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\t\t\t<\/p>\nReview and summary of the Dear Evan Hansen novel adaptation by authors Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul.<\/p>\n
Spoiler Free Review<\/h2>\n
Dear Evan Hanson is a novelization of the Broadway musical of the same name. It\u2019s written by the same creative team as the musical so it is sure to be accurate if not a little phoned in.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never read a novelization of a musical before so I wasn\u2019t sure what to expect. Honestly, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll read another one. I got the story pretty right based on the soundtrack alone and I think only a few finer details were filled in from the book.<\/p>\n
The soundtrack for the musical is so well scored you pretty much get the whole play in the songs. For every beat of the book I knew what was coming. I have no idea how this book would read if I hadn\u2019t heard the soundtrack first. If you read it without knowledge of the play please let me know in the comments.<\/p>\n
Evan Hansen is a painfully shy teenager filled with anxiety that causes him difficulty just getting out of bed every day. His anxiety becomes heightened when he accidentally gets involved with Connor, another teenage boy, who then commits suicide.<\/p>\n
Evan learns many lessons along the way and the reader gets a glimpse into what being mentally ill as a teenager is like. It hits a lot of the talking points without ever being too edgy or graphic.<\/p>\n
Dear Evan Hansen is a great introduction to this new(ish) YA genre<\/a>. Books about hard to deal with subjects like suicide<\/a> were popularized with 13 Reasons Why. But let me tell you right now, Dear Evan Hansen is far more likely to make you feel warm inside and far less likely to make you want to ugly cry.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a reason Evan Hanson started as a musical. It stays light despite the heavy subject matter. It\u2019s approachable and has as happy an ending as you can expect from a book of this nature. You must remember, the musical came first. It was written for singalongs not for shock value.<\/p>\n That is refreshing once in a while though. We need literature that covers tough subjects that families can feel comfortable reading together. Dear Evan Hansen is perfect for that.<\/p>\n Start a discussion with a family book club! Talk to each other about your feelings. Be honest about your anxieties. Seek professional help if you need to. And maybe just sing together once in a while.<\/p>\n 3\/5 trees \ud83c\udf33\ud83c\udf33\ud83c\udf33<\/p>\n in order to keep me up to my ears in books please consider using the following affiliate links to purchase these products. it\u2019s at no extra cost to you and would really help me out, thank you and happy reading!<\/em><\/p>\n The musical has also been adapted into a movie that could have been great had it not insisted on casting the original actor for the lead. He\u2019s far too old to be playing a high school student and it\u2019s difficult to watch him flirt with a much younger and younger looking actress. Also, they removed one of my favorite songs. Boo.<\/p>\n Dear Evan Hansen is a Broadway musical. It\u2019s now also a novel and a movie. I\u2019ve never read a novelization of a musical before, it was okay.<\/p>\n I love musicals. I love the music in this musical. The book doesn\u2019t have any music, and that\u2019s lame but expected. The book does however fill in all the details of what happens in between the songs and since I\u2019ve still never actually gotten to see the stage play this summary will have to do.<\/p>\n Evan Hansen is a painfully shy teenage boy plagued with crippling anxiety. His therapist recommends that he writes letters to himself. \u201cDear Evan Hansen, today\u2019s gonna be a good day and here\u2019s why\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Super lame but couldn\u2019t hurt to try right? <\/p>\n He\u2019s attending the first day of school with a cast on his arm. He broke it working his summer internship as a forest ranger apprentice. His goal given to him by his mother is to find a new friend to sign his cast.<\/p>\n Evan fails pretty hard at this simple task. He doesn\u2019t even approach anybody about signing the cast. But he does get it signed by the end of the day.<\/p>\n He has a confrontation with a notorious boy from school. Connor Murphy, brother of Zoe Murphy, Evan\u2019s crush. Connor is ostracized as a pothead and is a generally antagonistic loner.<\/p>\n At the end of this confrontation Connor sarcastically signs Evan\u2019s cast in huge letters. Later that afternoon Evan is writing his therapy assignment to himself and prints it off in the library. Connor finds it and is going to bring it to him when he notices that it mentions his sister Zoe.<\/p>\n Thinking that Evan is mocking him he pockets the letter and storms off. Evan proceeds to lose his mind over how embarrassing this will be.<\/p>\n The next day Evan keeps waiting for the bomb to drop. Keeps waiting to find out that Connor leaked the letter to everyone in school. He then gets called to the principal\u2019s office where Connor\u2019s parents are waiting for him. <\/p>\n Very confused, Evan approaches the Murpheys. They tell him that Connor has committed suicide and they found the note that he wrote to Evan. The one headed \u201cDear Evan Hansen.\u201d<\/p>\n In stupefied horror Evan does not deny that the letter was written by Connor. Additionally, the Murpheys are confirmed in their theory that Evan was Connor\u2019s only friend when they see the huge CONNOR signature on Evan\u2019s cast.<\/p>\n This is basically the premise to a dark sitcom. Throughout the whole book Evan continues to dig himself deeper and deeper into a hole just because he is incapable of confrontation.<\/p>\n Evan feels extremely guilty and attends Connor\u2019s wake only to discover no other students show up. He then goes to the Murphey household for dinner to find that Zoe is rightfully suspicious of his relationship with her brother.<\/p>\n In order to keep up the ruse Evan needs some evidence of his friendship with Connor. He grabs his only friend, a jerk who doesn\u2019t even like him, Jared. For a price, Jared agrees to help Evan fabricate some emails.<\/p>\n As everything progresses Evan finds himself getting closer to Zoe. Until he very inappropriately tries to kiss her on her deceased brother\u2019s bed. Bad move.<\/p>\n Students at the school are starting to forget about Connor and the whole incident so Evan, Jared, and an overachiever named Alana come up with the concept for The Connor Project. A way to memorialize him.<\/p>\n Throughout everything Connor himself appears as a kind of ghost<\/a> to observe what is happening in the wake of his death. This is a device that I feel would work much better on stage than in a book. On stage it isn\u2019t weird to have that actor observe the goings on, in a book, just use flashbacks and omniscient narration instead.<\/p>\nDear Evan Hansen Summary<\/h2>\n