![]() ![]() ![]() 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. ![]()
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