Read this over the duration of my flights yesterday.
Really, I can't say much more than what Brown did in her Author's note, her conversation/q&a session, and on her website.
Valerie was bullied the majority of her school years. When she met Nick, she thought she had met the one person who truly understood her. Just like she was, Nick was bullied, was an outcast, had a crappy home life, and felt like a loser. After another incident in which Valerie was the target of a bully, she starts writing a list of people and things she hated--which grew into the "Hate List" that she shared with Nick.
But Nick took this list seriously. And Valerie, in an attempt to escape who she was and what her life was, didn't see the signs. When Nick opened fire May 2nd, 2008 picking off people on the list, people who had hurt him, who had hurt Valerie, the one person he was closest to had no idea what he had intended to do.
This isn't the story of another school shooting. This is Valerie's story of survival, of redemption, of healing, and letting go and moving forward.
The reader will loathe the way Valerie's family treats her--even though Valerie was the one to stop Nick from killing more people when she dove in front of popular Jessica--Valerie's 2nd biggest enemy--saving her life, and taking a bullet in the leg before Nick turned the gun on himself. Brown's reasoning at the end of her book for the horrifying behavior of her family makes perfect sense--Valerie has to find her inner strength on her own. Fight her fight by herself. Find herself by herself.
Amazing. Unsatisfying ending, but actually perfect for Valerie.
I am looking forward to Brown's next book which deals with a teenage abusive relationship.
