Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel

As a fan of the musical, I can say this is a great stage to page adaptation. It is emotional and will have you crying. Also, it uses direct quotes from the musical which is always a nice touch for all the theatre nerds out there.

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marlo_o's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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james1star's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

I’ve listened to the broadway musical soundtrack for Dear Evan Hansen many times as there are some amazing and inspirational songs on there. I’ve never seen the show version but did recently watch the film which was enjoyable - some issues with the plot that the book shares - and I would recommend… mostly because of the songs thought.

The plot is we follow a first person account from Evan, a senior high schooler, who struggles with social anxiety (and other mental illness but none examined the best apart from his anxiety) and is told by his therapist to write letters to himself. One such letter falls in the hands of fellow student Connor Murphy who thinks it was made to cause a reaction (he’s bullied for being an outsider and having a ‘psycho’ persona) so keeps it. A few days later Evan is called to the principle where Connor’s parents tell him the sad news that their son died by suicide, believing this letter was his suicide note. Unable to come clean, he goes along with it, fabricating a friendship with a spiralling of lies. The novelisation does make some changes and additions but in general it follows the musical with some parts being exact copies.

What I liked was I believe the anxiety representation was quite believable and portrayed well, especially mentions of the ‘fight or flight’ sensation. Evan’s characters was rather developed but not all that multi faceted. Although not really that fantastic - and hence unrealistic - the speech Evan makes was a bit inspiring but it’s impact and message of we’re not alone is good. This is something we should take from the book and hopefully those struggling will reach out and know there are many others in a similar situation and people are there to help. It was quite an easy read as well, no amazing writing but it’s fine and generally an enjoyable reading experience.

The main thing I disliked was how Connor’s suicide was in essence a plot device and vehicle for Evan’s character growth. This representation wasn’t very good in my opinion and all that he essentially benefited from wasn’t properly addressed. I find it quite a stretch for someone’s anxiety to prevent them from saying ‘I wrote the letter’ and instead fabricate a whole friendship and all the necessary lies and effort that comes along with this. This leads Evan to control Connor’s story, their ‘friendship’ before his suicide, their adventures and discussions and also what is being done in his name - yes it’s helping people but the actions fall under a morally grey area that is hard to evaluate - and the way he felt about members of his family. The lies are also quite extreme, totally changing the person Connor was which is just wrong I feel. And the thing that most presses me is how Evan was a total stranger as well and with hindsight this ‘task’ would have been better suited for a different character. The ending was very unrewarding and I think the film did a much much better job.

Something that wasn’t in the film but is referenced multiple times in the book is the stalkery attraction Evan has to Connor’s sister Zoe. It’s not extreme but is most definitely cringy in how he made sure to glance at her and it was like a ‘fix’ he needed. Kinda eww. And so when they begin to have a relationship… umm I dunno? Their chemistry is also very unrealistic, it seemed too soon for something to start up and I personally hated this plot point.

All the characters except Evan weren’t really explored very much. This is most apparent with Alana as the film really adds a likeness to her where in this she’s basically a overachieving do-gooder and her personal feelings of loneliness are a very minor part - her song ‘anonymous ones’ is amazing btw, could totally relate to parts of it. A similar theme is apparent with all the secondary characters: Zoe, Jared, Cynthia and Larry (Connor’s parents), Heidi (Evan’s mum) and Connor himself. The film totally added a level of nuance and complexity to their personality which is touched on here but it’s clearly a story focusing on the character growth of Evan - possibly watching the film prior meant I couldn’t imagine and realise these characters in my head so I was constantly comparing them but still… other books do add depth to the whole cast and in less pages sooooo… yeah.

The characters from Connor’s perspective were my favourite and I believe Emmich really missed an opportunity with this book. These chapters were by far the shortest but a lot more interesting and ones I wish were explored more - there should have been more, made longer and delved deeper into his story. This is particularly the case in introducing us to the character of Miguel (who should’ve been the Evan but alas, it’s not ‘Dear Connor Murphy’) who I just wish could’ve had a larger part. I loved him and how his role could have been a trigger in Connor’s suicide - I’m not blaming him btw! - and there relationship was super intriguing. I really appreciated the inclusion of a queer character and that Connor’s possible queer (bi/pan) identity wasn’t used as a reason for his deteriorating mental health like so many other stories that concentrate on ‘queer shame’ so I am happy but really annoyed that this wasn’t explored more. Such a missed opportunity here, the book was an adaptation of the musical but in essence is just another version with a few minor changes, actually refocusing on - or at least rebalancing the impact of - another character would have been great.

Audiobook specific notes: it was well narrated, clear and the narrators made the story come to life. The two song parts were a little unnecessary unless more were included, especially as some parts of this book were a complete replica of lyrics. I think if I was physically reading this I’d have DNFd it but it was an east listen in the background whilst doing other tasks.

Overall, I wouldn’t really recommend this book. I’m glad I read it but the film adaptation of the show is better in my opinion with more fleshed out characters despite being six hours shorter and is more satisfying. Or if you don’t care for the story - something I am coming to terms with the more I think about it - I’d just listen to the soundtrack which is loads better.

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bookish_manatee's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

I love the soundtrack of the Dear Evan Hansen musical, and it’s gotten me through some rough times. I’ve always had mixed feelings about the story, however, and the book didn’t help that. The writing style was engaging and overall I enjoyed it, but I didn’t like how Evan was written. I found him to be very unlikeable, even if that was meant to make him more realistic. I also didn’t like how the themes of mental illness and suicide weren’t addressed as well as they could’ve been. I did love reading the chapters from Connor’s POV though, and I wish we could see more from him.

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kaylasbookgram's review

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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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paulrichard's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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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unreadbass's review

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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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blubunno's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

La verdad tengo una mezcla bárbara de emociones con este libro, es como que me gustó pero a la vez como que me generaba mucha violencia jaja. Osea me hacía tener mis momentos de bronca pero tampoco podia exactamente culpar al protagonista por sus decisiones, yo sabía que estaba mal pero a la vez entendía como es que llegaba a la conclusión de creer que esa era su mejor opción.
<Spoiler>

Yo no he estado en una situación no remotamente similar por la que pasó Connor y la verdad, como dijo Miguel, siento que él simplemente era sumamente inocente y aunque eso no lo exime de ciertos errores el jamás quiso generarle un daño a nadie. La gente, desgraciadamente incluida su familia, se preocupan más por la opinión y los rumores sobre Connor en lugar de preguntarle directamente sin buscar pelea o meramente tomara el tiempo de conocerlo. Era un chico bueno que por problemas en un principio solo suyos y que luego fueron volviéndose peor por personas externas, acabo por desviarse y cometer un ese acto que sentía era su única salida para dejar de sufrir. Connor solo necesitaba genuina ayuda, con paciencia y comprensión pero las personas de su alrededor no supieron brindarsela por negligencia (los padres y quizás hermana) o porque el mismo Connor no los tenía al tanto de su situación (Miguel). De igual manera tampoco se puede culpar a la familia por todas las desgracias de Connor, si bien era una víctima cometió errores y la familia sufría tanto como él. Sus capítulos eran mis favoritos y me dejaron deseando conocer aún más a ese chico tímido, amante de la literatura y de dibujar que de haber tenido la oportunidad seguramente se hubiese vuelto una gran persona. Él con todos sus defectos fue mi personaje favorito; los demás, incluído Evan, me parecieron neutrales ya que en su mayoría solo se centraban en ellos mismos y/o querían aprovecharse de la situación. Evan al principio no fue así, pero poco a poco fue descarrilando y aún sabiendo que estaba mal no dejaba de embarrarse en vez de tratar de no empeorar las cosas. Pero como dije, tampoco puedo culparlo al 100%. Todos son humanos y casi todos están pasando por momentos difíciles así que se les comprende (menos Jared y Alana, esos si genuinamente me caen mal, más Alana que Jared pero no me parecieron en ningún momento buenas personas y está bien porque no siempre vas a estar rodeado de gente que te sume).

<Fin de spoiler>

En mi opinión toca bastante bien los temas delicados, uno más que otro porque bueno, uno es el protagonista y otro el del coprotagonista. Si bien dejaron el segundo algo por encima creo que es un buen inicio ya que no se suelen leer este tipo de temas en novelas juveniles y definitivamente son temas de lo que hay que hablar muchísimo más. El final me pareció realista y hasta esperanzador, al menos a comparación de como comenzó. Se puede apreciar cómo creció el protagonista y con lo que deberá cargar probablemente por el resto de su vida.

No voy a mentir, esperaba un poco más pero no me decepcionó. Es más hasta la recomendaría para personas que pasan o pasaron por un momento similar, que probablemente fuimos todos nosotros. Todos en algún momento nos sentimos vacíos, solos o literalmente como nadie y el libro ayuda a demostrar que no eres el único y que no deberías estar solo en esto. Fomenta la comunicación para tratar que historias como la de Connor o Evan no sean una realidad.

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