Hate List

Hate List by Jennifer Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Hate List is a pretty intense book. It deals with school shootings and the after affects. Jennifer Brown chose a point of view that I feel was lacking in all the books about the horrible things that happen to teenagers any more. Books will usually focus on the victims and how their lives will never be the same after the event, but Hate List is from the point of view of Valerie, who while a victim in her own right, also has to deal with the fact that she might be possibly to blame for what happened.

The range of emotions she has to deal with are shown as she struggles to deal with school, friends, and family, not knowing who thinks of her as another victim, and who thinks of her as one of the perpetrators. A person’s entire life can be changed by an event like this. From a family falling apart to complete isolation and blame. Everyone is affected differently, and I think that it was a smart move on Jennifer Brown’s part to have the main character not solely labeled as a victim. It’s so easy to look at a situation and put people into categories of who deserves our sympathy and who doesn’t, but the world isn’t that black and white. The book shows that it is easy to judge someone on one event in their lives without knowing anything that led up to it. When you really know someone, even in horrible situations like a school shooting, you realize that people don’t just fit into the neat little boxes you try to set them in.

Author: Jennifer Brown
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 1st 2009

View all my reviews