Dear Evan Hansen - Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, & Justin Paul
Book Review: From the show's creators comes the groundbreaking 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 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.
This is the first audio book that I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. I borrowed it from my library through the phone app, Libby. Originally, I did have it on loan - a physical copy, but I read the first two pages and was not hooked.
Funny enough, a week or two later, I decided to pick it up again, but this time on audio book because of the recommendation of YouTube, HaileyInBookland. Her channel is amazing. She's a Canadian booktuber that does all kinds of fun videos, her content is enjoyable and easy to understand.
Firstly, Mark Evan Hansen (Evan Hansen) is a teenage boy who isn't that popular at school, and suffers from issues of depression.
I laughed so many times while listening.
It's hard to be a teenager, and the people at school don't really make it that easy, unless maybe, you happen to be home-schooled. Finally, someone writes from the perspective of a boy, often in YA there is so many books about teenage girls that boys don't get the representation that they are lacking. This book gave it to them and the Broadway musical is pretty entertaining (from what I've heard).
The only song that I know from that Broadway is Waving Through A Window, and I'm not even 100% sure that is what it's title is. Seriously, the whole time I was listening to the book, I had to fight the urge to put on the soundtrack in the background. It would be a bit distracting, but I can multi-task.
My final thoughts on this book, go out there and read it, or just download a copy from your Libby app or whatever your library uses. Unless you're a fan or would like to read the physical copy, by all means, go ahead and buy or borrow it. Or, if you don't want to read it, then skip it, but I think you'll regret doing so.
Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 Stars!