Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Drogi Evanie Hansenie by Aga Zano, Steven Levenson, Justin Paul, Benj Pasek, Val Emmich

31 reviews

saoirse_the_thespian's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

As a fan of the musical, I can say this is a great stage to page adaptation. It is emotional and will have you crying. Also, it uses direct quotes from the musical which is always a nice touch for all the theatre nerds out there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Death

fromjuliereads's review against another edition

I've decided to just dnf. I really don't like the character and some of the decisions for the writing are going to make me dislike the musical. And I love the music so I'm just stopping now. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Death, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicide, and Grief

Fatphobia - not sure if that's what the line was going for so writing it here, but there is a line "of a certain body type" that just rubbed me completely the wrong way. There is a joke about school shootings. The character comes across as stalkerish noticing everywhere a female character goes daily.

homulucy's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love the stage show of Dear Evan Hansen, and I’ve read the book once before…but WOW listening to this was stressful. There were many times where I wanted to yell at Evan to stop lying and being a generally crappy person. 
Jared was the best character in this entire book. He’s so funny and blunt and Evan should’ve listened to him. His reaction to finding out how Evan broke his arm was pure gold.

You fell out of a tree. What are you, an acorn?

The novel gives chapters to Connor, which the stage show wasn’t able to do. It was nice being able to see inside of him past what we see from Evan’s perspective.
The best part of listening to the audiobook instead of reading the book were the additions of sung versions of Requiem and Only Us. It was a really sweet detail, that wasn’t necessary, but enhanced the overall experience of listening to Dear Evan Hansen. They should’ve done that with the other songs, because the other songs get translated into conversation in a way that I found oddly funny. 
Overall, great for both fans and non-fans of the musical/movie.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Self harm, Drug use, and Grief

fluffyfox's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, and Drug use

the_chocolate_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Suicide and Drug use

Minor: Self harm

marlo_o's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, and Death

slightlylostwriter's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use

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. 

Spoiler

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Grief, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cursing and Abandonment

Minor: Antisemitism and Drug use

Child death: It's a teenager (a senior in highschool)

allieos's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Bullying, and Suicide

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Drug use