Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel by Val Emmich

17 reviews

readwithkel's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This does differ a lot from the musical, but I think the additional character development added a lot of depth. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Addiction and Drug use

hi_im_aj_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Minor: Self harm and Addiction

kaylasbookgram's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“That’s what happens when people leave, I think. When they’re gone, you don’t have to be reminded of all the bad things. They can just stay the way you want them forever. Perfect.”

This book was everything I expected and more. As someone who was a complete nobody in high school I related so much to both Evan and Connor. I understood why Evan did what he did. Because already being at the bottom of the food chain you don’t really want to feed more fuel for the bullies to use against you. I knew from seeing the trailer to the movie I needed to read the book and I knew I was going to cry and be slightly trigger from my rough high school days. I can’t wait to see how well the movie does at remaking this amazing book! 

TW: Bullying. Suicide. Attempt Suicide. Drugs. Alcohol. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

isadreamsof's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I definitely think this is only something you can fully appreciate as a fan of the musical. Supplementary reading, if you will. Dear Evan Hansen doesn’t feel as great without the music, but to the book's credit, it wasn't bad. The strength of the novelization is that the structure gives more nuance to the characters because there's just more time and space for them. The most notable addition, of course, would be Connor's point of view and his backstory, along with the addition of Miguel.

Overall, a good read for a seasoned fan of the stage version, but I'd probably pass on it if I wasn't familiar with the source material. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction and Toxic friendship

Minor: Homophobia

unreadbass's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

sofiajearally's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm biased because I've been obsessed with the broadway soundtrack for two years and was dying to see the musical (thanks Covid :))) : I'm giving the book three stars but I probably would have rated it lower if it had been my first introduction to the story. I was super disappointed.
I found the writing dry and, without Ben Platt's voice, Evan was not endearing to me at all. My favorite parts ended up being Connor's points of view. However, the end of the epilogue was gorgeous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Moderate: Suicide, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

jstarshine16's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Grief, Suicide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Addiction, and Medical content

Minor: Alcohol, Racism, Misogyny, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Stalking