And now, Hate List
Nov. 4th, 2009 01:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyFor the last forever, T.S. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
_hallow_ ) has been going on about his baby, Hate List. The entire summer, I thought I'd go mad every time he mentioned it and then would point out it wouldn't be out until September.
Then September came and I had no money and October came and I had no money... and today I needed something to read while Widget was on the computer. So I riffled through the library bag and found... Hate List. Despite the fact that I'm actually sick (I'm hot then cold and then both and it's annoying to say the least) I read the whole damn thing in about *calculates*four hours? Four and a half? Three. I forgot I took an NCIS break at the start. It's not a short book, which surprised me for some reason. It's a bit of a brick, in fact. 405 pages, I do believe. I've left it in my room so I can't be completely sure, but that sounds right.
Take a good, long look at the cover, folks. Because you're going to need to remember it. Cuz you'll be reading it soon. I say so.
It is, you see, that awesome. I started to cry about *thinks* page 345, and then 402 might've possibly killed me. Again, the numbers could be wrong, but I don't think they are.
If you're too lazy to look it up on Amazon, I shall give you my crappy summary. Hate List deals with the aftermath of a school shooting, as told by the girlfriend of the shooter. The girlfriend who didn't see the signs that are always so obvious in retrospect, who was wounded trying to stop him, and who fears she may have inadvertently pushed him ever closer to the edge.
I liked Val. I always have to start with this when dealing with a book in which I actually like the main character because it happens all too rarely. Usually I want to smack the protagonist until they get a clue. Val's already realized she's painfully clueless, but not obnoxiously so. You cut her some slack because she's been through A Lot, but mostly about the time you start to get ready to yell, she alters course. Things change.
I liked that Val didn't immediately turn on Nick, that because she loved him, it took awhile for her to say goodbye and start to move on.
I loved Val's shrink.
I wanted to bitch-slap Val's father and one of the only things I didn't like about the book is towards the end and Val's thinking she and her father will forgive, just not forget. And given the way he's treated her? I'm not... exactly sure how that would work out. It didn't exactly ring true, and unlike some of the other things that made me pause for a moment, I couldn't chalk it up to, "Well, extraordinary circumstances maybe?"
One of those things would be Jessica befriending Val to the degree that she did. Maybe it's just from years of having been on the wrong side of this equation (though I never did warrant a fun nickname that I'm aware of) that I'm pretty much never going to think that it would work. But I'll accept that maybe things change when someone risks their life (and is shot) trying to save you, even if it isn't necessarily you in particular they're trying to save. Like I said. It gets by with the extraordinary circumstances clause.
I liked the tight-rope walking of Val being seen as a selfish bully and her seeing herself as the victim. Just as you find yourself agreeing with one side, the other side pipes up and makes you think of it in another way. Either that or I'm just very wishy-washy. Maybe?
I couldn't put the book down for long. Long enough to watch an episode of NCIS and give my arm a break from holding the small brick, mostly. It's my favorite kind of book. The kind that picks at your own emotional scars or maybe just your fears, makes you think, and doesn't give you all the answers, but also doesn't leave you hanging, wondering what the hell just happened.
Well. Except for... Jeremy? That does leave you hanging, just a bit.
On my list of things to be forever thankful for? To have managed to escape school before the wave of shootings. Not just the obvious reason (...) but because in their wake? I totally would have been one of those people followed a little too closely. Hell, I remember having a discussion with a few friends about it on a couple of occasions. Those checklists they used to have (and for all I know, still do)? Yeah. I scored badly. To the point that during one of those discussions, someone else pointed it out before I'd even looked at one.
Also, it makes the middle school memory of one particular recess where we discussed the Snob Squad getting taken out a little less, aww, poor little outcasts and more, eeeek!
Anyway. Thumbs. Up. I still plan on going to the store, announcing to whomever rings me up that my friend T.S. helped deliver the book into the world and they should read it. Like, now.
_hallow_ ) has been going on about his baby, Hate List. The entire summer, I thought I'd go mad every time he mentioned it and then would point out it wouldn't be out until September.Then September came and I had no money and October came and I had no money... and today I needed something to read while Widget was on the computer. So I riffled through the library bag and found... Hate List. Despite the fact that I'm actually sick (I'm hot then cold and then both and it's annoying to say the least) I read the whole damn thing in about *calculates*
Take a good, long look at the cover, folks. Because you're going to need to remember it. Cuz you'll be reading it soon. I say so.
It is, you see, that awesome. I started to cry about *thinks* page 345, and then 402 might've possibly killed me. Again, the numbers could be wrong, but I don't think they are.
If you're too lazy to look it up on Amazon, I shall give you my crappy summary. Hate List deals with the aftermath of a school shooting, as told by the girlfriend of the shooter. The girlfriend who didn't see the signs that are always so obvious in retrospect, who was wounded trying to stop him, and who fears she may have inadvertently pushed him ever closer to the edge.
I liked Val. I always have to start with this when dealing with a book in which I actually like the main character because it happens all too rarely. Usually I want to smack the protagonist until they get a clue. Val's already realized she's painfully clueless, but not obnoxiously so. You cut her some slack because she's been through A Lot, but mostly about the time you start to get ready to yell, she alters course. Things change.
I liked that Val didn't immediately turn on Nick, that because she loved him, it took awhile for her to say goodbye and start to move on.
I loved Val's shrink.
I wanted to bitch-slap Val's father and one of the only things I didn't like about the book is towards the end and Val's thinking she and her father will forgive, just not forget. And given the way he's treated her? I'm not... exactly sure how that would work out. It didn't exactly ring true, and unlike some of the other things that made me pause for a moment, I couldn't chalk it up to, "Well, extraordinary circumstances maybe?"
One of those things would be Jessica befriending Val to the degree that she did. Maybe it's just from years of having been on the wrong side of this equation (though I never did warrant a fun nickname that I'm aware of) that I'm pretty much never going to think that it would work. But I'll accept that maybe things change when someone risks their life (and is shot) trying to save you, even if it isn't necessarily you in particular they're trying to save. Like I said. It gets by with the extraordinary circumstances clause.
I liked the tight-rope walking of Val being seen as a selfish bully and her seeing herself as the victim. Just as you find yourself agreeing with one side, the other side pipes up and makes you think of it in another way. Either that or I'm just very wishy-washy. Maybe?
I couldn't put the book down for long. Long enough to watch an episode of NCIS and give my arm a break from holding the small brick, mostly. It's my favorite kind of book. The kind that picks at your own emotional scars or maybe just your fears, makes you think, and doesn't give you all the answers, but also doesn't leave you hanging, wondering what the hell just happened.
Well. Except for... Jeremy? That does leave you hanging, just a bit.
On my list of things to be forever thankful for? To have managed to escape school before the wave of shootings. Not just the obvious reason (...) but because in their wake? I totally would have been one of those people followed a little too closely. Hell, I remember having a discussion with a few friends about it on a couple of occasions. Those checklists they used to have (and for all I know, still do)? Yeah. I scored badly. To the point that during one of those discussions, someone else pointed it out before I'd even looked at one.
Also, it makes the middle school memory of one particular recess where we discussed the Snob Squad getting taken out a little less, aww, poor little outcasts and more, eeeek!
Anyway. Thumbs. Up. I still plan on going to the store, announcing to whomever rings me up that my friend T.S. helped deliver the book into the world and they should read it. Like, now.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-04 06:47 pm (UTC)*does a dance* *looks around library* *sits down slowly, looking innocent*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-05 03:32 pm (UTC)And yay for the book being just as good as I hoped. :D