Hate List

I literally just finished Hate List by Jennifer Brown. It was impossible to wait until a decent time to write this review, so that's why I'm writing this at 12 in the morning. I had to get my thoughts about this book out before they left my head. I actually really liked this book. I can't really put my finger on why, but I did. I can't relate to the main character at all. I have never been through anything she has been through. Absolutely nothing. I haven't been through a school shooting. I've never had a boyfriend who I could see the good side of no matter what other people thought (I haven't even ever had a boyfriend for that matter). My parents have been together for 20-something years and they aren't getting a divorce any time soon. Even not being able to relate to her, I felt sorry for her. Valerie Leftman isn't even a real person and I felt sorry for her. She may not be a real person, but the way Jennifer Brown writes makes her seem real. Jennifer Brown makes Valerie Leftman real. When I read this, I felt like I was reading an auto-biography. I felt like all of this had really happened to a girl named Valerie Leftman. This may be exactly why I liked it, but I can't be sure. It could be anything. The book kept me wanting to read more. It was hard to put this book down. This is also a possibility of why I liked it so much. Like I said, I can't pinpoint my reason for liking it so much, but I liked it. I did actual research on school shootings. Basically, I read a wikipedia article on the Columbine Shooting. The Columbine Shooting and Hate List seem close. Almost like Jennifer Brown was basing the shooting in the book on the actual shooting. I saw a few connections. Only one teacher was killed during both shootings. The shooters committed suicide. Small stuff like that. I noticed two differences between the actual shooting and the book. Nick stayed in one room, The Commons, during the entire shooting, while Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (the Columbine Shooters) went throughout the school. The other was the fact that Harris and Klebold also used bombs, where Nick only used a gun. (If you are wondering, I am looking at the Wiki article as I type this. I don't remember the shooter's names off the top of my head.) This is actually a question I would like to ask the author. I would really like to know if she based the Garvin High School shooting on the Columbine Shooting. It is almost impossible to compare this book to anything fictional. This book is to realistic for comparisons like that. I could compare this book to the non-fiction book, Left For Dead, but I won't. They are completely unrelated books. One is about a ship wreck that left hundreds of sailors on a secret misson stranded in the middle of the ocean. The other is about a girl trying to get over a high school shooting where her boyfriend was the shooter. Like I said, completely unrelated. There is nothing that I have read that I can possibly compare to Hate List (or at least, nothing I can think of right now). I hope that when choosing whether or not to read this book that you will take my words into consideration. This is a very strong book. It is a really good book. Honestly, I wouldn't know who to recommend this book to. I think it should be your choice whether this book is for you or not. I feel I have described this book greatly enough for you to decide whether or not you want to read it. Let me say one last thing: This is not one of those teenage drama stories like The Twilight Saga or some other teen drama story. It is better than that. It is about a teenage girl trying to deal with bullying and family problems while trying to get over a school shooting. It may seem like a teenage drama story, but it isn't. It's more than that. ~Ashleigh