Dear Evan Hansen

By: Val Emmich (with Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul)
Publisher: Poppy
Dates Read: May 23-June 2, 2020
Pages: 358
Source: Own it

Why did I read it?
It was Musical May!  Also, it was 40% off at Walmart and I like the show so I went for it.  

Evan Hansen is a socially anxious teen about to start his senior year with a broken arm.  He goes through school invisible and pining after Zoe Murphy.  An assignment from his therapist turns into a weird opportunity to no longer be invisible.  After Connor Murphy dies by suicide they find a letter on him addressed "Dear Evan Hansen" and suddenly Evan's assignment becomes Connor's last words and an opportunity for Evan to be seen on campus.  

This is the first time I have ever agreed to read anything that was written after a movie (or in this case, a musical).  Novelizations never seemed like a good idea.  Dear Evan Hansen as a story is a good story.  It gives youth an opportunity to learn about people struggling with mental illness and anxiety.  Emmich's writing was good and brought the musical to life on the page.  I wondered how the songs would make their way into the book and there are some creative ways to get song lyrics into the prose.  Overall though, there are not a lot of lyrics/songs that make it into the book.  

The novelization also added some plot and had to make some creative decisions to get perspectives from more of the characters than just Evan.  We get to follow Connor as a sort-of ghost throughout the book.  We get to go deeper into Connor than we do in the musical which is neat.  We get to understand a little more of the misunderstood Connor.  I do feel like some of the decisions they made for Connor were made due to fanfiction (or whatever you would call it) on the internet.  Not that that is terrible, but it almost feels like a lot of the extra story was curated from the fans on the internet and their hypotheses.  Overall, going deeper into some of the characters backgrounds and feelings was nice, but nothing all that wowing. 

The musical also has a very powerful message.  If you are the sort of person who does not get teary during You Will Be Found, Words Fail, or So Big So Small where is your heart?  There was nothing in the book that brought a message this powerful to the forefront.  If all you do is read the book, you might learn a little about mental health, suicide, and grief, but it is not nearly as powerful.  The book was nice, but it is missing the power and importance that is right there on the stage for the taking.  It can be so much more than "don't lie" which is the best that this book comes up with.  

I also wonder if in the addition to a ghost-like Connor it takes away a piece of the permanency of suicide.  After Connor's death, the reader gets to understand his life and the decisions he has made (like throwing a printer at his grade 3 teacher), but in reality no one would ever know.  Death is permanent and I do not want a young person to miss that.  Once you are gone, all we can know about a person is what we have seen and been told.  In the show, Connor dies a monster and is remembered by most (without the influence of Evan) as a monster.  In the book, we have the opportunity to see that Connor was in fact not a monster, but I feel as though it lessens the permanency of death.   Through this we miss the message of asking and listening to see how people are really doing.  We miss the importance of being kind to one another because we don't know their story.  We miss it because the book fills in the holes for us that in real life could never be filled.  I want young people to learn they can reach out and they will be found.  I think the writers want that too but missed the mark.  Maybe the writers have never faced the reality of suicide first-hand, but I fear it's true impact was not fully seen in the book. 


Rating: 3/5

Recommendation: If you have the privilege and opportunity of seeing the musical on stage, always choose that over the book.