A review by emmacvetnich
Hate List by Jennifer Brown

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i didn’t expect to love this book and i definitely didn’t expect to cry so hard at the end, but both of those things happened. this was a beautiful story of recovery and valerie ended up becoming one of my favorite characters i’ve read about. to most of her world she appeared to be a hateful girl who got what she wanted. but at the core val was just a deeply hurt person seeking love and protection from her boyfriend, naively creating this list to actualize the pain she was feeling. revenge was a comforting thought, but she didn’t realize that her boyfriend was planning to seriously hurt these people, and the guilt she had to make sense of after the shooting was so complex and confusing, even to the reader. it was difficult not to feel for valerie and want to see her get better. i think part of me was crying at the ending because i can’t believe the story is over and these characters aren’t real people, especially valerie and jessica. their unlikely connection was striking to me and my heart felt so full during their speech. this was an easy 5 star, i really can’t wait to read more jennifer brown :)
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