Eva B.’s Reviews > Assassins > Status Update

Oh, Stephen, we're really in it now...

There's something deeply ironic in this of all books being the final thing I read before turning 18. Ending my childhood with a bang lmao

I always forget how good the non-song bits of this are too. Like some musicals really drag in the dialogue scenes but the dialogue scenes in Assassins are ELITE

I'm sure all of the other Guiteaus are amazing but Denis O'Hare is the #1 for me. Rewatching his performance of The Ballad of Guiteau is genuinely chilling. The final beat is the most uncomfortable (in a good way...bad way "award" still goes to Cymbeline) I've ever been watching a show

"Oh, what are your comfort reads?"
Uhhhhh-

Emergency reread to ward off existential dread

Obviously this book is missing Something Just Broke (since it was added later), which I think was a good addition to the show, even if I usually skip the song while listening since it's slower than I generally enjoy. Seeing the every-day civilians reactions to JFK's death breaks us out of the bubble we were in and reminds us that these actions have very very tangible real-world consequences.

"The death of innocence and hope-"
"The bitter burdens that you bear-"
"The bitter truths you carry in your heart-"
"You can share them with the world."
"You have the power of Pandora's Box, Lee. Open it."
This is a very petty complaint but I think Byck should have the Pandora's Box line since that's what he called his plan to kill Nixon, and then Booth just has "Open it."

"Without you, we're a bunch of freaks."
"With you, we're a force of history."
"We become immortal."
"Finally, we belong."
"To each other."
"To the nation."
"To the ages."
"Bring us together, babe."
"You think you can't connect. Connect to us."
"You think you're powerless. Empower us."
"It's in your grasp, Lee. All you have to do is move your little finger..."