Review: Dear Evan Hansen

 Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich with Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Steven Levenson
Genre: Young Adult/Theatre  
Length: 368 pages
Publication Date: 9 October 2018
Publisher: Penguin
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  4.5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

ABOUT 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 draws high school senior Evan Hansen into the Murphy 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. And Connor's wealthy parents 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 family, he knows that what he's doing may not 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.
 
He's confident. He's a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. But when everything is in danger of unravelling, 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.

My Review:

Even though Dear Evan Hansen is aimed at the young adult market, it deals with serious and heavy themes. Evan has an anxiety disorder. The first page talks about celebrity suicides, it gives a clear idea the direction of the story. It's an important time for such a novel, and to complement the popular musical. All people, young and old, could benefit from the storyline. And when a letter is misconstrued as a suicide letter, to Evan. Evan finds himself transported from a school nobody to a somebody, with not the expected consequences. It really encapsulated the trouble when trying to tell people what you think they want to hear as Evan balances the lies that help and the truth that hurts.

A very enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to seeing the musical when it comes to London.
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review.