"People hate. That's our reality. People hate and are hated and carry grudges and want punishments. . . We can change our reality of hate by opening up to a friend. By saving an enemy. . . In order to change our reality you have to be willing to listen and to learn. And to hear. To actually hear." 
 This book is about the aftermath of a school shooting. While its easy to write something sensationalist about this issue with clear good guys and bad guys, Jennifer Brown goes further, much further than that and writes a story with more truth about this kind of event than the media and even ourselves are ever willing to explore. 
 The story follows Val Leftman, a survivor of the shooting and the girlfriend of the shooter, Nick Levil. While the typical nonsensical behavior of a teenager can make Val seem whiny, her turmoil over her feelings for a man the world hates is deep and thoroughly explored. Nick killed himself during the shooting leaving Val with no explanation and plenty of guilt. Guilt for not being able to help Nick, for not seeing how far gone he was, for unwillingly encouraging him to do what he did, and for despite knowing he was capable of such a monstrous act, still be in love with who he was. 
 There are no villains or heroes in this story. Just people making choices. To be better. To be worst. Val's parents are perhaps the worst of the people in this story as they chose to blame Val for everything including things she has no control over and they're the adults. It's easy to not have to deal with our own inadequacies when we can blame it on others. The way they treat her is both enraging and saddening. 
 The book is ultimately about bullying and the consequences of inaction. For teens I would hope that its a wake up call that treating others poorly because of the way they look or act is wrong. But I hope that anyone who reads it is introspective about their behaviors and the impact they have on others, whether intentional or not because as the book says people hate. But we can be better.