Book Review: The Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Title: The hate list 
Author: Jennifer Brown

Series: N/A Stand Alone
Publication Date: October 5th 2010
Publisher: Little, brown books for younger readers

Length: 432 pages
Genre: Contemporary, young adult
RATING: 5/5 *

Links: Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US |The Book depository

Synopsis (From Goodreads)

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.

Review:

A beautifully written and compelling book about letting go of the past and moving on. I loved this book so, so much! This was such an interesting, different concept and had me hooked from the very first page. It is not about a shooting. But about the aftermath caused by it and the recovery of all the victims.

One of the most interesting things about this book was all the flashbacks we had about Nick. We meet him as a funny, good humoured, witty teenage boy before we read about him as a shooter and murderer. This helped me really understand why valerie found it so hard to let go of Nick, to get over this catastrophe. It was because the Nick she knew was not a killer. But a loving boyfriend and best friend. 

The way this book was written, i cant evan describe. Valerie's voice as a character was so strong, that sometimes it was hard to believe that she wasn't a real person. Her thoughts were just so real, so alive that i felt like i was her. Like i was in her head, feeling what she felt and thinking what she thought. It was just so compelling! If you have read The Hate List, you will know exactly what i mean.

Valerie went through a lot of struggles in this book. Struggle with finding herself, struggle with finding out why nick did what he did and struggle with letting go all the grief and guilt that engulfs her after the tragedy. I felt as though Valerie was a strong character, even if their were times when she would run away from the obstacles she had to face. But that didn't matter, she faced so many fears, questions, people and obstacles in this book, hit them head on, that even if it took time for her to do so she was still, for me anyways, a very strong character. Jennifer Brown made her so easy to sympathise with, that my heart warmed to Valerie and everything she went through.

The one thing i have to point out is the lack of character development with all the other characters. Personally i would of liked it if Jennifer went into much more depth, concerning everyone else. But i do understand that this book was much more a character driven book than a plot driven one so i am happy to let this one point slide!

Overall this is an amazing book, and one i would highly recommend it!t So if you haven't GO PICK IT UP! 5 stars!