) to read this novel! Read it once, twice, three times. Read it then pass it on to everyone you know to read it. Stand up to your school boards and tell them to read it too! I think we’d be hard pressed to find a single person who would be sorry they had.

Show Less

Wow, I mean wow. That was my first thought when I finally finished this book late last night. This book was so disturbing and yet one of the best books I've read lately. Each chapter opened up with snippets of news articles covering the shooting at Valerie's school. We slowly piece together what

Show More

happens at the same time watching Valerie recover from being shot by her boyfriend and then having to return to school the following term and having to face her fellow students. Even though I was not a goth girl back in high school I still felt myself empathizing with Valerie and understanding how she felt towards the people who teased her and picked on her in school. The strength and courage she had to return to her school after her boyfriend killed and injured many of their fellow students astounded me. I could not imagine doing so if I were in her shoes. Some of the best parts of this book was nothing was sugar coated. Everyone's reactions including those of Valerie's parents and brothers were so gritty and frustrating that I wanted to slap some of them around yet I they all felt so real.

Honestly I have a hard time thinking of anything I didn't like about this book. Just a warning though this book will leave you feeling emotionally wrung out and you will need time to decompress after you finish it.

Show Less

This is based off an advanced reading copy of Hate List.
Valerie never saw it coming, that Nick would start shooting people on their "hate list," but now that it's over and Nick is dead Valerie must come to terms with living her life and finishing high school. The plot grabs the reader in the first

Show More

chapter and does not let up until the end. Characters are well developed and the flash backs help readers make sense of the characters and the story. Valerie is the type of character that readers can get attached to and almost understand what she's going through even if they've never experienced anything like what Valerie is experiencing. This was a great story about a tough topic between the school violence, high school bullying and the way the world see us. I would recommend this book for high school-ers.

Show Less

Valerie is pretty much your average every day girl. Except for one thing, a couple of months back her boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their busy school cafeteria, killing six and wounding countless others. And worst of all, it wasn't a random shooting, instead he targeted people on the HATE LIST, a

Show More

list that Valerie herself helped create.

Although it all started off as a joke - creating a list and placing the names of people that were mean or hateful toward Valerie and Nick... little did Valerie know that Nick would go to such an extreme as to target these people and kill them.

I was taken on such a powerful, emotional, turbulent, yet amazing ride on this one. The story is told through Valerie’s point-of-view and you can see how her life was before Nick’s deadly rampage and how she as well as her peers have been affected since that tragic day in May.

Although there are books about school shootings out there, I thought it was refreshing to read about Valerie, who not only is a survivor of the shooting but she was also to blame for her part as the shooter’s girlfriend... otherwise known as, guilty by association. The Hate List that they created - named anyone ranging from the school bully, to a mean teacher, the rude jock, the obnoxious trendsetter, and even to a parent who would not agree to allow one of them to do as they pleased.

Valerie was such a real, honest and relate-able character. Like every other girl her age - she was dealing with self-esteem issues and her situation at home (her parents were going through a rough patch in their marriage) really didn’t help her out any. The Hate List she created seemed , to me, like a way to relieve some of her stress. And although these are people she might have disliked (immensely), I would say hate was too harsh a word, and say she did “hate” them, she definitely didn’t want them killed off. Her boyfriend Nick was the only person she actually felt loved and understood her and with him gone... it just seemed like her world was falling apart.

I liked her sessions with her psychiatrist - these were some very tough questions and scenarios that were discussed in her therapy. There was such great character development (not just Val) but her parents, brother, schoolmates, her therapist, even Nick (who was dead from the start).

Although the book touches on very difficult subject matter, I was hooked from the start. Val’s world was upside down and to read how she was able to grow and mature after such devastation was amazing. This is a fast-paced, emotionally charged, thought-provoking novel that I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.

Show Less

It's an extremely compelling, if slightly disturbing sort of read. Val's boyfriend Nick decides to get even with all of the people on the Hate List that the two have been keeping for months. One morning he gets to school and starts systematically shooting people on the list. Val manages to stop

Show More

him, right before he commits suicide. Now, her life is a complete disaster. No one knows whether she is a hero or whether she was in league with Nick. Her friends, her teachers, her parents all seem to think she will either commit suicide or go on a shooting spree at any moment. She doesn't know what to think herself. She helped Nick make a list, it was her idea, but she never intended for anyone to die. Is she a hero? Is she the biggest bully of all? There were one or two holes in this story, but mostly it was a page-turner. Not a cheery topic, but really interesting characters and a fast paced plot.

Show Less

Valerie and her boyfriend Nick had a Hate List. It was those kids who treated them like crap, who played jokes on them, who bumped them in the hall, who called her Doctor Death because of the way she dressed, who had that “I’m better than you” attitude. It was nothing, though; a way to vent,

Show More

blow off some steam. Or so Valerie thought until May 2, 2008, when Nick walked into the Commons lunchroom and started shooting people, including Valerie, and ultimately himself. Valerie survived, but Nick didn’t. She was in the hospital for a while, in the psychiatric ward for a while and was a suspect in the shooting spree for a while.

Valerie spent the summer recuperating and began her senior year in September. With the help of her therapist, Dr. Hieler, she got herself ready for the day school began. Valerie knew it was going to be tough. Many of the kids blamed her. She was sure many of the teachers felt the same way. Her parents blamed her, especially her father, when they could take time away from their bickering to think about the shooting. Nick understood her, her family situation, her thoughts, her likes and dislikes. Valerie loved him...still does regardless of what he did.

Jennifer Brown’s debut novel, The Hate List, shows that Ms. Brown has talent. While many novels have tackled the issue of school shootings, it has primarily been from the point of view of the shooter. The Hate List deals with the aftermath of this reign of terror from the point of view of a close friend of the shooter. But the book is so much more than that. It touches on so many issues: the impact on children of parents who don’t get along, the fact that adults don’t listen to each other, let alone teenagers, the impact of bullying which is denied by school officials. Brown shows how school administrators might put a positive spin on the aftermath of a school shooting, stating that the children have learned love and forgiveness, when indeed, nothing has changed.

Brown as has tackled a difficult subject in a moving and tender way. Nick had no one to talk to about his issues except Valerie, who was powerless and unaware that his feelings ran so deep. Her life after the shooting changed in so many ways. The Hate List is a must read book. I look forward to more works by Ms. Brown.

Show Less

Recommended to me by a coworker, this is one of the best books I've read this year (and I've read several). It's sharp, witting and ultimately moving story about a school shooting -- told from the girlfriend of the shooter. It's both thoughtful and thought provoking, while also managing to address

Show More

many of the issues surrounding a school shooting. Brown's writing is superb and I highly recommend this book.

Show Less

Hate List is a rough book. It's well-written, incredibly compelling, and very, very rough emotionally.

Valerie is barely living life in the wake of a tragic school shooting in which her boyfriend shot and killed several of the classmates, going from a "hate list" he and Val compiled. Even though

Show More

she had no idea Nick was planning actual violence, Val feels tons of guilt, given that she began the list, simply to compile a list of people and things she hated. Val was actually shot during the event while trying to stop Nick, right before he shot himself.

In the months afterwards, Val tries to recover physically, emotionally and mentally from the tragedy, and when school begins again, she decides to return to Garvin High to finish her senior year, despite the fact that many of her fellow students are shocked to see her return.

This book shows the ugly truth behind such tragedies - even though Val not only didn't participate in the shooting (in fact tried to stop Nick once she got over her shock at what was happening), many people still blame her, including students, teachers, and even her own family. Val finds wonderful help in Dr. Heiler, a kind and a bit quirky psychologist assigned to Val after she is released from the hospital, but much of her recovery depends on her actions.

Val's "road to recovery" is soooo painful to read. I cried for a good portion of the last quarter of the book, and I felt the reactions of characters rang true - even the horrible ones.

This would be a fascinating book for discussion with older teens and adults.

Recommended.

Show Less

Valerie is alone. Her family tiptoes around her, her friends act like she doesn’t exist, and most of the people in the community think she should be dead. Valerie’s boyfriend, the person she trusted more than anyone else, shattered her life when he brought a gun to school and wounded several

Show More

students and killed many others, including himself. Most people believe Valerie was involved, but she had no idea what Nick was planning.After spending weeks in the hospital recovering from a near fatal gunshot wound to the leg, Valerie is moved to the psychiatric ward for observation. During the many therapy sessions, she begins to think back on her relationship with Nick and all the events that led up to the terrible event that changed an entire community.HATE LIST is an extremely powerful story. I was in tears for the last eighty pages and felt emotionally drained by the time I reached the last page. Jennifer Brown has given us a wonderful example of the importance of keeping a watchful eye out for bullying in our schools.Valerie is a strong character and it was a pleasure to witness her healing process. Once I started HATE LIST I couldn’t stop. I read every chance I could. Even though the subject matter is very serious, this book was a pleasure to read. Thank you Jennifer Brown.

Show Less

This is a story of a Columbine type shooting told through the voice of the killer’s girlfriend Valerie. The student killer’s victims were from a “hate” list that Val had kept of her fellow classmates and teachers. Val is shot during the shooting as she shields a planned victim. This is a

Show More

powerful story of how seriously teens take their lives, and how quickly things can spiral out of control.

Show Less

On May 2nd, 2008 Garvin High School’s commons area erupted into loud shots as students were targeted due to a list, the hate list to be exact, created by Nick Levil and Valerie Leftmen. The only thing was Valerie never expected it to go that far . . .

Valerie, known to many her junior year as

Show More

“Sister Death,” (not a nickname she appreciated) was tired of all of the bullying. So was her longtime boyfriend Nick, who undoubtedly got the brunt of the abuse from the popular crowd, led by Chris Summers. According to Nick, they were repeatedly made to feel like losers, but even losers get to be winners sometimes. He eventually hit a limit and took a gun to school killing many students on the list and eventually himself.

The real story starts when Valerie returns to Garvin High in the fall to finish her senior year. She has many obstacles, both physical and emotional to overcome. The school is being portrayed as a happy unified place after the shootings, but once inside Valerie sees a different view. It is hard for her to find people to trust and in turn, hard for others to trust her. The Hate List by Jennifer Brown raises strong questions about guilt and forgiveness. What it means to be bullied and the aftermath of school violence.

There are a few endearing characters to note, Dr. Heiler, Val’s therapist and Bea, a local art teacher are genuine adults who really care about her. In addition, she does make some friends in unlikely places and while Val is continuingly changing throughout the novel, so is Jessica Campbell one of the high school’s most popular cheerleaders and Student Council President.

The Hate List is told in four parts, each representing a turning point in Valerie’s life. It is a compelling realistic piece of fiction that asks a lot of questions about what it means to hate and to eventually forgive.

Show Less

The first word that escaped my lips the moment I finished Hate List was: "Wow." How do you sum up a book as powerful as this? It was like the words were living, breathing, and Valerie's pain was real. Truly an amazing novel from start to finish.

Hate List is an emotionally charged novel that tugs at

Show More

your heart strings. Valerie, at a loss for how to move on with her life after the shooting, is constantly at war with herself, her family, and her school. So much to take on at one time, it's pushing her to a place she's never been before. You won't find any diluted plot twists or surprise endings - this novel is pure emotion - focusing more on Valerie and her growth as a character. And we get to experience the journey right with her.

Uniquely woven at the beginning of a few chapters are newspaper clippings, depicting the events of the shooting from completely different points of view. Certainly an original idea that really gives the book an authentic and fresh dynamic.

Jennifer Brown did a wonderful job at capturing such a unique voice in an ultimately realistic way as we read how Valerie struggles to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Drifting from the past to the present, we get to read about Valerie's life before and after the shooting. The doubts, the heartache, the longing - it's is all there, front and center, for the reader to experience. It's not often that I cry at the end of a novel, but I did for this one.

Overall consensus: Hate List is a compelling read that may leave you with a bit of a heavy heart but a completely satisfied feeling. The prose is a bit angsty at times, but not mired in it. It depicts raw emotion and will certainly have you deep in thought by the end. A book not easily forgotten!

Show Less

I thought this book was one of the best books ever. I could feel Val's pain coming throught the book. I could hear the gunshots in my head. This was a very inspirational book of hard times and struggling and it tells you that you can never give up and that you have to move on with your life.

I loved

Show More

this book and even at the end I started crying.

You have to read this book!!!

Show Less

Sixteen-year-old Valerie, whose boyfriend Nick committed a school shooting at the end of their junior year, struggles to cope with integrating herself back into high school life, unsure herself whether she was a hero or a villain.

Towards the end of the last school year, Valerie's boyfriend Nick brought a gun to school and hunted down people they'd place on their hate list. He accidentally shot Valerie in the leg as she was trying to stop him and then shot himself. Fully recovered from her injury, Valerie starts back to

Show More

school not knowing what to expect. The police, her parents, and her classmates all thought she was in on Nick's plan, and the media has painted the high school as one big happy family where everyone started to get along after the shooting. With some help from her therapist and a girl at school Valerie slowly starts to accept what Nick did, get over him, and learn how to get on with her life.

Show Less

Are you ready for some serious reading? Because that's what you'll get with Hate List.

Brown, J. (2009). Hate List. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
408 pages.

Appetizer: Valerie Leftman was shot in the leg during a school shooting. She'd been diving at the shooter at the time, but witness

Show More

couldn't tell if she was actually trying to protect another girl, stop the shooter, or protect him.

The shooter was her boyfriend, Nick. They were each other's bright spots in their lives. And they vented their frustration with the school bullies by writing a hate list of the people and things that upset them.

While Nick kills himself, Valerie survives the school shooting. She has to come to terms with what her boyfriend, the person she relied upon most, has done and she must return to school to face the other survivors, most of whom think Valerie is at least partially responsible for the shootings.

The first part of the book is structured with chapters that go back and forth between the day of the shooting and Valerie's first day back to school months later.

The rest of the book deals with the aftermath of the shooting, from the time Valerie wakes up in the hospital and is suspected of having a role in the shooting, to being admitted for psychiatric observation, to looking over some newspaper articles and seeing how the media tended to portray the shootings with biases, to learning to express herself with art, to her meetings with her psychiatrist, to mourning, to finding she doesn't have to go through this alone or run away from her problems and finally to her graduation day.

Intense.

As I was reading through the book, I almost didn't want to write a blog post, since my reactions to this book tended to be on a very personal level.

First off, like everyone else my age, I was in high school when the Columbine shootings occurred. I remember very vividly watching the news reports in class as the reporters arrived on the scene and having one of my more idiotic teachers inform us that Columbine closely reflected the demographics of our own school. So, what happened there could happen HERE. A great thing to tell fourteen and fifteen-year-olds. Just awesome.

I remember having extensive discussions about how, if there were a shooting, which teacher we would run to for protection (Answer: Thor, the aptly nicknamed math teacher).

I remember how a boy who used to wear a long black coat stopped wearing it after the shootings.

I also remember that I stopped adding to my own Burn List that I'd kept in my mind.

In the book, Valerie comes under scrutiny and suspicion from other students after it is publicized on many television shows and in newspaper that her Hate List of her difficulties with her school work, bullies and parents. It's the list that Nick and her grew to share, was what guided Nick when he wandered the commons area of the school looking for people to shoot.

My list was never as concrete as Valerie's in the book. Mainly my mental list consisted of people like "that one guy, who cut off my mom while driving, that one time." (I'd added him to the list at my mom's urging.)

Having this list provided me with comfort, a way of organizing all the things that had been upsetting me. But I 100% nothing/nobody on my burn list would ever end up actually burned.

WAIT! That's a lie. I'm lying to you. There was that one time I burned a few photos of me and an ex at a dance over the sink, with a glass of water nearby. (Safety first!) But that was, like, in senior year. And it didn't help much.

My personal experiences and the content of Hate List book raised a lot of questions for me about warning signs and the way school shooters are publicly viewed. Jennifer Brown does an amazing job of showing Valerie's confusion over Nick's actions--what she always thought were their inside jokes and fantasies about death he took very seriously. Brown does a great job of showing both Valerie and Nick as a complicated characters. When the media and police misunderstood her, I couldn't help but feel outraged for Valerie. How can these people be so mean to each other?!

Likewise, a few of Nick's interactions with Valerie that occurred early in their relationship made me write an "aww, cute" once or twice in the margins. And then I'd have to remind myself, "Wait! This guy is going to be a killer."

Plus, as I was going through this book, I was also reading a book on children's folklore that included these examples of how kids adjust songs like The Battle Hymn of the Republic:

"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school
We have tortured every teacher, we have broken every rule
He have planned to hang the principal, we boarded up the school
Our troops go marching on.
Glory, glory hallelujah, teacher hit me with a ruler
I met her at the door with a loaded 44
And she ain't my teacher no more--
I wonder whyyyyyyy."

Supposedly, versions of children's versions of The Battle Hymn of the Republic have become more violent over the decades as our culture has changed, since "I bopped her on the bean" probably wouldn't have the shock value using a loaded 44 would. Sigh.

I don't remember singing any of the folkloric version of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, but one of my professors did (and in fact, she sang it for us...she went with the slightly less violent version).

I do, however, remember singing some modified version of this Barney song:

"I hate you, you hate me,
Let's hang Barney from a tree.
With a shotgun, boom, right in the head,
Now the purple thing is dead."

To be honest, I only remember singing the first line. I feel like I sang some other version that wasn't in the children's folklore handbook.

So, basically, I was left with questions about how our culture could contribute to a mindset that could cause a shooting, but also contemplating how people need safe ways to express their frustration and anger.

I wasn't left feeling that Hate List gave me any answers to these questions. But I still appreciate that it raised the questions and provided such a complex view of the aftereffects of a school shooting.

But the majority of this book isn't about the shooting. It's about moving beyond the trauma and dealing with the problems that contributed to Valerie's situation. And despite one quirky character that was a little too quirky for me to believe to be real *cough* Bea *cough*, Valerie's experience feels real. (Although, I wasn't too crazy about the last page. I wanted her to do something else after graduation)

Dinner Conversation:

"The scene in the Garvin High School cafeteria, known as the Commons, is being described as "grim" by investigators who are working to identify the victims of a shooting spree that erupted Friday morning" (p. 3).

"After I ignored the third snooze alarm, my mom started pounding on my door, trying to get me out of bed. Just like any other morning. Only this morning was just any other morning. This was the morning I was supposed to pick myself up and get on with my life" (p. 6).

"And then one day I was having a really crappy day and all I wanted to do was get back at everyone who was making it that way. So I got this idea that I would write down all their names in a notebook, like the notebook was some kind of paper voodoo doll or something. I think I had this feeling that just writing down their names in the book would prove that they were assholes and that I was the victim" (pp. 133-134).

"A tear slipped down my cheek and, not for the first time, I ached for Nick to hold me.
"It's just that I feel like such a bad person because even now sometimes I find myself still wishing he was just in jail so I'd get to see him again," I said. Suddenly I was struck with that memory again, Nick holding me down by my wrists on his bedroom floor, telling me we could be winners. Of him leaning in to kiss me. I sat on the couch, feeling more alone than ever before. Feeling colder that I'd ever imagined possible. Feeling like, of all the horror of what happened, this was the worst of it. This was the worst because, even after everything that had been done, I still missed Nick" (p. 207).

Tasty Rating: !!!!

Show Less

1) Character Development: I think the author did a great job of setting up the story and the characters in this book. It starts out in the aftermath of a school shooting and flashes back in time to show what led up to the tragic events. I really enjoyed the way it jumped back and forth because it

Show More

let me get to know the main character, Valerie, in the present time and learn what she was like before everything happened. It definitely helped me to understand her better. It would be so easy to judge someone like her and think, "Why didn't she just leave Nick if all he did was obsess about death?" Nick was her first boyfriend though, the first guy to show interest in her and she didn't want to let go of that. Plus, the good times they shared overshadowed everything in her mind, so that she didn't see trouble looming over her. I can relate to her in that respect; being in a bad relationship, but the fun times make the horrible times seem not as bad. I feel like Valerie was incredibly brave for returning to the same school, where many people hated and blamed her just as much as they did her boyfriend Nick, who actually did the shooting. It's hard to feel bad for Nick after the horrific things he did, but I did feel some sympathy for the fact that he was always bullied. It's not an excuse to go on a rampage and shoot people, but no one should ever have to endure being teased or made fun of. This was part of the author's intent though, I believe; through Val's eyes we were shown a softer, kinder side of Nick, which was a stark contrast to the boy who destroyed so many lives. It makes you think about things in a different light and to look at both sides of the issue. Another couple of characters that bear mentioning are Val's mom and dad. I thought her mom was extremely overbearing at times and didn't always try to see things from her daughter's perspective, but part of me understands why she was that way. She must have felt betrayed and her trust was shattered; this wasn't the daughter she had raised. So in that sense, some of her behavior is understandable. I absolutely despised her father (and I use the term "father" loosely in this case). I can't imagine ever turning my back on my kids, but he had no trouble doing so. I felt really bad for Val that she didn't have both parents supporting her.

2) The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: First, The Good - I loved the set-up of the book, how it jumped between life before and after the shooting. It really kept my interest and made it impossible for me to put the book down. I also liked the overall message of the book and enjoyed seeing Valerie grow and begin to heal throughout the story. The Bad/The Ugly - I hated the ending. I know hate is a strong word and I wasn't looking for a happy "oh everything is all better now" ending, but I was at least hoping for more closure. Instead it made me feel empty inside and I just wasn't ok with the outcome.

3) Relationship: Usually this is my "Sizzle Or Fizzle" question, but obviously in this instance it isn't appropriate. I would like to say, however, that I liked the way we got to know Nick better through Valerie's memories. It was easier to see his good traits and to understand why she fell in love with him in the first place. She was just as appalled and shocked by his actions as everyone else was, but I am able to comprehend why she still needed to grieve over his loss. The boy she had come to know and love was gone and even though he had done horrible things, her feelings for him were genuine and weren't easily extinguished.

4) Uniqueness Of Plot: I've read a couple of books now that dealt with school shootings, but I think they've all touched me in their own way. This one was no exception; it may not have been the most unique plot, but it certainly pulled at my heartstrings.

5) Final Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It made me sad, occasionally it made me smile, but most of all it made me think. Even after I finished reading I couldn't stop thinking about this tragic story; I think that's a sign of a great book, when it stays on your mind long after you read the final page. I think everybody will enjoy this one, but make sure you have some tissues handy!

Show Less

This is one of the best books i have ever read...hands down. i connected so much with Valerie. she put up with some much stuff and she stayed strong through the whole thing. even after her boyfriend of three years started shooting down the school and then turned the gun on himself. she stuck up for

Show More

them and tried to get people to understand that you should treat people better. and Valerie also learned that you shouldn't judge people just because of who your friends are. that at the end of the day everyone was a victim including her boyfriend Nick who was the shooter. this book had so much meaning that anyone and everyone who has been bullied and who was the bully should read this book and look through the eyes of Valerie. if your looking for a good book to read then please pick up this one.

Show Less

This is the most real Young Adult book I have ever read. It may even be the most real book I have ever read. The author touches on so many different aspects of Valerie which resonates with the human heart. Valerie and her story are so multi-dimensional. Without giving anything away, I'll

Show More

recap.

Valerie is a girl who finds herself on the fringes of acceptance. She's not alone and gravitates to a particular group, especially a boy named Nick. Together they have inside jokes, places they go, memories that belong only to them. One one angry day, Valerie starts writing down people and things she hates. It's innocent enough and Nick buys into it, too. They add to the notebook day by day. Over the years, Nick and Valerie become closer and share some happy times together along with some hard times.

One day, Valerie, feeling like Nick was drifting from her, meets up with him before school. She's angry because one of the bullies on the bus broke her MP3 player. Nick says something "Nick-like" and Valerie feels validated and like he's standing by her. He approaches the perpetrator, calls her out, then, with Valerie standing by, he opens fire. In the process, Valerie is shot in the leg and Nick fatally shoots himself.

Valerie started the HATE LIST. Did she know Nick was not joking when he'd talk about death, his own and those they hated? How much culpability does she carry? Did he do it for her? He's gone now and she's not. The community's belief in safety, shattered. Will they blame her? Is she angry at Nick for leaving her? Can she still love the one who hated so much? Can she love and forgive herself? Can others love and forgive her? Who is the media and what are they saying? Is the media perpetrating or healing the damage?

The author adds the family dynamics and the fallout that is so plausible. Each parent provides a different personality and perception that is also multi-dimensional. Incredibly, the author is capable of painting each main character as neither good nor bad, complete nor devoid. Valerie and her reality is so engaging, I immersed myself as completely as possible into this world.

I didn't find that the author had a particular agenda. It's not about stopping bullies but telling a story.

It's an incredibly well written novel. I will be thinking about it and mulling it over in days to come.

Show Less

Life changes when Valerie's boyfriend Nick opens fire at school. Valerie stopped Nick from killing a classmate and got wounded in the process. Due to her part in creating the Hate List, many believe that she is to blame for what happened as well.

This was on my to-read list for a long time and I had

Show More

a feeling that once I'd read this, I'd really enjoy it. And from my review, you can tell that I enjoyed it. A lot.

It wasn't a mind-blowing novel for me, but it was a thought provoking one. The story was nicely written as the characters felt very realistic. At times I wanted to reach into the book to hug a character, scream at a few, or at the very least, strangle two particular characters which is saying a lot.

Hate List is a very powerful novel that I particularly enjoyed a lot, and it kept me reading without stopping to put it down. I enjoyed almost everything in it and I wouldn't mind re-reading it again and again. So it's a favorite.

I do find it strange though, that Valerie decides to re-enter her high school and not change schools. Because, it doesn't really seem like a good idea. Nevertheless, this didn't ruin my reading for this one.

The book was a great take on a hard topic.

Show Less

Valerie created the Hate List, a list of people and things that she hated, including the kids who bullied her and her boyfriend Nick. When Nick opened fire on their classmates, killing several students and a teacher, Valerie was implicated in the crime, even though she was the one who stopped the

Show More

massacre, getting herself shot in the process. Now, she's returning to her school, a school that's supposedly mended its ways and embraced forgiveness. Only, everything's the same. And everything's different. And Valerie just has to figure out how to live with what happened.

I picked up this book and Could Not Put It Down. It's utterly compelling and a fascinating look inside a tragic event. Highly recommended.

Show Less

A riveting, heart-wrenching story. I was gripped by the rawness of Valerie's pain and thoughts as I read The Hate List. I found the story compelling and believable and cried whole-heartedly at the end of the novel.