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.

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This novel is chillingly real.  The way teens treat each other, the way people attempt to heal after a huge tragedy, the inability of people to forgive… all haunting.  The novel made me livid and sad at the same time.  I cried the last quarter of the book, nonstop; it was breathtaking and beautifully written.  It took me a long time to read this novel, which is unusual since I normally read books in one sitting, but this novel rubbed me raw, and I had to read it in installments.  Hate List is a wonderful novel, don’t get me wrong, but it was so vivid and tragic that I needed to read it in small doses.

Brown is a beautiful writer and her story is set up in four parts, combining news articles with segments entailing the morning of versus segments of the present, weaving together this intricate story.  I really enjoyed this writing technique as it added suspense to the novel.  Just as vital information is revealed, the story fast forwards to the present, or rewinds to the past.  I enjoy novels like this because I think it makes the tension palpable.  The fact that the reader doesn’t know Valerie’s exact role in the shooting in the beginning of the novel also helps add to the suspense, and I spent a lot of the novel going back and forth between the guilty and not guilty verdict, just like Valerie’s family and friends. 

Hate List is a very powerful novel, and I enjoyed Valerie’s character very much.  Watching her grow, mature, and ultimately learn to live with herself was fascinating.  Though this novel’s story surrounds a school shooting, it is actually a depiction of Valerie coming to terms with her life and learning that forgiving doesn’t mean you have to forget.  I really enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it to all readers.  Five stars.