The really good authors excel at "what if?" What if a teenage girl, used to being bullied, turned to a boyfriend for solace, and the two of them created a list of all the people they wished would "go away?" What if the boyfriend shows up at school one day and began killing all of those on the "hate list?" What if the girl lived? Then what? Much like the Walter Dean Myers book "Monster," this novel explores a horrific act from the viewpoint of someone at the center of the storm. Valerie is a girl in crisis. She doesn't know who she is and desperately needs to understand whether she is hero or villain. The solid writing doesn't answer these questions directly, but lets the tale spin out as it should, leaving the reader to interpret and, perhaps, judge. Told in brutal detail, if this were a movie it would be filmed nearly entirely in close-up. Broken into four parts, the story swings from one time period to another in the initial part, mirroring Valerie's state of mind as she attempts to comprehend events that seem almost surreal. As she gains clarity, the timeline locks into the present. Newspaper clippings reflect a societal viewpoint, while teardrops of varying degrees of darkness open each chapter. The book ends as it should, with only one small sentence jumping out at me as being overly optimistic. It is an excellent novel, and one that will be talked about ... but it was terrifically hard to read. Much like "Lovely Bones" this is not a title I would have selected for myself, but one I read in anticipation of attending a book discussion. Emotionally, it left me totally wrecked. Maybe, as an educator, it was too painful to think about. Maybe, as a person who could see where Valerie was coming from, it was too close to home. There are bright spots in the fog of Valerie's life, but not many. Needless to say, I will be choosing to follow up with something that doesn't leave me with bad dreams. This is a great read, it's just not particularly fun. Brava to Ms. Brown, a young woman who created a stunning debut novel.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
"Hate List" by Jennifer Brown
The really good authors excel at "what if?" What if a teenage girl, used to being bullied, turned to a boyfriend for solace, and the two of them created a list of all the people they wished would "go away?" What if the boyfriend shows up at school one day and began killing all of those on the "hate list?" What if the girl lived? Then what? Much like the Walter Dean Myers book "Monster," this novel explores a horrific act from the viewpoint of someone at the center of the storm. Valerie is a girl in crisis. She doesn't know who she is and desperately needs to understand whether she is hero or villain. The solid writing doesn't answer these questions directly, but lets the tale spin out as it should, leaving the reader to interpret and, perhaps, judge. Told in brutal detail, if this were a movie it would be filmed nearly entirely in close-up. Broken into four parts, the story swings from one time period to another in the initial part, mirroring Valerie's state of mind as she attempts to comprehend events that seem almost surreal. As she gains clarity, the timeline locks into the present. Newspaper clippings reflect a societal viewpoint, while teardrops of varying degrees of darkness open each chapter. The book ends as it should, with only one small sentence jumping out at me as being overly optimistic. It is an excellent novel, and one that will be talked about ... but it was terrifically hard to read. Much like "Lovely Bones" this is not a title I would have selected for myself, but one I read in anticipation of attending a book discussion. Emotionally, it left me totally wrecked. Maybe, as an educator, it was too painful to think about. Maybe, as a person who could see where Valerie was coming from, it was too close to home. There are bright spots in the fog of Valerie's life, but not many. Needless to say, I will be choosing to follow up with something that doesn't leave me with bad dreams. This is a great read, it's just not particularly fun. Brava to Ms. Brown, a young woman who created a stunning debut novel.
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