Dear Evan Hansen Published by Penguin Books Limited on October 9, 2018 Genres: Young Adult, Social Themes, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance, Death & Dying, Young Adult Fiction, Performing Arts, Theater & Musicals, Juvenile Nonfiction, Social Topics
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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From the show's creators comes the groundbreaking novel inspired by the Broadway smash hit 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 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.
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.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Why Did I Read?
So I actually didn’t know the premise of this one before going into it! I knew it was a popular Broadway musical and this was the novelization and knew it had gained a lot of love this year. But the synopsis? I knew nothing but as a lover of Broadway and knowing there was a big following, I was eager to see what the fuss was about.
My Thoughts:
This is one of those books that really have an impact on you. It’s a coming of age story about Evan Hansen – a boy who is lonely, dealing with anxiety and an overworked mother, and not really any friends. By a complete mess of incidents, he becomes mistaken to be the best friend of a boy from his school who just committed suicide. He doesn’t mean for the lies to keep going, never meant for things to spiral the way they did but next thing you know, the parents of Connor, his supposed best friend, is relying on him for all sorts of information about their son who’s gone.
Whew. It’s some emotional events to be sure. It’s sad but as we go through Evan’s character arc and his journey, you still have this sense of hope. That no matter what it seems like, you matter. You are not alone and that’s a message Evan gets out to people and eventually realizes applies to himself. I really liked the arcs of the family relationships too – both between Evan and his mom, Zoe and her parents, and felt like it explored a lot of the nuances of parent-child relationships well. I really liked Evan’s coming of age story and can’t help feeling sad as I close the book. But despite the sadness, I still feel like there’s a hopeful message in here and feel like it’s an important book and story.
It did take me a little while to get into, perhaps because the trope of lies spiraling out of control always makes me cringe a bit because I just am waiting for that moment it all comes undone. And it makes me anxious! However, it did surprise me in how I was just wholly wrapped up in the events and I didn’t even have time to be too anxious.
In Short…
I thought this novelization was really well done! I’m currently listening to the Broadway original cast recording and think it does a fantastic job and filling in the holes in the story that I wouldn’t know without watching the musical. This is a great coming of age story – emotional yes, but hopeful too.
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