Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich - Review

Title: Dear Evan Hansen 
Author: Val Emmich 
Pages: 368
Publishing: October 9th 2018 by Poppy

Synopsis: 

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.

Review: 

When I heard Dear Even Hansen was being made into a novel, my jaw dropped. I was so excited and I immediately put it on my list to watch out for. I was obsessed with the music from the original musical and I still can't get those songs out of my head! The novel sticks pretty close to the musical, and it expands in areas that I thought were important and told the story a little more thoroughly. There were a few slow points in the novel that I think were portrayed better in the musical, but for the most part, it was written extremely well and I enjoyed it from the first page to the last. 

I typically like to pick YA novels that are a little happier, but this novel has such an important message and I thought it was portrayed extremely well. The characters were well written and relatable and I thought the topic of youth suicide was handled well without being glorified like we often see in YA literature. I would highly recommend this novel and the musical. Thank you to The NOVL for sending a copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Rating 3.5/5