3.75/5
Brown's debut novel contains many layers because Valerie Leftman, the narrator, is many things. She is the daughter of parents who fight constantly, a teenager who loved the color pink as a little girl but now only wears black, a high school victim who deals daily with an onslaught of insults from the popular group, an above average student with her eye on college, and much more. All of that changes one May morning when her long time boyfriend walks into school and opens fire killing six people and injuring several more including Valerie. Nick ends his massacre by taking his own life leaving Valerie to deal with the aftermath of his crime and answer for the Hate List - a written inventory of all the people and things they had wished to destroy. Throughout the story, Valerie maintains that she never knew Nick took the list seriously but she is still overcome with guilt about the shootings.
In many respects, I really liked this book. Nick and Valerie's history is told beautifully. The bullying descriptions are authentic. Valerie's psychological struggles after the shooting are told in an unflinching manner. As far as school-shooting books go, this one is top-notch. Still some things seemed a bit unrealistic. The school does nothing to remodel the cafeteria where the shooting take place, physical security precautions such as locked classroom doors and bullet proof glass are not installed until well into the following year, the principal and guidance counselor are stereotypical characters not at all fleshed out. Still the book shines in its ability to reveal all of the relationships in Valerie's life and how they change after the incident. I'd definitely recommend for grades 8 and up.
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