Hate List
Ashlyn Kirby
Jennifer Brown
Valerie and Nick have come up with a Hate List,which contains a list of people and things they hate; Valerie sees it as an inside joke between her and Nick. Nick is more serious about the list than Valerie ever thought he would be.When Nick brings a gun to school and starts shooting people, Valerie jumped in front of his next victim and is shot in the leg. After this, Nick kills himself. Once Valerie wakes up in the hospital to face the consequences, she soon notices that she has to take some of the blame for the people who were killed or wounded. With Nick gone, she's really the only one left to face the blame. Five months after the shooting, Valerie returns to school and begins to deal with the loss of her boyfriend, the loss of her friends, her family's current issues, and how it all will affect her future. People now view Nick as a monster, her classmates are stuck between calling her a victim or a part of the whole plan, her friends no longer talk to her, her parents' marriage is ending, her brother hates her, the girl whose life she saved befriends her, and she considers the possibility of attending college even though her name is attached to the tragedy. This novel follows her as she learns to forgive, to stand up for herself, and journey from mental tragedy to mental stability.
My Opinion
Some things I liked about the book were that you could actually feel what the characters were feeling, and it got into great detail abouthow the shooting happened. Some things I didn't like, were how the girl she saved, always hated her after the tragedy, and how her brother was always embarrassed to be with her in public, because he didn't want to be judged.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Yes, I highly recommend this book to everyone. It shows you how you can go from losing everyone you care about, to meeting good people in a place you never thought you would end up. It shows you how to overcome tragedy, and that pain eventually will fade away.