Hate List does a really good job of weighing the subject matter without being preachy or judgmental. Val’s friendship with Jessica helps Val realize how shallow most of the judgments in the hate list were. Jessica turns out to be this incredibly kind, thoughtful person. During the shooting though, Val saves Jessica’s life, taking a bullet herself, and Jessica proves her only friend when Val returns to school. That’s who Jessica was to Val and Nick, which is why she ended up in the hate list. In most YA novels, the social hierarchy consists of gorgeous, popular bitches who are evil. Hieler helps her recover more than anything else and I think that’s wonderful.Īlso stellar is the friendship that evolves between Jessica and Val. He doesn’t push her to talk about the dark stuff and instead serves as a safe, non-judgmental space, which is so much what she needs. Hieler’s great at what he does and very much not a stereotypical therapist. So often in YA, there’s a subtle or overt mistrust of therapy, and Hate List‘s portrayal is incredibly positive. What I liked best about Hate List was actually the relationship between Val and Dr. Her mood constantly shifts from guilt, for what she feels she helped cause, to hate, at the way everyone treats her even though she didn’t kill anyone. Though Val didn’t know he was going to do it, she feels responsible, both because the hate list was her idea and because she feels like she should have known. For those who don’t know or who need a refresher, Val’s boyfriend of three years, Nick, was the shooter. Val is both victim and possibly perpetrator in the shooting, and, with her as the MC, Brown can weigh the pain of both. The choice of narrator for Hate List is also rather inspired. All of the people involved have to live with that and how are they going to do that? Yes, the school shooting was horrible and sad and all sorts of other bad things, but what happened next is a really important question. As a culture, I think we have a rubbernecking sort of fascination with tragic events, but a tendency not to think about the long-term effects of things. I’ve read at least one novel with a school shooting and I know several more exist, but Hate List focuses on the aftermath, which I think is an excellent authorial decision. One thing that helps a lot is the setting. Obviously a book about school shootings isn’t going to be exactly a fluff read, but, by my standards at least, Brown’s novel isn’t completely depressing either.

Hatelist