Play Book Tag discussion

I saw this play when it first came out in NYC which was at least 7+ years ago but maybe not much more. I remember being really engaged and enjoying the play. The book wasn't quite as enjoyable causing me to pause a few times as Evan kept digging the hole deeper. Basically Evan struggles socially, coping with his dad's move to a new state and his second family and just being a teen in high school. His therapist asks him to write daily pep talks to himself in the form of a letter. When the first day of the school year doesn't go well, he writes an overly real letter which is found by another kid Connor. Unfortunately Connor passes with the letter on him and the misunderstandings begin as the family tries to deal with their grief and Evan doesn't feel as alone anymore.

While I really appreciate the awareness and advocacy that this play brought around mental health especially for those in high school and suicide prevention, so much really spiraled farther than it needed to and was hard to get through. Evan kept making things worse at every turn and his co-leaders of the club/ project were funny but terrible. I kept feeling for those actually affected. This one did not translate as well into book form for me.

BWF Tenacious Trailblazers: Letter D; Sad x 24

Jen, I am a bit blind here as I've never read the book and unfortunately haven't seen the play. However, I've experienced what you have a bunch of times - that I like a movie or play better than the book. I know that this runs counter to a lot of readers' experiences. They usually think that the book is better.

For example, I enjoyed both A Gentleman in Moscow and Lessons in Chemistry better as streaming series.

Thanks Holly. Maybe the actor was more charismatic than the character here and interspersing music must have helped. It is a shame. I had no idea that there was a show for A Gentleman in Moscow!