Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel by Val Emmich

8 reviews

jamiejanae_6's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

emmaward55's review

Go to review page

sad
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Oof. Those trigger warnings are no joke.

Some quick thoughts: 

Evan was a character that I loved to hate - right until *that* twist in the end. He's inappropriate, makes poor and harmful choices, and prioritizes his own need for comfort over others (even when his narration is insisting the opposite is true). In essence, he's a realistic teenage boy. 

I got such strong secondhand embarrassment from his words and deeds, that reading this book often felt like a minor anxiety attack.

Until like the final 90% or so of the book, I genuinely thought it had been mis-shelved as LGBTQ+. The straight "romance" is excruciating thanks to a certain dramatic irony. 
I dreaded every scene between Evan and Zoe and that KISS? Gross. 
Evan just kept crossing lines so blatant that a person with their eyes closed could have seen them. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bookish_manatee's review

Go to review page

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

angel06's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book has truly changed me. I went into this book not really understanding what it was about, but I’m so glad I gave it a chance and finished it. I definitely was sobbing a lot reading it, but in the end, I was pretty satisfied.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

onemorechap's review

Go to review page

dark sad medium-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

4.25

First things first, I loved the book but I am not interested in the musical because.... I HATE MUSICALS...! Yep, I said that 😅 Please tell me I'm not alone in that 😅

When Connor Murphy finds the letter Evan Hansen wrote to himself as an anxiety excercise, none of them knew Connor would commit suicide. Noone expected the misunderstanding which was caused when the Murphys found the letter on Connor. Evan must have been their son's best friend. Except he wasn't. When they called them in the principal's office to announce Connor's passing, Evan made the greatest mistake of his life... In fear of his classmates discovering his anxiety, he went with the Murphys story. Only when they slowly started to shower him with their love did he realise it was impossible to fix his lie...

I was very absorbed while reading this book, because Evan is a character we don't usually meet in books. His mistakes are huge. They sometimes cause tremendous pain, but also sometimes lead to an undoubtedly brighter world. For me Evan is the proof that "a mean action doesn't make you a mean person". 

And then there is that thing I read that I couldn't agree more with: No one is perfect, but no one should be alone.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cadybooks's review

Go to review page

dark funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

yossy_cookie's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad slow-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

2.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...