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A review by smittybeans0018
Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel by Val Emmich
3.0
It’s an interesting concept, to make a novelization of a Broadway musical. And I think the material lends itself well to this—Dear Evan Hansen is, at its heart, a painful coming-of-age story.
What I think worked well was the character development and the dialogue, both spoken and internal. Each character is distinct and sensitively realized. You can tell Emmich really paid attention to the source material. I also think the dialogue is believable and well-written, and that Evan’s rich inner world is conveyed perfectly by his extensive inner monologues.
The things that were less well-realized were mainly the sense of place as well as the chapter structure. While the author invests much in the characters themselves—and he should have, if he wanted the novel to be as compelling as the musical—the scenery is barely touched. I feel that the work would have been enriched by more vivid description of setting, like Evan’s room or the school or the characters’ houses. Some description happens, but it’s pretty general. This makes it seem more spare like the set of the musical, but that doesn’t work as well in the translation to novel format. Also, while I liked the interpolary Connor chapters, which gave me more insight into that character than even the musical did, I think their placement felt random and inconsistent. This made the shift of first-person narrative from one character to the other feel a bit awkward.
Overall, though, an enjoyable read. I liked getting to see a novelist’s perspective on these characters and this story, and I especially liked the inspiration lists at the end of the book. It’s always satisfying for me to see what makes artists produce their work. I would recommend this as a quick read to fans of the musical or someone who enjoys a good coming-of-age story.
What I think worked well was the character development and the dialogue, both spoken and internal. Each character is distinct and sensitively realized. You can tell Emmich really paid attention to the source material. I also think the dialogue is believable and well-written, and that Evan’s rich inner world is conveyed perfectly by his extensive inner monologues.
The things that were less well-realized were mainly the sense of place as well as the chapter structure. While the author invests much in the characters themselves—and he should have, if he wanted the novel to be as compelling as the musical—the scenery is barely touched. I feel that the work would have been enriched by more vivid description of setting, like Evan’s room or the school or the characters’ houses. Some description happens, but it’s pretty general. This makes it seem more spare like the set of the musical, but that doesn’t work as well in the translation to novel format. Also, while I liked the interpolary Connor chapters, which gave me more insight into that character than even the musical did, I think their placement felt random and inconsistent. This made the shift of first-person narrative from one character to the other feel a bit awkward.
Overall, though, an enjoyable read. I liked getting to see a novelist’s perspective on these characters and this story, and I especially liked the inspiration lists at the end of the book. It’s always satisfying for me to see what makes artists produce their work. I would recommend this as a quick read to fans of the musical or someone who enjoys a good coming-of-age story.