A review by katelynsteffen
Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel by Val Emmich

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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