Val Emmich

Steven Levenson

Dear Evan Hansen

Benj Pasek

Justin Paul

From the show's creators comes the groundbreaking, bestselling novel inspired by the hit Broadway show Dear Evan Hansen. Dear Evan Hansen, Today's going to be an amazing day and here's why... When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family's griefover the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend. Suddenly, Evan isn't invisible anymore--even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy's parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend.As Evan gets pulled deeper into their swirl of anger, regret, and confusion, he knows that what he's doing can't be right, but if he's helping people, how wrong can it be? No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. And a website. He's confident. He's a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. Until everything is in danger of unraveling and he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself. A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation.

THE NOVEL

Someone

When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family's grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend.

dear Evan Hansen, you were a very sound novel! 

This read was actually very slow for me (because I’m a slow reader) but I do know that every time I picked it back up I was so intrigued to find out what was next to happen. Evan is a protagonist that we can all relate too especially all the dorks who are introverted. We can feel Evan’s anxiousness, fragility and fatigue. The guy who we know, but always wonder about, Evan fits this role of the protagonist because we don’t want to dislike him, we all know how difficult it is to speak up for ourselves. Good book. 

jai g.

dear Evan Hansen, you were a very sound novel! 

This read was actually very slow for me (because I’m a slow reader) but I do know that every time I picked it back up I was so intrigued to find out what was next to happen. Evan is a protagonist that we can all relate too especially all the dorks who are introverted. We can feel Evan’s anxiousness, fragility and fatigue. The guy who we know, but always wonder about, Evan fits this role of the protagonist because we don’t want to dislike him, we all know how difficult it is to speak up for ourselves. Good book. 

Gracie Marsden

I’ve never seen the musical, but I’ve listened to and loved the soundtrack. This is a beautiful book. If I ever do finish writing a book, I hope it is one as moving and impactful as this one.

honestly the reason i didnt dnf this was because i wanted to see how much evan could fuck this whole thing up more lmao

Katelyn Payne 

Honestly this book was so good and I feel like I’ve seen the musical without ever have seen the musical. If you’ve ever listened to the soundtrack then you’ll notice that there are references to the songs or things that they have said in the songs they say in here. which I really liked that. 

One thing that I didn’t necessarily like was the epilogue because it jumped around the timeline. However, this was most likely because it had a different part for each character and what happened between them and Evan after Evan told the Murphy’s the truth. 

I found this a super easy read and interesting as well. However, if you don’t like swearing then I wouldn’t read this book. There isn’t a whole ton of it, just here and there but it is in the book. 

Overall this was a really good book

Sam Haynie

The Novel

Mark

Looking forward to the musical in the West End even more now.

Victoria Maier 

Evan’s constant lying is frustrating but that’s the point of the story so ehh. 

As a fan of the musical, I found this book added a lot to the story and experience. Defo give it a read if you can!

Jess

This story beautiful.

Evan’s constant lying is frustrating but that’s the point of the story so ehh. 

As a fan of the musical, I found this book added a lot to the story and experience. Defo give it a read if you can!

Susan 

*I don't see much being a spoiler expect the last paragraph*

The only thing I knew going into this book was that it's a musical and maybe one song from said musical.

This book caught my interest early on. I was excited to see where the story would go. Then I reached a little over halfway and was just frustrated. Evan had so many opportunities to be honest yet didn't. I think the reason I got so frustrated is because of how realistic his situation was. We can say we wouldn't lie but until in the situation, who knows what we would really do.

Once again, I did get frustrated with the book towards the end and was thinking it was going to be a two or three star review. The way is was going, Evan wasn't going to come clean and keep on lying. The fact this book didn't have a fairytale ending is what made it four stars. The ending just shows that everything is getting better rather than everything being amazing and perfect.

Kelly

This does differ a lot from the musical, but I think the additional character development added a lot of depth. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

Alexa M

Ivy X

I’ve listened to the musical soundtrack a few times with a general idea of the story. This allowed me to really look at this in depth and I am quite underwhelmed. There are some positives such as how this is actually a very gripping plot and that it has a lot of potential. However, I had some issues.

The characters portraying mental illness were cut from the same cloth and showed very little diversity. They were both loners with a sense that the world was out to get them & that they were so, so different from the rest of the world. While mental illnesses do include these feelings, it seemed odd to me that they made both Evan and Connor so similar when they are in fact fairly different. It was also hard to follow with connors mind with how he feels everyone is out to mess with him when he seems to be a very level headed person in his POV and should recognize when situations are not what they seem. This made his few POV chapters seem like an inconsistency with the character he was portrayed to be when he was alive. And likewise I would have liked to see his POV more.

At the same time I do not understand why Connor was okay with the fact that Evan was pretending to know him and create this fake persona for him in those POV chapters (from connors perspective after he died). That lack of autonomy would’ve pissed me off. If I died and a random stranger kept saying they were friends with me and then starts linking with other people to create this foundation for clout & to look good for colleges and to get with my grieving sister I would’ve been furious. Evan is such a shady character in that regard and the way he talks about the situation like he was made the victim made me tired of his character. He blamed the grieving family for why he ended up lying because “they needed it” & he also seemed really selfish in how he kept lying about Connor & their fake friendship to become a part of this little family unit and to actually date Zoe (connors sister). Zoe deserves better and definitely shouldn’t be with him with this show of character. It would make me so, so angry. At the same time, the side characters like Zoe, Jared, and Alana were very interesting but they never showed depth or development in other ways. They felt very one sided in my opinion. 

And I wish connors POV chapters only ended after he got his closure with Miguel. It seemed like he was searching for Miguel to realize he’s gone and stuff but he never got to see it for himself. And that was frustrating too...Bc why would u walk into the light if u didn’t get what u wanted out of the situation? A lot of things with Connor felt unfinished with left me to think: then why tf did u include his after-death POVs? They could have been interesting but now it feels useless and he didn’t get his full closure and neither did I. 

The book kept me on the hook but it’s also just meh. It has potential to make Evan and Connor feel like real & good people...but idk this ain’t it. But maybe with this sort of plot of pretending to know Connor and lying etc...these characters weren’t gonna be too good anyway.
But I hated that Evans entire personality is based on having no personality & being a depressed, anxious mess. And I hated that his only hope of changing and being saved was having this girl of his dreams that he made out to be better than she actually was love him. I hated the portrayal of mental illness & I def hated how the characters were constantly like “boohoo poor me” with no sense of self reflection and desire to be better. Evan had many chances to fix his mistake but he kept feeding into it...why? Because he’s a shitty human. Goodbye.

runin apologist

jess

BLOG | TWITTER

So I never actually wrote a full review of this book, and I'm procrastinating writing actual reviews so here we go. I was a fan of the musical when it first came out in 2017, bought the cast album, cried over it, etc. I remember sitting in the bathtub with the lights off listening to "Waving Through a Window" for the first time and feeling like someone out there reached into my heart and pulled out all the mess and turmoil that comes with having debilitating social anxiety disorder and depression, and turned it into a song. 

And I guess that's why I like Dear Evan Hansen so much, despite all of its problems: it is, after all, about a teenage boy who exploits a classmate's suicide for his own personal gain. It doesn't have the strongest plot and most of the characters are rather one-sided, but I'd never felt more seen before by Evan's character. 

Val Emmich's Evan is a bit more sullen and angry than in the musical, because we see Evan's thoughts and see him making decisions whereas in the musical it's not as obvious, and when Evan says it outright. Such as the climax of the book: (view spoiler)[where Evan finally lets the secret out. In the musical we get "Words Fail,"

No, I'd rather pretend I'm something better than these broken parts
Pretend I'm something other than this mess that I am
'Cause then I don't have to look at it
And no one gets to look at it
No, no one can really see

'Cause I've learned to slam on the brake
Before I even turn the key
Before I make the mistake
Before I lead with the worst of me
I never let them see the worst of me

'Cause what if everyone saw?
What if everyone knew?
Would they like what they saw?
Or would they hate it too?
Will I just keep on running away from what's true?
All I ever do is run
So how do I step in
Step into the sun?
Step into the sun

And in the book we get this:

I am alone, the way I deserve to be. The way I'm meant to be. A fucking nothing. Unworthy to the core. How could I fool myself into thinking I could be deserving of anything close to happiness? To acceptance? And then fool others into thinking it too? How disgusting and pathetic to want something so badly, so desperately, that I could be willing to do the most heinous things. I am broken. A defective piece that has no match and can never fit into the whole. I tried to pass as something more, but now they see me for what I am. What I've always been.

Which, you know, "Words Fail" is sad, and I can't listen to it on the bus without crying in public, but sometimes you don't realize how much Evan hates himself between Ben Platt's beautiful voice and the gorgeous lyrics and Ben Platt's crying and you're crying and everyone in the theatre is crying. In the book, it's there, all the lyricism removed, the curtain pulled wide open, and it's just. so brutally honest and heartwrenching. 

 (hide spoiler)]

And I can definitely see how people can see Evan as too depressed, too lonely, and too self-hating. But it is, I think, a very real portrayal of being a teenager who's already had to go through years of chronic mental illness, and seeing a whole life of that ahead, and being desperate to do anything to escape from that. 

I liked how the novel fleshes out Connor Murphy more and takes cues from fandom while doing it--in particular, the fact that Connor Murphy wasn't straight, and mentions of self-harm that I'd seen in fandom, which, oops, made me relate even more to the characters in this book. Connor's story is a frank discussion of mental illness that we don't often see in media: a depiction of a middle-class person who suffers from mental illness for no apparent reason except brain chemistry, which I was really grateful to read about. 

Dear Evan Hansen's whole message can be summed up by: you will be found. No one is ever alone. No one deserves to disappear. And despite my personal feelings that "no one is alone" is maybe not entirely true for everyone, it's an uplifting message overall, despite the fact that the method Evan uses to send the message is absolutely a terrible thing. 

All in all: it's a story about mental illness that I could really resonate with, but it's also very heavy--a lot heavier than the musical is, I'd say--and has some very, let's say, morally grey moments from the main character. If you had problems with the musical, it's very likely you will with the book, but superfans will probably enjoy it. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to cry over Ben Platt's voice again. 

content warnings | suicide, self-harm, depression, anxiety, drug use

Tracie McMurray

** spoiler alert **
           I cannot get behind this story. I understand that people who are hurting are prone to hurting others, but this lie takes it too far. How could you fabricate a history with someone who completed the act of suicide? His family. I can’t even. The protagonist goes through something huge and changes, but the story is so completely horrible. You date the dead guy’s sister? Terrible. 

Oh and let’s add music and make it a musical! I was hopeful that this book would be better than the movie, but no such luck. Then I found out it was a musical, then book, then movie. So, what is possibly permissible in a musical became terrible in a book. That’s my opinion. I like the songs okay, but can’t root for the protagonist.

Steph L 

Will give a full review soon. I recommend this book for anyone that loves the musical or for anyone who loves a modern YA tale.

Floofyflower

Since I did not finish it, I don’t think I can rate it. I made it through 4 chapters and then had to stop because the style of writing is not for me. The movie was terrible as well, so at this point I personally feel like the musical shouldn’t have been made into different forms of media. 

Maj Halset

After I started I couldn't put the book down, I was hypnotized! This is the first book in a long time I felt this way. As a teenager, the book was relatable in many ways and the structure of the book itself was perfectly balanced between lyrics from the songs. I haven't seen the show and this book made me feel even closer to the story than I thought I wouldn't because I didn't watch the show.

Rose Larsen

have you ever felt like nobody was there? have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere? read this book, you will be found ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rob Erekson

After really enjoying the musical we decided to listen to an audiobook during a road trip. It adds a lot of detail to that provided by the musical, including a very integral plot point omitted by the musical which makes the struggle of Connor much more sympathetic.

Caitlyn DeRouin

The first time I read the book I didn't leave a review because I wasn't sure how to formulate my thoughts. Now, reading it the second time, and having spent some time doing some intense critiquing of the musical I think I'm able to express my thoughts on the book.

As a standalone, I think the book is a good book. It's well written, easy to follow, and has a clear storyline. As a companion to the musical Dear Evan Hansen, I think that it is mostly unnecessary. The story follows the exact same timeline as the musical, has the same scenes and a lot of the same dialogue, or at least the song lyrics used as the dialogue between characters as opposed to songs. The only addition are the parts where Connor is narrating, watching what is happening after he's died. The book doesn't really add anything to the characterization of Evan, I think he's pretty much the same as he is in the musical. Sure, we're able to hear his thoughts a bit more and really get into what he's thinking/feeling, but truthfully it's pretty clear in the musical. There's nothing added to the characterization of Heidi, Cynthia, Larry, Alana, Jarrod, or Zoe - in fact, sometimes I feel like in the book Zoe, in particular, is even less of a character than she is in the musical. We do get more characterization for Connor, especially since in the musical we're only getting the version of Connor that Evan has created.

Connor's motivations are a bit more clear in the novel. Though we still have no idea what his relationship with Zoe was like, in fact, what we get is Connor basically dismissing what Zoe says about the way that he treated her, but he doesn't clear up what actually happened which really bothers me. I don't like that the writers chose to dismiss what Zoe (who clearly is traumatized but whatever it happened between her and Connor) went through and then didn't give us any inclination as to what happened. We don't get anything from Connor's point of view, or Zoe's, or even a narration explanation, which I think is lazy. The book actually would've been a great opportunity to explore the relationship between Connor and Zoe, and instead, we get another instance where Zoe has no agency and is basically told that what she went through with Connor either didn't matter or she was blowing it out of proportion. It doesn't sit well with me in the musical and it doesn't sit well with me here.

I think mostly what bothers me is that you shouldn't need to write a book about the exact same situation to give us more information about what the characters in your story are going through. We should've been able to get that from the musical. If they had simply added a few scenes into the musical where we got to see who Connor really was, the book would be fully unnecessary. For me, it really just feels like the book was written to profit off of the success of the musical.

Destiny J Tamayo

3.75 
My favorite parts were the insights we get from Connor.

Leonor Estrela

Ler um livro que fala assim de ansiedade é uma lufada de ar fresco. Sem papas na língua, só o sentimento puro do que é sentir que não se tem mão no que se sente. Assim, foi fácil gostar e sentir empatia pelo Evan, mesmo que acabe por não fazer as melhores escolhas. É o que faz de nós humanos e mostra que, por vezes, a nossa “condição” leva a melhor de nós - o que não impede que tenhamos o poder de agarrar a vida com as duas mãos e fazer de tudo para que voltemos a controla-la.
Gostava de ter visto outra coisa na história do Connor, no entanto. Achei que podiam ter “aproveitado” também para ensinar um bocadinho mais sobre a questão da depressão levada ao extremo. 
É interessante perceber as diferenças entre o livro e o musical e ver que cenas é que funcionam melhor num e noutro. Gostei de ver o musical depois de ter lido o livro, mas sinto que, neste caso, o contrário também deve ser interessante (ver diferentes perspetivas do que estava a acontecer).

Dear Evan Hansen

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