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summermay1's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Abandonment
jamiejanae_6's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
emmaward55's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing and Abandonment
Minor: Drug use and Antisemitism
Child death: It's a teenager (a senior in highschool)bookish_manatee's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Abandonment
Minor: Fatphobia
angel06's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
Minor: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
greenlivingaudioworm's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Drug use and Abandonment
onemorechap's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
cadybooks's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
richardw2024's review against another edition
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
TL:DR - if you are a fan of the DEH musical (and can get past the problematic plot of the story), you may like reading this book as it gives some extra backstory to Connor's character. Otherwise, it is a somewhat formulaic YA story with a somewhat problematic plot.
I am going to talk about the musical a bit - as this book started as a musical (and it felt like this was written for fans of the musical) I don't think the book can be reviewed in isolation from it.
Dear Evan Hansen started as a musical (and later musical film) and this is a novelisation of the musical's book (and not the other way around). I had seen the musical before reading the book, albeit it March 2020 when the world was heading into a lock down and maybe that, along with the excellent performances of the cast and the inoffensive but largely forgettable songs that make up the musical made me overlook how problematic the theme of this story is. The musical songs do help you get past this, as they intersperse lighthearted songs (like Sincerely Me) with more serious songs, which somewhat made me not realise the problems with the story, which became more evident in the book. The musical has some good songs including a big "This Is Me" style number (it's basically the same tune and written by the same composers) and there is a hopeful message in the show that a lot of people related to - but that doesn't obviously carry over in a book. This makes reading the book a much more somber experience, and highlights the more challenging aspects of the plot that the musical is somewhat able to get away with (similar criticism was raised about the film - likewise with film there is less place to hide).
Brief spoiler free plot - Evan Hansen is starting high school as a freshman. He has severe social anxiety and his therapist asks him to write letters to himself titled "Dear Evan Hansen today is going to be a great day because..." Evan meets in the library (whilst printing his daily letter) an equally outcast kid called Connor. Connor picks up Evan's letter and takes it home (Evan also has a broken arm and Connor has signed his cast). That night, Connor commits suicide. Evan's letter is found on Connor and Connor's parents believe that they were best friends. Evan (reluctantly at first) goes along with the lie, but then going to extreme of faking email exchanges and uses the lie to start a relationship with Connor's sister and give Evan a sense of family. Another kid called Alanna in the school wants to set up a charity foundation in Connor's memory called The Connor Project which Evan becomes a spokesperson for. Inevitably, the lie is discovered and Evan has to come clean.
And that's it. There is no real redemption ark, no atonement - it just ends.
One thing the book does improve on the original source material of is that there is some attempt at a redemption from Evan after the lie is found out, but more importantly the book gives Connor some backstory. The musical treats Connor as not much more than a plot device and somewhat trivialises his suicide. Learning more of Connor's story was truly my favourite part of the book and I think would potentially appeal to DEH fans.
You could read this if you haven't seen the show or seen the film, but I think it would be a less enjoyable experience and I personally see this as complementing rather than replacing or improving on it. If you don't have access to either (I know not everyone does) then it does give you a good idea of the plot which can help you understand the meaning of the soundtrack better.
I personally found it more enjoyable to play the soundtrack songs at relevant parts in the book - it is easy to work out where the songs come (sometimes they are printed almost word for word) and the book follows the musical almost identically (except for the Connor backstory bits).
I am going to talk about the musical a bit - as this book started as a musical (and it felt like this was written for fans of the musical) I don't think the book can be reviewed in isolation from it.
Dear Evan Hansen started as a musical (and later musical film) and this is a novelisation of the musical's book (and not the other way around). I had seen the musical before reading the book, albeit it March 2020 when the world was heading into a lock down and maybe that, along with the excellent performances of the cast and the inoffensive but largely forgettable songs that make up the musical made me overlook how problematic the theme of this story is. The musical songs do help you get past this, as they intersperse lighthearted songs (like Sincerely Me) with more serious songs, which somewhat made me not realise the problems with the story, which became more evident in the book. The musical has some good songs including a big "This Is Me" style number (it's basically the same tune and written by the same composers) and there is a hopeful message in the show that a lot of people related to - but that doesn't obviously carry over in a book. This makes reading the book a much more somber experience, and highlights the more challenging aspects of the plot that the musical is somewhat able to get away with (similar criticism was raised about the film - likewise with film there is less place to hide).
Brief spoiler free plot - Evan Hansen is starting high school as a freshman. He has severe social anxiety and his therapist asks him to write letters to himself titled "Dear Evan Hansen today is going to be a great day because..." Evan meets in the library (whilst printing his daily letter) an equally outcast kid called Connor. Connor picks up Evan's letter and takes it home (Evan also has a broken arm and Connor has signed his cast). That night, Connor commits suicide. Evan's letter is found on Connor and Connor's parents believe that they were best friends. Evan (reluctantly at first) goes along with the lie, but then going to extreme of faking email exchanges and uses the lie to start a relationship with Connor's sister and give Evan a sense of family. Another kid called Alanna in the school wants to set up a charity foundation in Connor's memory called The Connor Project which Evan becomes a spokesperson for. Inevitably, the lie is discovered and Evan has to come clean.
And that's it. There is no real redemption ark, no atonement - it just ends.
One thing the book does improve on the original source material of is that there is some attempt at a redemption from Evan after the lie is found out, but more importantly the book gives Connor some backstory. The musical treats Connor as not much more than a plot device and somewhat trivialises his suicide. Learning more of Connor's story was truly my favourite part of the book and I think would potentially appeal to DEH fans.
You could read this if you haven't seen the show or seen the film, but I think it would be a less enjoyable experience and I personally see this as complementing rather than replacing or improving on it. If you don't have access to either (I know not everyone does) then it does give you a good idea of the plot which can help you understand the meaning of the soundtrack better.
I personally found it more enjoyable to play the soundtrack songs at relevant parts in the book - it is easy to work out where the songs come (sometimes they are printed almost word for word) and the book follows the musical almost identically (except for the Connor backstory bits).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Mass/school shootings
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