Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Dear Evan Hansen

“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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katelynsteffen's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.0

This book was a lot better and different than I thought it was going to be. It expands on the inner thoughts and feelings of Evan more than we could get in the musical or movie. I am someone who has always been interested in stories of redemption. After you have fallen the farthest you can fall, what does it look like to pick yourself back up and start again, with absolutely nothing? This book expands a lot on that.

A main criticism of the entire Dear Evan Hansen series is that Evan does not face enough consequences for his actions. While I do prefer the movie’s version of how events went down, I think discounting the mental anguish that he ends up suffering and how it does change him for the better would be cheapening that fact that punishment is not always needed for someone to change for the better. He loses everything he had ever wanted and had to wake up every day and face it, as well as most people seeing him as a sellout. While not a tangible punishment, I felt it did it’s job, if not being worse than some form of actual punishment. Because with a punishment, you can say you did your time, whereas Evan had to live every day knowing he didn’t deserve the grace he was getting.

Sometimes the parts where they are trying to fit the songs in are a bit clunky,

and I have some concerns about what impression having Conner’s POV throughout the book even though he is dead might send to readers who are struggling with similar thoughts as him.

Two of the quotes that struck me are:

“Falling. Amazing. I’m still doing it. Telling stories. Even now, standing alone on a dark street, not a soul around, and I can’t even be honest with myself. When will that finally happen? Because there aren’t different versions of the story. There’s only one version. One story. The truth” (DEH the novel, pg 315).

and

“It reminds me of the saying: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I guess that means we’re just products of whoever made us and don’t have much control. The thing is, when people use that phrase, they ignore the most critical part: the falling. Within the logic of that saying, the apple falls every single time. Not falling isn’t an option. So, if the apple has to fall, the most important question in my mind is what happens to it upon hitting the ground? Does it touch down with barely a scratch? Or does it smash on impact? Two vastly different fates. When you think about it, who cares about the proximity to the tree or what type of tree spawned it? What really makes all the difference, then, is in how we land.” (DEH the novel, pg 334).

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onemorechap's review against another edition

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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.

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