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A review by wylanslcve
Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel by Val Emmich
3.0
3.25/5
(Review slightly edited on 17/02/22.)
DEH is my favourite musical despite its issues. Evan Hansen, particularly Ben Platt’s phenomenal portrayal of him on stage, is a character I’ve connected with on such a personal level. He does some pretty questionable things, but does that make him a bad person? In my opinion, it doesn’t, and it’s his grey moral compass that makes his character so compelling to me. I live for flawed characters like Evan; he’s not one of my comfort characters just because he’s relatable. It’s also because he’s real. He’s so human. He’s not necessarily a bad person; he’s just flawed as we all are.
But this novel feels somewhat lacking in terms of the emotional depth that makes the musical so dear (no pun intended) to my heart. Not in terms of the plot, because I knew going into it that the subject matter is quite controversial, but in the execution and adaptation.
Without the iconic musical numbers and the stellar performances of the OBC (especially for scenes between Evan and his mother, where Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones had such great onstage chemistry that it was almost like they were really mother and son), the extra emotion and depth of the story is missing. There were some excerpts of certain songs (only ‘Requiem’ and ‘Only Us’) that were included though, which I’m quite satisfied with.
As for the numbers that were removed entirely . . . the author tried to turn them into dialogue but it ended up losing the charm that the lyrics had, and came off as sometimes awkward and unrealistic.
I also have mixed feelings about Conner’s occasional POVs: sometimes, there were slipped right in the middle of intense scenes (such as the scene where ‘Words Fail’ would have played had this been the stage show), causing me to become detached from said scenes and lose some of that intense emotion I developed throughout these moments.
Furthermore, what Evan does is undoubtedly horrible. The musical isn’t afraid to show that through numbers such as ‘Good For You’ and Evan’s internal conflict that the audience can clearly take note of during his conversations with an imaginary Conner. The novel, however, has a rather biased approach to Evan’s actions, constantly attempting to justify them without shedding light on how a small part of him knows that what he does is wrong.
Otherwise, it’s a solid book, but I don’t think I’ll reread it. I will go listen to the musical soundtrack on repeat though.
(Review slightly edited on 17/02/22.)
DEH is my favourite musical despite its issues. Evan Hansen, particularly Ben Platt’s phenomenal portrayal of him on stage, is a character I’ve connected with on such a personal level. He does some pretty questionable things, but does that make him a bad person? In my opinion, it doesn’t, and it’s his grey moral compass that makes his character so compelling to me. I live for flawed characters like Evan; he’s not one of my comfort characters just because he’s relatable. It’s also because he’s real. He’s so human. He’s not necessarily a bad person; he’s just flawed as we all are.
But this novel feels somewhat lacking in terms of the emotional depth that makes the musical so dear (no pun intended) to my heart. Not in terms of the plot, because I knew going into it that the subject matter is quite controversial, but in the execution and adaptation.
Without the iconic musical numbers and the stellar performances of the OBC (especially for scenes between Evan and his mother, where Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones had such great onstage chemistry that it was almost like they were really mother and son), the extra emotion and depth of the story is missing. There were some excerpts of certain songs (only ‘Requiem’ and ‘Only Us’) that were included though, which I’m quite satisfied with.
As for the numbers that were removed entirely . . . the author tried to turn them into dialogue but it ended up losing the charm that the lyrics had, and came off as sometimes awkward and unrealistic.
I also have mixed feelings about Conner’s occasional POVs: sometimes, there were slipped right in the middle of intense scenes (such as the scene where ‘Words Fail’ would have played had this been the stage show), causing me to become detached from said scenes and lose some of that intense emotion I developed throughout these moments.
Furthermore, what Evan does is undoubtedly horrible. The musical isn’t afraid to show that through numbers such as ‘Good For You’ and Evan’s internal conflict that the audience can clearly take note of during his conversations with an imaginary Conner. The novel, however, has a rather biased approach to Evan’s actions, constantly attempting to justify them without shedding light on how a small part of him knows that what he does is wrong.
Otherwise, it’s a solid book, but I don’t think I’ll reread it. I will go listen to the musical soundtrack on repeat though.