Hate List in Pick-a-Shelf

Mar 21, 2013 Lynai rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, 2013-books

What I love about young adult fiction is that it is very easy to read and the language is easy to follow. It feels like listening to my high school self talk and rant about school, parents, friends, and of course, enemies. Hate List is one such book, and I鈥檓 glad I decided to read it even if none of my GR friends have reviewed it yet. I only got to learn about this book when I was browsing 欧宝娱乐 for some easy reads, and this came up on the suggestions bar. The blurb intrigued me so much What I love about young adult fiction is that it is very easy to read and the language is easy to follow. It feels like listening to my high school self talk and rant about school, parents, friends, and of course, enemies. Hate List is one such book, and I鈥檓 glad I decided to read it even if none of my GR friends have reviewed it yet. I only got to learn about this book when I was browsing 欧宝娱乐 for some easy reads, and this came up on the suggestions bar. The blurb intrigued me so much so that it reminded me of Columbine, an account of which I read (and loved) a few years back.

The story is told in Val鈥檚 POV which made me feel some sort of intimacy with her character as I get to listen to her thoughts and struggles, her confusion and her pain. She narrates the events through a series of flashbacks, shifting between the present time when she has to go back to school again, and the past, particularly May 2, 2008, when the shooting happened.

If I were in Val鈥檚 shoes I would actually feel the same 鈥� confused, afraid, angry, and most of all guilty. I have read that survivor鈥檚 guilt is very common among survivors of traumatic incidents and Valerie has every good reason to feel that way. After all, Nick the shooter isn鈥檛 a stranger to her and she is the one who started the Hate List after all. I can also understand the anger directed by Val鈥檚 classmates towards her when they saw her return to school. They need someone to blame for the killing and since Nick is dead, Val is the most likely target.

My high school was not as hateful as Garvin High and even though I cannot totally relate with all of the hate and angst there are in the students and even in Val, I can still understand why Val did what she did before the killing happened. Bullying is a most prevalent issue in schools these days, we keep hearing about bullying-related incidents on campus, and I think Hate Listcan teach valuable lessons every kid 鈥� and even adults 鈥� should learn.

Hate List not only tackles the issues on bullying and campus killings, but it also tells about what it feels to grow up 鈥� battling loneliness and the need to belong, the feeling of envy, and the journey to self-discovery and self-acceptance. These are issues which I thing every teenager can greatly relate with and probably learn from. This book is a very relevant book and I greatly recommend this to everyone.

鈥淲e only saw what we wanted to see and we鈥idn鈥檛 know鈥he reality of who these people were.鈥�

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Sep 13, 2010 Vesra (When She Reads) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: author-b, h, read-2011, pub-little-brown-books-for-ya

Another good read. #WU2011r

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Jan 15, 2014 Lorna rated it liked it

Shelves: realistic-fiction, young-adult, ala-best-book, yalsa-top-ten

3 1/2 stars...I guess I'm comparing it with Forgive me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick and in my view Quick's book is a more believable story. I did not care for the character, Valarie, although by the end I understood her. Her parents were so not cool. The real hero I think was Jessica and I also liked Dr. Hieler. There were some important messages in the book. Hate is one of the ugliest emotions there is and never comes to any good. You don't really know people like you think you do and fina ...more

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