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Hate List

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 14,456 ratings · 2,005 reviews

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 force...more

Hardcover, 405 pages

Published September 1st 2009 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

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Oct 11, 2009 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Three words: Powerful, thought-provoking, & riveting.

The story initially jumps between the actual shooting in May and then following September when, Valerie is preparing to head back to school. Then it focuses on Valerie's senior year and the after math of the shooting itself. It's also laced with newspaper articles throughout the first half or so. These aspects really added a certain dynamic to the novel, and made it one that particularly stands out in my mind.

The narrative of this novel is...more

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Aug 08, 2012 Stacia ~ Mistress of Mediocrity rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

3.5 stars. After sitting on my thoughts for a day, I feel like I can't review this book with any sort of polished thought process, so I'm just going to let my fingers type out whatever comes to mind. I think this book probably deserves a 4 star plus rating because it is a story worth telling and a story worth reading, but a few things held me back from going higher.

1. The timing was off for me. Given that my state has been rocked by several shootings over the past several years (the most recent...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-gold-star-award-winner, trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Karin Librarian for TeensReadToo.com

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 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...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Renae M. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Renae by: Emily (Book Jems)

Shelves: read-in-2012, books-i-own, contemporary-or-realistic-fiction

Reading Jennifer Brown’s books in reverse chronological order (by publication date) has been a unique exercise; it’s interesting to see where an author is today, then go back and see where she came from—what her roots are and how she developed her talent. In reading Hate List now, after Perfect Escape and Bitter End, I can appreciate how strong an author Brown is. Even in her debut novel, her talent shows itself consistently, and the emotional bond the reader forges with Valerie Leftman is inten...more

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May 03, 2012 Carly Comtois rated it 3 of 5 stars

Summary of the Story

Hate List is about Valerie Leftman, a survivor of a school shooting where her boyfriend shot and killed students that had been on the two's "Hate List," a notebook filled with names of people and things they hated, and her struggle to put the pieces of her life back together five months later.

(view spoiler)...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Sandra Howard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, realistic-novels

This book reminded me of the song “Pumped-up Kicks” by Foster the People. It goes something like this:

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,
You better run, better run, outrun my gun.
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,
You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

In the song, the shooter’s name was Robert while the guy in this book was named Nick.

Nick was not a violent person.
At first glance, you won’t even think of him as the guy who could do something like this.
He was a ho...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Tammara added it

Brown does a wonderful job of stripping this story to bare facts and then layering the emotions over it, so you can see where the emotions and responses originate.

Protagonist Valerie is suffering the loss of her boyfriend, Nick, a guy she's been with for three years. Nick shot himself after bringing a gun to school and shooting several people, and her (accidentally? no one will ever know), and then himself. Valerie had begun a "Hate List" in junior high, to vent her feelings about being bullied,...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Erica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hate List is one of the most inspiring moving book I've read. I would definitely put it in the same category as Thirteen Reasons Why in terms of incredible, realistic novels. The Hate List characters are scarily realistic with real feelings and emotions that everyone can relate to.

I loved Valerie, and I loved Nick because I understood him. No, I've never been that depressed and upset but I feel his pain and hurt. The author is brilliant in making Nick, no just crazy for killing some students bu...more Hate List is one of the most inspiring moving book I've read. I would definitely put it in the same category as Thirteen Reasons Why in terms of incredible, realistic novels. The Hate List characters are scarily realistic with real feelings and emotions that everyone can relate to.

I loved Valerie, and I loved Nick because I understood him. No, I've never been that depressed and upset but I feel his pain and hurt. The author is brilliant in making Nick, no just crazy for killing some students but a real person hurting. We are aware of this because Nick is originally built up to be this romantic, understanding character. Sure he killed people, but I'm so glad we found two characters (if you we're like me) who understood that Nick deserved to be recognized.

I loved the special moments and flashbacks Valerie had with Nick, they were so happy and wonderful. I'm so grateful for them.

I avoided and held back tears until the final 100 pages. Then I began the crying which didn't end till a while after I finished the book; crying of happiness and crying of sadness and frustration. It was such a beautiful ending. (But to be honest, I really expected Valerie to go to Nick's parents. I was actually very disappointed that we didn't hear from his parents) I also would have loved for us to really get to know Nick more. I loved his character. We heard from Valerie that Nick was caring, we saw a little of it but I was hoping for a little more insight into his live before his death. I thought I also read somewhere that Nick killed himself because he thought Valerie died... Am I imagining this? If someone could let me know that would be wonderful.

I just can't even describe how much I loved this book. I really thought about the school shootings and mass shootings that have happened in the last year or two. That's why this book is so appropriate for the time. I definitely questioned what people had been thinking in the real life events, what would I have done, I have done what Valerie did? It was amazing the reflection questions you could ask yourself while reading this book. Additionally, I've found myself really re thinking when I say casually "I hate this person" "this person is horrible" because that's what Valerie did and her list and thoughts became a reality.

This book was incredible and I fell in love with it. The characters were strong and real! Nothing cheesy, nothing to make you think 'oh this is such a book, too many coincidences'. The only Only issue I have with this book is regarding Nick, I felt it was lacking information about him. Especially when Valerie went to his grave, sure he talked to Duce and that was important, I understand. I just wanted to Valerie so much to talk to Nick's grave, pour out her feelings, say something... And she didn't. Anywho, I loved the book (as I've said 10M times before) and I'm just so happy that I took the chance to read it. I can't wait to read the book again soon and revisit main characters Valerie and Nick :)(less)

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Jun 22, 2012 Joy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hmmm, not too sure how I feel about his one...sadness comes to mind. I read this book a few months back and I never gave it a review so here we are.

Valerie is left with unanswered questions and broken heart after her boyfriend open's fire in the school cafeteria, taking lives, accidentally shooting her, and then taking his own life. Why, is my first question? Now most of us were around when Columbine happened, this reminds me a lot of that.

When I was reading this I felt myself being judgmental...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Aly (Fantasy4eva) added it · review of another edition

Shelves: conflicted-thoughts, its-complicated

With the electricity gone for a good two days and a mere candle to acompany me in a restless night, I spotted HATE LIST which I had purchased well over a year ago. I ignored it really, maybe because I knew it would be a conflicting read.

With HATE LIST I went through an array of emotions. There were the good parts, the bad and the in - between bits. For the most part, I spent the majority of the novel seriously pissed.

I made some notes in my diary for the first time actually. They are on the roug...more

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Aug 04, 2009 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bpl-mock-printz-2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 04, 2013 Afshin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

We all are a little weird..and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible to ours,
we join up and fall into mutual weirdness and call it LOVE...
This is exactly what happened when Nick and Val fell in love :)

I actually ended up adding a "Favourites" shelf on Goodreads after finishing this book.It made me think,what I really see out there..is not necessarily the actual picture.As Dr. Hieler said, " See what's really there." This book makes you stunned and question your actions.It makes you...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Haley Fuoco rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 8th-grade

This book is about a girl in high school named Valerie. Valerie has a boyfriend named Nick. They are not popular and get made fun of a lot. One day Valerie starts this thing called the hate list. The hate list is a list of people that Nick and Valerie hate. Nick soon starts to become extremely obsessed with killing himself and other people. Valerie goes along with it because she didn't believe that Nick was actually going to. One week Nick disappears. When he finally shows up to school he acts a...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Danielle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 100-books-in-2012, bought-in-2012, favorites, pbsb-i-ve-sent

Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, shot up the school. They had been together for a long time and helped one another out when they were bullied. They created a Hate List with the names of everyone who hurt them or affected them. Valerie never thought Nick would take the list so seriously, she never thought he'd do something so drastic. And now the cops thinks she has something to do with it even after Nick shot her as well. Valerie spends a summer hiding away from it all but finally comes out wi...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Jenny Hughes rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jenny by: Book Club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I liked Val. I got a real sense of her personality and her emotional roller coaster. I like the plot and I liked the ending. It is hard for me to accept how badly the parent characters were written. A lawyer dad who never says anything about a policeman interrogating his daughter for days without a lawyer present? Really? And it's hard to believe that he is suddenly so spiteful towards her and acts violently after having no history of that.

I believe the author wants us to really see that Val is...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Wendy F rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, contemporary, gritty, tear-jerker, young-adult, should-be-required-reading

I really dreaded reading this book. I don't even live in a city where a shooting such as this (not even just school shootings, but even the shooting at the Batman premiere), but the idea of such a random brutal act of violence has always scared me.

About a year after Columbine I had a nightmare that I was back in high school and they were walking through and shooting people... we were all lined up in the hallway and I could see the shooter coming up the aisle and I kept saying to myself 'don't l...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Isamlq rated it 3 of 5 stars

Powerful subject, this. Yet, there’s still something lacking. Most of the people here felt totally black or white to me (save Valerie, though). Take the bullies, they’re beautiful and popular and disgustingly mean spirited. Take their victims, who’re all on the fringe. But more than that, what of her friends who are not there. Who distance themselves her and prove to her just how alone she was. Or that mystery bad person who drags Nick lower, where was he in all of this? It’s like one mention of...more Powerful subject, this. Yet, there’s still something lacking. Most of the people here felt totally black or white to me (save Valerie, though). Take the bullies, they’re beautiful and popular and disgustingly mean spirited. Take their victims, who’re all on the fringe. But more than that, what of her friends who are not there. Who distance themselves her and prove to her just how alone she was. Or that mystery bad person who drags Nick lower, where was he in all of this? It’s like one mention of something and that’s it. We’re told and we must accept. I simply hate mentions of one thing or another with no follow up.

The same cannot be said for her family though. Her parents are a disaster. This is clear. The almost unbearable caution of one; then indifference and later harshness by the other… well, that she turns up the way she feels rootless is no surprise. So, when she discovers her mother’s changing feelings for her as well as her father’s , I was absolutely crushed for her. I attempt to see where they’re coming from to this moment and I.STILL .DON’T.GET.THEM. Unforgivable, is all. Her brother was an interesting addition. Good brother, present brother… loyal, but how things eventually turn up, even more crushing.

As to Valerie and Nick, the pair of them~ not that easy to peg. First Nick, more than the perpetrator of the unspeakable, but not just the bullied victim either. In her memories he is romantic and her safe haven. Then Valerie, who is immature and does unwise things, but is so desperate for her place with someone; and she finds that place with him… and doesn’t think things through. So, does she play a part in what had happened? YES. But is she a victim, too? YES, as well. She is in particular is hard to peg because every negative thing she’s called out? Those were true, too. Her father, brother, Nick’s best friend calling her selfish? There was truth to that. But, Bea and her Doctor calling her brave? There’s truth to that too.

My Favorite: Her being told, repeatedly, simply, to look… and to see what was really there.

3/5
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Jan 09, 2010 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hate List is one of those rare finds that leaves you completely stunned and quite literally sends your emotions running around in circles.

As I was reading Hate List I found myself on the edge of my seat wanting to know more about everything in the book. I really loved Valerie as a character, I found myself feeling so bad for her. I hated the way that almost everyone treated her. I think that in a way I found Valerie to be so relatable was because she had flaws and she wasn't perfect, she was a t...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Samantha added it

Hate List has been on my to read list for almost a year now. I should have read it sooner. Oh well, sooner is better than later.

Jennifer Brown gives us a honest and purely genuine character in the form of Valerie Leftman. The incoming senior, has nothing left to loose. Honestly, what could be worse than returning to your high school where only a few months before your now dead boyfriend shot the same people you wrote on a hate list. That is what Valerie had to face. And she faced it with a lot o...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Alyssa Cancilla added it · review of another edition

Hate List is about a young girl named Valerie who is a senior at Garvin High. She falls in love with a boy named Nick. The couple are outsiders at the school and get bullied frequently. They get called names and are constantly insulted by the students. One day they decided to vent their anger in a notebook called the “Hate List”. They write down people’s names that get on their nerves, bully them, and disrespect them. People can get on the list for doing stupid things like drop and iPod. Valerie...more Hate List is about a young girl named Valerie who is a senior at Garvin High. She falls in love with a boy named Nick. The couple are outsiders at the school and get bullied frequently. They get called names and are constantly insulted by the students. One day they decided to vent their anger in a notebook called the “Hate List”. They write down people’s names that get on their nerves, bully them, and disrespect them. People can get on the list for doing stupid things like drop and iPod. Valerie takes the list as a joke, but Nick takes it too completely. One day Nick decides to take a gun to school and shoot all of the people on the list. On accident he shoots Valerie in the leg. After he had shot everyone he needed to he shot himself. The book occurs after the shooting. It mainly focuses on Valerie’s life after the shooting.
The characters were very real to me. They seemed to have a very relatable personality. They did have their weaknesses but overall they were relatable. Valerie was a very interesting girl. You begin to actually see how she has grown since the shooting. She is now a more emotional girl and she is not scared to show her emotions. One of the things that I didn’t like about the characters was that they were overly dramatic in some parts.
My favorite part of the book was the overall theme. The message was a really good reality check for the young adults who would be reading this book. The theme is very good because it makes the teens more aware about how they interact with other students. It shows how little small things can affect others. Just like how the popular people made Valerie and Nick feel bullied. The reason why I didn’t like this book was it took a very long time for something to happen in the book so it began to get boring in the middle.
Jennifer Browns style is crude humor and tragedy mixed into one. Some of the things in the book offended me but overall I liked her style. For me this book was very hard for me to get into and I feel that that was because it didn’t have many small climaxes throughout the book. But, my sister also read it and she felt it was wonderful and she couldn’t put it down.
I would recommend this book to people who bully others and also my friends. I would recommend this book to bully’s for obvious reasons. But, I would make sure that my friends read this book because some of them don’t think before they speak. They always say things that offend me. Sometimes I feel that I would put them on my hate list if I had one.
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May 17, 2013 BrittanyB rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I wanted to like this book more than I ended up doing in the end. The premise was interesting enough: The surviving half of a couple is implicated in the shooting that ended the lives of several students and teachers, and has to learn whether she is to blame, and how to move on with her life. However, once we had seen all the parts of Val and Nick's relationship fleshed out through flashbacks, the story started to drag slightly.

I understand that Val would, of course, continue the mourn the loss...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Sakura Yue Michaelis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1st-person-narration, contemporary, school-college

Such a powerful theme, tragic and delicate. A shooting in a school. By one of the student. Narrated by the girlfriend.

Nicholas and Valeria are an outcast couple. They are bullied, misunderstood by a lot of people, with family problems. They are angry, especially Nick. So they created this 'Hate List' of people they despise. As this is narrated from Valerie's POV, we get to know a little of Nick. He maybe crazy, but he is is also a friend, a lover.

I like that it is not black nor white, and I am r...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

To be honest, I had higher expectations for this book. Yes, it was a good story with a moving plot, but something about it just didn't feel right. Don't get me wrong, I did like this book, but i felt detached from the main character, Valerie Leftman.
Valerie Leftman and her boyfriend, Nick Levil, were a close couple had the same group of friends, and shared the same opinion on people at their school. They also felt the same way towards their parents. Nick and Valerie were bullied. Nick would al...more To be honest, I had higher expectations for this book. Yes, it was a good story with a moving plot, but something about it just didn't feel right. Don't get me wrong, I did like this book, but i felt detached from the main character, Valerie Leftman.
Valerie Leftman and her boyfriend, Nick Levil, were a close couple had the same group of friends, and shared the same opinion on people at their school. They also felt the same way towards their parents. Nick and Valerie were bullied. Nick would always say that they deserved to be powerful, and someday they would be. Valerie agreed, although, she was unsure of what her boyfriend meant. Valerie started the Hate List. A list of people or things she hated, such as people at her school. Nick soon joined in on writing people's names in the Hate List notebook. It started as just a way for Valerie to vent her feelings, and blow of steam. Little did she know that Nick thought of it as something bigger and jt soon developed to be the root of an event that would change Valerie, Nick and the lives of many others, forever.
A school shooting. Thats what Nick planned. He shot kids at their school that were on the Hate List, and even a teacher. The book only gives a few chapter of what happened on that gruesome day. Mostly, the book is the aftermath of what happened to the victims' lives. Valerie had no idea Nick was planning this. She didn't want this to happen. But she felt stupid for not realizing that Nick was up to this.
In the Commons, is where the shooting happens. When Nick is aiming for a girl on the Hate List, Jessica, he instead shoots Valerie in the leg. Valerie stepped in front of Jessica, unaware that she was behind her. Valerie was trying to talk to Nick but ended up getting shot.
Valerie wakes up in the hospital. She is reminded of what happened and is told that Nick committed suicide right after he shot up the Commons. Many people blame Valerie because she was Nick's girlfriend, and afterall, she did start the Hate List.
Something I liked about this book is that the author, Jennifer Brown, didn't give Valerie perfect parents, and a perfect life and all of a sudden, her world comes crashing down on her. In fact, Valerie has the opposite of perfect parents. Her parent blame her, the same as they do Nick. Her mother even says that she isn't worried about protecting Valerie from other people, but she is worried about protecting people from Valerie. Thats what gets me. I don't like it. How could you not believe your own daughter? I mean, yes, I understand that her parents were disappointed in Valerie for creating the Hate List, and mot realizing the signs of Nick being a bad person. But she is their daughter! Their own flesh and blood! She had no idea what was going to happen! When all her classmates , and the media blame her for this, she has no one on her side!! Not evem her parents! Her dad's charachter is a whole different story. He is never their for his daughter and later in the book, we find out, he is cheating on Valerie's mom. Its sick. But I guess thats just another example of how Valerie's life isnt perfect.
Also, after she goes back to school the year after the shooting, Valerie befriends Jessica Campbell, the girl she unintentionally saved. And also the girl who bullied her and Nick and called Valerie "Sister Death". I didn't like how Valerie became friends with Jessica. Yes, it shows forgiveness, peace and healing. Yes, even Valerie is reluctant to befriend Jessica, but that doesn't change the fact that she does become friends with her. If this were me, I most likely would not have befriended Jessica, despite everything that happened. I wouldn't be willing to forgive her for the bullying. But thats just me.
I do recommend this book because it does teach a lesson on respecting others. It also shows that people aren't always what they seem. Valerie saw Nick as her sweet boyfriend with whom she could share anything with. His friends thought he was a cool guy who was fun to be around, despite that he was bullied. And maybe Nick was a sweet guy and a good friend. Maybe he wasn't really a bad person. I'm not saying I don't blame him for the shooting, but maybe it all got to be too much and he lost it. He was ill. It all got to his head and he thought that the only way to solve his problems was to end people's lives, including his own. But that isn't the solution.
Killing is not the solution.
Suicide is never the answer. (less)

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Apr 23, 2013 Pinkie Pie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-read

Hate List was incredible. I bought this book a while ago, before Borders went out of business, even, but it's been sitting on my shelf unread since. I've sort of been afraid to read this book. I knew it was going to be a difficult read, and I knew I would probably cry. But I was wholly unprepared for the emotional roller coaster that is Hate List. And while part of me wishes I hadn't waited so long to read this, another side of me feels like now was the appropriate time to crack the spine becaus...more Hate List was incredible. I bought this book a while ago, before Borders went out of business, even, but it's been sitting on my shelf unread since. I've sort of been afraid to read this book. I knew it was going to be a difficult read, and I knew I would probably cry. But I was wholly unprepared for the emotional roller coaster that is Hate List. And while part of me wishes I hadn't waited so long to read this, another side of me feels like now was the appropriate time to crack the spine because of all that is going on in our country right now.

Hate List is written in two perspectives, one from Valerie's now - after the shooting, after her stay in the hospital, and her return to school. The other is during - a first hand account of the days leading up to the shooting, and finally the actual event itself. It was not easy to read - the chaos and the terror. Jennifer Brown does not shy away from the horrors of what happened in Garvin High's cafeteria the morning of May 2nd, 2008, and I am so glad for it. Maybe she could have left that part out, and just focused on the recovery, but I think without the actual shooting receiving page-time, we would have been missing a large piece of the puzzle. And it's not just the shooting itself that Brown confronts head on in her narrative, it's also the aftermath.

I appreciate the honesty with which Hate List was written. It is unflinching when dealing with the real consequences of a mass shooting. Brown never shies away from the harsh realities the victims have to live with - from the emotional scars that every student now wears, to the physical scars that now paint certain students' faces for the rest of their lives. Even a year after the event, the victims are still barraged by nightmares, they are still afraid of Valerie. Brown doesn't stop there, though. She gives us insight into the families of the victims, from Valerie's parents' crumbling marriage, to the widow of one of the heroic teachers, we are given a glimpse into the lives of the survivors long after the camera crews move onto the next hot story.

One of the best parts of the whole book was Valerie, the main character, boyfriend of the shooter, and a victim herself. She was shot in the leg trying to stop Nick from hurting anyone else. And right after he hurt her, he turned the gun on himself, just inches away from her. She watched her boyfriend, whom she loved, kill himself. She is obviously traumatized by the event, by being shot herself, from the loss of her best friend and confidant, and from struggling with her love for Nick while knowing exactly what he's done. Valerie felt very real to me in a way that very few characters have. She was very honest with herself, and her guilt and turmoil were palpable. How do you move on from something like this? She feels partially responsible for what happened, and also stupid and angry with herself for not seeing any of the warning signs. And she feels guilty for still harboring love for the boy she used to know.

Hate List made me reflect on myself quite a lot. The messages of hate, of recovery, and of forgiveness were not easy to accept. How would I react if I was one of the survivors? What would I do if someone I loved committed such a heinous act? What can I do here and now to stop the ever-present cycle of hate?

I've never read a book quite like Hate List. I don't think I will again. Jennifer Brown was able to create a character to sympathize with, to love and simultaneously suspect, with an unflinching and honest narrative, while remaining neutral and somehow being able to not preach to the reader. I think this is a timely novel, and an important one, too. I highly recommend Hate List for those who are fans of dark contemporary, fans of unreliable narrators, stories of recovery and hope, and those who want a clear look at the consequences of hate and bullying.(less)

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Apr 21, 2013 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

All I could say is, Wow.. Usually, I find flashback ways of writing draggy and quite boring as I am always kept hanging at the end of each chapter which was why I was surprised that I couldn't put this book down.

I loved everything about the book. I actually felt like I was Valerie and like Valerie, I didn't even notice that I (as Valerie) was being selfish because all I thought about was that people should understand Valerie, people should show compassion towards her and other stuff.

SPOILER AL...more All I could say is, Wow.. Usually, I find flashback ways of writing draggy and quite boring as I am always kept hanging at the end of each chapter which was why I was surprised that I couldn't put this book down.

I loved everything about the book. I actually felt like I was Valerie and like Valerie, I didn't even notice that I (as Valerie) was being selfish because all I thought about was that people should understand Valerie, people should show compassion towards her and other stuff.

SPOILER ALERT
When Duce talked to Valerie that day when she first visited the graveyard, what he said stopped me from reading for a second to think and made me realize that Valerie was being selfish or I was too. From the beginning of the book, the characters were already trying to tell us how Valerie really is. One, when Valerie came to school for the first time since the shooting Duce said "Have you visited Nick's grave?" Valerie didn't answer. Then he said, "Visited anyone's grave?". What he means is that Valerie was somehow a part of the shooting, she's the shooter's boyfriend for christ's sake so she should feel the need to apologize or at the very least say goodbye, she didn't get it and so did I.

Then a lot further from that scene, Valerie thought she and Jessica Campbell, her former enemy who became Val's friend when she had none, shouldn't be friends. Jessica tried to talk to her but Val made it clear that she doesn't like her and never did which made the perfect-looking Jessica cry and tell Valerie "You're just selfish Valerie, selfish". I noticed the statement but I brushed it off after awhile until Val made her first visit to Nick's grave later on. She encountered Duce there and once again he tried to tell us what we should know and finally succeeded. (I'll put the statement here later on , couldn't find the book)

Anyway, thank you to Duce. Without him we would've known the wrong answers to certain things that aren't only about the book but reality and life itself. It's that when something bad happens within a mass of people, we should be aware of the fact that we are not the only ones damaged or hurt. Bea is also someone to thank, she thought us that "Life is unfair."

Now why 4 stars? Well, the book still lacked something beneath the awesome plot. We were supposed to know more about Nick but we were only able to know that he was bullied, and that he loves Shakespeare. What led him to decide to massacre people? Sane people won't do that, really. I was sort of waiting for someone to tell us that he had a personality disorder or something but nothing.

The ending/part 4/the graduation ceremony, which we had high expectations for because Valerie and Jessica prepared for it so much, didn't live up to the expectation. It was a bit lame. Jessica and Valerie's speech didn't amaze me at all.

To sum it up, great book. I'm surely going to read more from Jennifer Brown.(less)

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Apr 19, 2013 Ellie Marney rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Jennifer Brown uses straightforward language to reveal an emotionally complex plot. I found this book distressing, powerful and profound. I was about halfway through when I realised that Brown was in no way going to allow her characters to walk a standard road - these aren't characters in a fairytale, they're real people. They have real reactions and emotions, and diverge from the accepted plotline of 'all things will work out in the end', and 'this will be neatly resolved to make everyone happy...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Leah Scheier rated it 4 of 5 stars

I don't care what the author says. This book is about a school shooting. Or rather, the aftermath of a school shooting. So it's really no shocker to anyone who knows me that I grabbed it off the shelf when I saw it. (Next to serial killers I can't think of a topic that interests me more.)
This was an impressive debut novel. Well crafted, good pacing, interesting characters (for the most part). I really appreciated the way the author kept the teen school shooter, Nick, alive throughout the novel,...more I don't care what the author says. This book is about a school shooting. Or rather, the aftermath of a school shooting. So it's really no shocker to anyone who knows me that I grabbed it off the shelf when I saw it. (Next to serial killers I can't think of a topic that interests me more.)
This was an impressive debut novel. Well crafted, good pacing, interesting characters (for the most part). I really appreciated the way the author kept the teen school shooter, Nick, alive throughout the novel, even though the book opens shortly after his suicide. The flashbacks, told from the perspective of his grieving girlfriend, were both poignant and very believable. She gave you a boy that was at once very troubled and yet very human and almost --- dare I say it? Almost likeable. If you can forget the carnage that he causes at the end of his life, that is. I could actually understand why Val, his girlfriend, still missed and loved him, as horrified as she was by his crime.
I had a few issues with the novel.
First, the writing was rough in a few places. Words repeating twice in a sentence where a synonym or substitution would have worked much better. Awkward phrases here and there. Editorial type things.
Second, we are introduced to a character named Jeremy at the beginning of the narrative, a character whom we never actually meet, but who supposedly had a great influence on Nick before he went on his rampage. But then this character, and his role is the whole thing, is quickly forgotten. That seemed pretty sloppy. Either don't bring the guy into the story, or resolve it appropriately.
Lastly, (and I know I'll be a minority here) but, I'm sorry--- Bea, the "purply" artsy fairy godmother of an art teacher really annoyed me. Thankfully she was only in a couple of scenes, but she was one of the most forced characterizations I have ever read. A free-spirited inspirational painter is all very well, but it was as if the author had made Bea swallow every artiste cliche and then topped off the meal with a generous helping of LSD and pot brownies. Not only did Bea not fit in anywhere in this novel, but I couldn't picture Val (or anyone sane) connecting with her at all.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this novel. 4/5 stars(less)

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Mar 18, 2013 Maddie Mashek rated it 5 of 5 stars

I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Review:
Hate list is about the main character Valerie Leftman, who's boyfriend shot her, several students, (as well as himself),and one teacher in a frenzy massacre. It's an intense way to start out a review, but lets go on.

One day, a girl named Val and a boy named Nick had Algebra together, and a bond formed instantaneously. Val was angry about bullying incidents on the bus, and was scrawling down people, places, and things, that she hated. Nick was interest...more I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Review:
Hate list is about the main character Valerie Leftman, who's boyfriend shot her, several students, (as well as himself),and one teacher in a frenzy massacre. It's an intense way to start out a review, but lets go on.

One day, a girl named Val and a boy named Nick had Algebra together, and a bond formed instantaneously. Val was angry about bullying incidents on the bus, and was scrawling down people, places, and things, that she hated. Nick was interested, and joined in to form the infamous "Hate List," It included people and things from numbers one, to over 400 different objects and organisms. Early in the book, Val describes the strong love between them, and how it didn't take long for Nick to ask her out. The bullying progressed on both of them, and one fateful day, when Valerie's most hated enemy, Christy, broke her MP3 player on the bus, she told Nick to confront her. Little did she know that he was armed, and then proceeded to shoot her. All the victims were on "The Hate List," except for a teacher guarding kids, and a girl shot in the arm after being hit with a bullet that bounced off a locker into her. This book kept me wanting more, and I hope you choose to read it.

Main Characters-
Valerie Leftman- started the hate list, still in love with nick, believes he turned into a diffrent person the day of the massacre. Smart.
Nick- Valerie's boyfriend, romantic, shy, killed himself, infatuated with death, murderer
Stacy- Val's best friend since kindergarten, believes she didn't shoot Christy.
Val's mom- emotional, changed since the massacre, caring, feels guilty, didn't like Nick
Note: these characters reoccur as other non main ones occasionally show up.This book goes into real time and then has a sequence of flashbacks.

The dynamic character in this book is Valerie, for the most part. At one point in the book, she states that, "I feel as if their are two parts of me, before and after the shooting. Two puzzle pieces that don't fit together."

I rated this 5 stars because even though it wasn't the most fast moving, it was day-dreamy and beautiful. This is a type of story that I had never read before, and I loved every bit if it. It kept me wanting to read more of it, and I really love books that make you want more and become addictive.

Personal reactions:
The school I in an area similar to where I live, and I really related to the students being strong, and some being overly dramatic like I knew some would be. It makes you look back and ask yourself about what woulda happen to you if this actually took place in your neighborhood.

I would 100% recommend this to others. This look is leaning forwards more of a girls book because its romantic, and sad, it's one that can just make you realize how lucky you really are. It's what fancy book reviewers might call thought provoking. :) This book is for mature readers, and contains drug use/foul language.(less)

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Jan 24, 2013 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Hate List by Jennifer Brown is a story about a girl named Valerie Leftman who goes to a public school called Garvin High School. There, she and her boyfriend get bullied and tormented about the way they dress and act. They unleash the their fury by making the Hate List. The Hate List is a list of names of people they despise, people in their school that bully them, and make their life a living hell. The story starts when Nick snaps after a bully breaks his Mp3. He takes a gun, shooting peopl...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Tahmid added it

In this novel, Valerie Leftman must return to school five months after her boyfriend, Nick, shot the classmates, many of those Valerie and Nick hated and put on a list. Many of the kids and most of the adults think Valerie knew of Nick's plan to kill the kids on the list despite the fact that Valerie saved the life of one girl and was shot herself. On the first day of school, Valerie Leftman fights out of bed, hesitant to face her classmates for the first time since her boyfriend, Nick, shot th...more

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About Jennifer Brown

Two-time winner of the Erma Bombeck Global Humor Award (2005 & 2006), Jennifer's weekly humor column appeared in The Kansas City Star for over four years, until she gave it up to be a full-time young adult novelist.

Jennifer's debut novel, HATE LIST (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009) received three starred reviews and was selected as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a VOYA "Perfec...more

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“Just like there's always time for pain, there's always time for healing.” — 185 people liked it

“Life isn't fair. A fair's a place where you eat corn dogs and ride the ferris wheel.” — 124 people liked it

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