New Songs in Movie Musicals

I’m in a very musical theatre mood, so I’ve been watching movie musicals and listening to countless cast recordings, including multiple recordings of the same show. It’s incredibly entertaining to watch and/or listen to multiple versions of the same show for the sake of comparison. It’s amazing how much the enjoyment of a show can fluctuate from something as small as a directorial change or cast swap. However, as I’ve been listening, I’ve been reminded of a larger change, one that seems odd but is actually very common in movie musicals: an added song. In most cases, movie musicals are shorter than their onstage counterparts, and more often than not at least one song from the stage gets cut. It seems odd, then, that there are often new songs in the movies. As a general rule, I’m skeptical of this. I understand additions if there are gaps in the existing material, but it’s harder to justify cutting a popular song for one that is untested (and particularly if the song was added purely as awards bait). It’s certainly true that some of these song swaps are unjustifiable mistakes but, to my surprise, I actually found a few that are not only welcome but actually wonderful.

Without further ado, here are ten movie musicals that, for better or for worse, tried something new.

“What Ifs” from Mean Girls

• Notable songs cut (or drastically shortened): “Where Do You Belong?”, “Meet the Plastics,” “Fearless,” “Stop,” “Whose House is This?,” “More is Better,” and “Do This Thing”
• Song swapped: “It Roars”
• Original songs written by Nell Benjamin and Jeff Richmond
• New songs written by Nell Benjamin, Jeff Richmond, Michael Pollack, and Reneé Rapp

Left: Movie Cady during “What Ifs.” Right: Onstage Cady and Damien during “Stop.”

For the record: I saw the show onstage long before I saw the movie, and went into the film knowing the original songs very well.

I was hyped when I heard about this movie. I like the original movie, but I LOVE the musical adaptation; I followed the production of Mean Girls closely and was excited by most of what I heard. In particular, the casting of Renée Rapp and Jaquel Spivey had me particularly enthusiastic: movie musicals don’t always hire bona fide Broadway vocal talents, and it struck me as a very good sign that this one had. Despite my interest, I didn’t make it to the theatre and therefore had time to read a bunch of online reviews (and get one from my sister) before I saw the show myself. I was warned that the songs have a different feel in the movie than onstage, so I was prepared for it. While Janis and Damien still get to have very theatrical sung moments, most of the other characters have their songs shifted subtly for a less overtly Broadway sound. Their songs are a little more pop-y, more tiktoky. This might be a controversial opinion but I was kind of into it. I absolutely missed the songs that were cut—Spivey is SO GOOD as Damien that cutting anything he would have sung feels like a mistake, and “More is Better” is thematically an important song, not to mention beautiful) but on the whole I really liked the movie. I had a great time with it and will happily watch it again.

With this new direction, “It Roars” doesn’t exactly fit Cady’s vibe… or her voice. It has been said before and often that actor Angourie Rice doesn’t have the vocal dynamism (or, in any case, wasn’t directed to showcase the vocal dynamism) for Cady’s more powerful songs. I’d argue that Janis and Regina are more the protagonists of Mean Girls the musical than Cady is (they have all the best songs! And Janis sings “I’d Rather Be Me,” which is arguably the big solo of the show, the type that would normally be reserved for the hero), but onstage Cady still has some big vocal moments. The movie removes them. Her verses of “Apex Predator” are given to Damien (it’s not the best thematic choice, but it sounds amazing so I’ve forgiven it), “More is Better” hit the wastebasket, both “Stupid with Love” and “Stars” are sung much smaller (except a verse that is sung by a different character), and “It Roars” is swapped for the much meeker “What Ifs.” It’s a cute enough song. It’s pretty, and it has a less theatrical, more popish sound that fits in with what the movie seems to be doing with Cady. The energy after “A Cautionary Tale” drops quickly being followed with “What Ifs,” in a way that I don’t like, but I don’t hate it. I can see movie!Janis singing “It Roars,” but movie!Cady doesn’t have that energy, and that song wouldn’t work with the soft, flat sound she maintains throughout the movie. If you asked me which song I prefer I would take “It Roars” every time, but I get what was intended with “What Ifs” and I wouldn’t call it a failure.

Verdict: A qualified miss

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“Still Holding My Hand” from Matilda

• Notable songs cut: “Pathetic,” “This Little Girl,” “Loud,” “Telly”
• Song swapped: none directly
• Original songs written by Tim Minchin
• New song written by Tim Minchin

Left: The movie’s Miss Honey and Matilda during “Still Holding My Hand.” Right: Mr. Wormwood performing “Telly” onstage.

For full transparency: While I had listened to the original cast recording many times before seeing the movie adaptation, I have never seen the stage version of Matilda.

May 2023 Wrap Up

Between my brother visiting during a vacation from work and my sister coming home from college for the summer, I’ve had a pretty good month. Life is always better when you spend your evenings playing games—board games, card games, video games… I love ’em all—and having most of the family together in a way that, sadly, rarely happens in adulthood. Probably because I’ve spent my time there (and watching TV: Ted Lasso has a vise grip on me) I didn’t spend as much time reading or writing. I reread some old favorites and spent more time in nonfiction than usual, which naturally slows my reading pace. I even tried an audiobook (Becoming by Michelle Obama, but I haven’t finished it, hence its absence from this wrap), so I felt pretty adventurous. I’m hoping to read more this month, or at least get caught up on my reviews, which are unfortunately quite behind.

Here’s what I read:

Solitaire by Alice Oseman (2015 version)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I absolutely love Alice Oseman, and Solitaire was the book that cemented that love; although it is her first book, it is the second one that I read and therefore the one that proved that Radio Silence isn’t a one-hit wonder. I’ve read it several times over the years, and have recommended it as widely as possible considering the circumstances (specifically that, until recently, it hasn’t been readily available in the US, which is where I am). It was time for a reread anyway, but the new US edition seemed as good an excuse as any. It’s such a beautiful novel: sad and angry and raw and so, so human. It is absolutely wild to me that Oseman wrote this when they were a teenager, because it’s the sort of deeply relatable, emotionally nuanced, character-driven work that any writer regardless of age could be proud of. It’s a great book that can stand up to a third reread, but Solitaire absolutely does.

Full review here

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Solitaire by Alice Oseman (2023 version)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

It’s a really great book that can stand up to being read twice in a row/at the same time. I’d already read Solitaire twice when this new 2023 version dropped, and I couldn’t help myself. I got it and decided to compare the versions side-by-side. I read chapter one of the 2015 version, then I read chapter one of the 2023 version, and then I took notes. It was a slow but very rewarding process. As a reader, it was really fun to both revisit an old favorite and experience it in a new way. As a writer, it was fascinating to see the evolution of the novel. Both are great, and if I were to assign points for every change, both versions would get some. I like the ragged edges of the older version, but I like the updated references in the new one. Personally, I prefer the original versions of Nick and Charlie, but I suspect that their slightly altered forms will appeal more to Oseman’s newer Heartstopper-won fans. Either way, either version, I’m going to keep recommending this one.

Full comparison here

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A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

Dear Evan Hansen (Movie Review + How to Fix It)

I haven’t been writing as much about musicals on this blog as I did during lockdown, but rest assured I’m still watching, listening, and obsessing about them IRL. I’ve still made the time to rave about Dear Evan Hansen here on several occasions, having listened to the cast recording on repeat for several years, read the novelization twice, and even getting the chance to see the show live on tour. 

It’s an incredible show, and it’s one that I have a very close emotional attachment to. Everything about it works onstage, from the depiction of mental illness, to the creative staging, to the delicate balance between darkly depressing moments and comic relief. I’ve seen lots of musicals, but this is one of my favorites; I own the OBC recording and have a necklace that says “you will be found” on it both because I love the show and because that’s an important message to remember. It’s therefore unsurprising that I was hotly anticipating the movie adaptation. I adored seeing the show live, and of course a movie couldn’t live up to that, but a great adaptation is something you can watch repeatedly, and it’s an easy way to introduce a show to a new audience. There are lots of people who can’t or won’t buy a ticket for a live performance, but who would rent a film.

Dear Evan Hansen looks like the sort of show that would make for a relatively easy transition from stage to screen, and I was confident that it was in good hands with Stephen Chbosky, who wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower and directed its adaptation. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of my favorite novels, and its nuanced depictions of sensitive subjects like abuse and depression made Chbosky seem like a qualified and natural choice to helm Dear Evan Hansen. Then I started hearing the reviews and got increasingly worried. While perhaps not as universally reviled as Cats, Dear Evan Hansen was not getting good reviews, let alone the Oscar buzz it was probably hoping for. I was reasonably sure that I’d disagree with some of the critiques—lots of people who hate musicals inexplicably like to watch movie musicals and then pan them for having characters who break out in song—and I’m not all that fussed about Ben Platt looking older than high school (what actor playing high school doesn’t? Look at Glee. Look at Grease), but there were things that did legitimately concern me. Why was Larry turned into a stepfather? Why was Julianne Moore, who as far as I’m aware doesn’t have much of a musical background, cast as Heidi Hansen? Then I heard that the movie had cut “Good for You,” and I reacted the way I did when I realized that Cats‘ Mister Mistofelees wasn’t being played by a dancer. 

The reviews almost universally harped on the fact that Evan’s actions are bad and that the movie has a bad message and I was like, “Well, duh. You cut the song that addresses that.” “Good for You” is the moment in the show that really takes a step back from Evan’s POV to look at how he is affecting the people around him. It’s easy to see how Evan gets swept up in the lie, and in the stage show you can see the bigger perspective. You understand how the ball got rolling and why it has to stop. You see the difficult positions that Heidi, Evan, Zoe, Cynthia, and Larry are in. You see how Evan’s actions are both irredeemably selfish and truly well-intentioned. You can see that Evan both harmed the Connor family and helped them, how his lies both erased Connor and built him a legacy. The Connor Project was built on fiction, but it turned into a real movement that helped thousands of people both in the world of Dear Evan Hansen and beyond the show. There is so much beautiful nuance in Dear Evan Hansen, but the people who watched the movie weren’t seeing any of it.

It’s been months since the movie was released, and I finally steeled myself and watched it for myself. It’s a far worse movie than it should have been, but it’s better than its worst critics would have you believe. The most disappointing part of it is just how easy the problems are to fix: increase the pace, reinsert the missing songs, and give Jared more screentime.

October 2022 Wrap-Up

I had an eventful month! Reading-wise I hit kind of a slump—I usually read eight books a month, and this time I only read five—but did get some other important things done. Well, I got one very huge, very important thing done.

After planning it for nearly ten months, I finally threw my sister’s much-belated birthday party. It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill-hang-out-and-listen-to-music party. No, my mom and I planned an elaborate murder mystery inspired by childhood nostalgia (my sister and I wrote mystery stories when we were young) and commercial mystery parties like Hunt a Killer or How to Host a Mystery. This was an all-in endeavor. I wrote a whole story with multiple suspects, all of whom had their own plotlines and motives. I wrote dozens of text exchanges and tweets. I created a printout of an imdb page for the celebrity victim and wrote articles, interviews, and gossip columns. I set up a dummy desktop. I shot security footage using Barbie dolls and my mom bedazzled dresses with secret messages in Braille. My mom created a whole escape room in my sister’s childhood bedroom with puzzles, codes, and cryptograms. It was a massive endeavor and in the end it took three days to play, but it was so much fun. I write all the time, but it’s been a while since I managed carry a project all the way over the finish line… and even longer since I did one I was so proud of. It was both a fun party for my sister and a much-needed confidence boost just in time for NaNoWriMo.

If you have any interest in making this sort of party yourself, The Do-It-Yourself Escape Room Book by Paige Ellsworth Lyman is an invaluable resource that’s full of clever ideas for puzzles and cyphers.

That reading slump was weird, though, particularly considering how many books I’ve been looking forward to were released in October. I suspect I’m going to have a great November of reading, though. The First to Die at the End, Greywaren, I’m coming for you!

Here’s what I watched…

(or jump to the book reviews)

Spooky Movies

Obviously. I watched a bunch of the classics this year, including Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I wasn’t really into Halloween as a young kid because I was easily terrified and I lived in neighborhoods that really leaned into the horror side of the festivities. As I’ve grown up, though, Halloween has become one of my favorite holidays. It’s pretty low pressure, there’s lots of candy, and there aren’t many things I love more than a good cosplay. Also, either I’m less of a wimp these days or Halloween has gotten less scary and more nerdy. This year there were way more Jon Snows and Luke Skywalkers than Michael Myerses or Freddy Kruegers. I saw more Sonic the Hedgehogs than I did scary costumes. It’s so much fun.

My costumes tend to be fun and largely low effort. I’m recognizable if you know what I am, but never a perfect replica. Over the past few years I’ve been Kaz from Six of Crows, David from Schitt’s Creek, Klaus from The Umbrella Academy, and Frodo from The Lord of the Rings. This year I was Lucius from Our Flag Means Death. No one could tell who I was and by the end of the night I was answering to Smee, but I enjoyed my nerdiness anyway… and look at this absolutely incredible pirate ship my parents made out of recycled cardboard! The trick-or-treaters went crazy for it and for Darcy, the cutest little pirate you ever did see.

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Dear Evan Hansen

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

I LOVE Dear Evan Hansen, but I put off watching the critically-panned movie until now because I was worried that the gulf between the stage show and the movie would depress me, particularly since—unlike Cats, another favorite musical with a horrible adaptation—there isn’t an alternate filmed version, a good one, that I could watch afterwards to rinse the bad one from my mind. For better or for worse, the movie of Dear Evan Hansen was going to have to the most recent version of the show in my memory for at least the foreseeable future. The good news is that isn’t not nearly as bad as everyone says. The bad news is that it still isn’t any good. The most frustrating part is that fixing it would have been very, very easy.

Reinstate the cut songs. Increase the pace. Give Jared his full screentime. There are massively easy changes that would have fixed ninety percent of the movie’s issues. It would give POV to the important characters who are unfairly sidelined. It would acknowledge Evan’s role not as a hero but as a well-meaning but extremely flawed protagonist. It would balance the melodrama with lighter moments, giving the movie more emotional variety. It would show the audience that the creative team was aware of the moral iffiness of its protagonist and its plot, and that they weren’t letting him off the hook. There are other problems with the movie that those tweaks wouldn’t fix, of course, but they would have fixed a lot.

Dear Evan Hansen is a wonderful show with gorgeous music that is majorly affecting. It’s one of my all-time favorite musicals because, as a socially anxious person who’s struggled with mental health, it makes me feel seen in ways that very few works have. It’s heartbreaking and funny and beautiful. It’s about birth families and found families and mental health and being there for the people who need it the most. It’s such a special show to me, and it’s so disappointing that the movie adaptation that should have brought the story to so many new fans failed to capture the magic. I wanted this to be a movie I could watch over and over again. I wanted it to be a movie that would tell new people all over the world that #youwillbefound. I’m hugely disappointed at how badly it dropped the ball, and I’m frustrated at how easy it would have been to fix it. 

Full review here

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Heathers: the Musical

January 2022 Wrap-Up

Is it just me, or has this been the longest month in the history of months? Every time I look at the calendar I’m surprised because it feels like it should be at least mid-April by now. It hasn’t been a bad month, exactly, although it’s always depressing to go back to work after a vacation, but somehow life in general has managed to be even more tiring than usual.

Still, I read a few good books and got to see some absolutely fabulous shows! And Darcy continues to be as sweet as ever! Seriously: look at this precious face:

Here’s what I read…

Counting Down With You by Tashie Bhuiyan

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

This is definitely a typical romance for the tropey romance crowd. It gets a few diversity point for having a Muslim heroine, but aside from that there’s not much to recommend. The truth of the matter is that I’m never going to like a romance that plays the fake dating trope straight, and this one did. If you like that trope, you’ll love this. If you’re like me, this is one to skip.

Full review here

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Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

It is actually a total coincidence that I read two romances in a row with the world ‘count’ in the title. Of the two, I preferred this one. It’s still not really my cup of tea, but it is a quick, enjoyable read with likable heroines and a mostly compelling love story. It hinges a bit too heavily on the dreaded unnecessary miscommunication trope so many stories have going for them, but other than that it’s not bad. It is the third book of a series, though. You don’t have to have read either of the other two books (I didn’t even know they existed until after I’d finished!), but it’s still good to know.

Full review here

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Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

My Top Ten Books of 2020

Goodbye, 2020. You will not be missed.

It was a tough year, as everyone knows. I’m in the minority in that I actually read far less this year than I have any other year in the near future. I know I’m lucky to have a job since so many lost theirs this year, but it was tough. I was furloughed for just over a month and then brought back for more hours than I’ve ever worked before. Working longer, later, with fewer coworkers, and with the added stress of a pandemic (around idiots who don’t understand that MASKS SHOULD COVER YOUR NOSE) put a big strain on me. I’ve spent most of this year mentally and physically exhausted and I’m honestly just relieved to have made it to the end. My fingers are crossed that 2021 will be better. It seems like it would have to be, but I’m trying not to be too optimistic, lest my hopes be dashed by the unfortunate truth that things can always get worse.

Still, I did a decent amount of reading. I expanded my horizons a bit and read more adult and nonfiction books than I normally do. I made my stated book goal (75 books) but did not maintain my aspirational goal to read 10% classics.

Of my 82 books, I read

• 4 Junior Fiction/Young Reader Books (4.8%)
• 47 YA fiction novels (57%)
• 30 adult novels (36.5%)
• 4 nonfiction books, of which 3 were memoirs (4.8%/3.6%)
• 1 book of poetry (1.2%)
• 3 graphic novels (3.6%)
• 30 sci-fi, fantasy, or dystopian novels (36.5%)
• 12 historical fiction books (14.6%)
• 2 mysteries or thrillers (2.4%)
• 34 contemporary novels (41.4%)
• 6 classics (7.3%)
• 14 rereads (17%)
• 68 new-to-me books (83%)

I try to expand my reading horizons all the time, but every time I do I come to the same conclusion: I keep reading the same types of books because I consistently like them the best. I’ve been running this blog for four years now, so this is my fourth time doing an end-of-year top ten. I read more widely this year, but my list looks very similar to the previous ones. It’s almost exclusively YA, with fantasy novels and contemporary stories that tell diverse stories doing particularly well. There are even repeat authors. Adam Silvera, Alice Oseman, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Patrick Ness have all made this list before. What can I say? I’m a loyal fan.

While these books may not be the “best” books that I read this year from scholarly standpoint, they are the ones I enjoyed the most. Classics aren’t given any more weight than trashy romances. This is all my opinion. I only have two rules:

• Only new-to-me books are counted; books I reread are not eligible to be on either my top or bottom ten lists (as this would skew the top list and cause too many repetitions; I only reread books I love); books do not have to be new in 2020… only new to me.
• Authors can only appear on the list once

I did reread some great books, though. As always, here’s a shoutout to some of my favorite rereads!

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But a brief shoutout is all they get today, because this post is about the books I discovered this year. I did rank them, but ranking is a fiddly thing. These were definitely my top reads this year, but the actual numbering was really difficult and there definitely would be some slight differences in ordering if I’d done this at a different time. In any case, these novels are all excellent and I highly recommend all of them.

#10) Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

YA fantasy

More than anything else, Cemetery Boys is a novel that winds together diverse cultures and makes something entirely new. The main character is a trans, Latino brujo (wizard, essentially) who accidentally summons the wrong ghost in an attempt to prove himself through a magical ritual. If that description doesn’t catch you, then you definitely have different tastes than I do. Cemetery Boys blends questions of identity and acceptance with an inventive fantasy adventure. I read a lot of fantasy, and it’s exciting to come across one that feels as fresh and richly drawn as this one. Thomas balances fantasy adventure with a myriad of well-developed relationships (from romantic to familial and everything in between) and creates a world that is entirely unique and endlessly interesting. This is Thomas’ first book, and I suspect that they’re an author to watch.

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#9) Kindred by Octavia Butler

Magical realism/historical fiction (antebellum south)/family drama/science fiction (time travel)

During lockdown, I read a lot of books that I otherwise would have overlooked, and Kindred was one of them (I didn’t have access to a library or bookstore! I borrowed books from my live-in family; Kindred is my sister’s book). Neither science fiction nor historical fiction is usually my jam, so this one took me by surprise. It’s interesting to have read Kindred during the same window I read Outlander, because both employ the same basic premise: a woman travels back in time. Reading them in such close proximity made Kindred’s strengths all the more obvious. Kindred uses its time traveling to provide context for the atrocities of the past rather than simply accepting them and rolling with them. It wrestles with big ideas like racism and family loyalty while telling a nail-biting time-traveling story that employs time-traveling mechanics unlike any I’ve experienced before. I read somewhere that Kindred is the first science fiction novel by a Black woman, and while first doesn’t inherently say anything about quality, I personally feel that Kindred is easily as good as any modern science fiction novel I’ve read, and better than most.

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#8) A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

fantasy/alternate universe/historical fiction (AU mid-to-late 1700s)/ series (book 1)

I spend half my life searching for my next favorite fantasy series. I can honestly track most of my life by my phases. There was the long Harry Potter phase that took up most of my childhood, a Charlie Bone phase, a Percy Jackson phase, an Inkheart phase, a Twilight phase, a Septimus Heap phase, and more. Most recently, I had an intense Six of Crows phase and this year I had a brief but powerful Raven Boys phase. The Raven Cycle took me through a significant portion of this year, and when I finished it I felt the lack very keenly. Enter A Darker Shade of Magic. I’d tried the first book of a lot of series, hoping to find something that might be able to fill the suddenly vacant hole, and this was the first one that made me think hm, this could be it. While the characters are good, the main selling point for A Darker Shade of Magic is the complicated but fascinating system of magic. The multiple Londons is a difficult concept to pull off (it’s hard enough to build one world, let alone four!) but Schwab pulls it off with aplomb. The worlds feel so real and yet so fantastical that I just wanted to live in them for a while. The plot is good, but the standout to me is how little I cared about actually getting to the plot. I loved the setup for this novel, and I’d have been content to follow protagonist Kell on his everyday chores for as long as Schwab was willing to let me. I’ve acquired book two, and am looking forward to reading it as soon as I finish Middlemarch.

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#7) Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari

Musical Monday: Duets

I recently rewatched all the High School Musical movies. I love those movies, both because they’re legitimately great and because I have a ton of nostalgic affection for them. I used to watch HSM2 on the last day of school every year, and even now it wouldn’t be right to go the whole summer without seeing it. During the rewatch, I noticed that the High School Musical franchise has a lot of non-romantic duets. I realized that duets are almost always sung by lovers, and that duets by friends or rivals are, strangely, a lot less common. Platonic friends don’t usually get duets to themselves; I guess the duet seems like a romantic medium. Thankfully, though, there are musicals–like HSM–that expand the types of duos who get to sing together. I decided I’d compile a list of ten musicals with at least one great platonic duet. It was surprisingly difficult to come up with them at first, but as soon as I got to ten I thought of a few more I couldn’t leave off and eventually ended up with fifteen.

1) High School Musical

High School Musical is what inspired me to start this list, so obviously I had to start with it. Across three movies, High School Musical has a ton of great duets. My favorite songs are the ones sung by Ryan and Sharpay, who are siblings. They sing “Bop to the Top” and “What I’ve Been Looking For” in the first movie, “Fabulous” and “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a” in the second, and  “I Want It All” in the third. The second movie has “I Don’t Dance,” which is sung by Ryan and Chad as they transition from rivals to friends. Finally, Troy and Chad sing “The Boys Are Back” in the final movie, which is a song about their lifelong friendship. I like all the songs in HSM, but if I ranked them all, these songs would all rank highly; that’s actually true of all these entries. Plantonic duets are freaking awesome and I wish they got more attention.

2) The Spongebob Musical

There isn’t any romance in this musical (I mean, I guess aside from Plankton and his computer wife, but whatever), but there are a lot of friendship songs and that’s a big reason for why I love this musical as much as I do. Having a best friend is awesome, so it’s kind of sad how few songs there are about best-friendship. Spongebob and Patrick’s “BFF” is a precious song and it’s not even the only platonic duet in this show. It’s not even the only platonic duet for Spongebob and Patrick! They also sing “(I Guess) I Miss You.” The best thing about the duets in this show is they demonstrate how versatile duets can be. Love duets are pretty much all I love you and you love me, but Spongebob has a wider variety. “BFF” is about being friends. “(I Guess) I Miss You” is about owning up to your issues and reaching out to friends. “Daddy Knows Best” is about family, communication, and misunderstandings. “Chop to the Top” is about resilience. They’re all dynamic, fun songs and they’re all totally different.

3) Be More Chill

“BFF” is my favorite song about being best friends, but I also really like Be More Chill’s “Two Player Game.” As in Spongebob, the most important relationship in Be More Chill is between the protagonist and his best friend rather than the one between the protagonist and his love interest. I’ve written a lot—in my book reviews—about my love for quality platonic and/or familial relationships, and I’m glad that at least a few modern musicals are using duets to emphasize them. “Two Player Game” is sung by two unpopular best friends, Jeremy and Michael, and it’s about teamwork and how their friendship sustains them through the hard times.

4) RENT

RENT has some absolutely spectacular duets, but most of them are sung by people in romantic relationships. There are two that aren’t, and one of them is—not coincidentally—my favorite song in the whole show. I rarely see “What You Own” on other people’s lists of favorite RENT songs but it is just so good. Unlike the other songs on this list up until this point, it’s not so much a song about a relationship as it is about two people sharing an experience. Mark and Roger are good friends, but they’re not singing about their relationship to each other; they’re singing about a shared disillusionment. I love every song in RENT, but whenever I listen to it, I repeat this song at least once. I don’t know if it’s the rock sound or the highly relatable search for meaning, but this is one of the most addictive, powerful musical songs I’ve ever heard. “The Tango Maureen,” which is an aggressively contentious song sung by Mark and Joanne about a mutual love interest, is also great.

I Gotta Tell You, Life Without Musicals Has Been Hard (Hard?)

It’s Monday, so let’s talk about musicals! You would think that, being a musical fanatic, I would be reviewing Hamilton, having watched it the day it dropped on Disney+. You’d be half right. I definitely did watch Hamilton as soon as it was available and I loved it. It was absolutely fantastic, and I loved it every bit as much as I expected to (which was a LOT). Getting to see the original cast almost made up for not getting to see the show live last month. Under normal circumstances, I 100% would be talking about Hamilton this week, both because I’m really psyched about it and because I am usually so behind the times that I only get a few chances to be topical. But it’s Camp NaNoWriMo right now and I am behind on my book reviews, so I have a lot of writing to do this week so I figured that I’d go easy on myself and post my previously written/already scheduled Musical Monday and hype Hamilton later. Anyway, it’s not like Hamilton needs my help.

This time around, I’m going to focus on just two musicals I love. I haven’t seen either one, but I do know the stories well because I’ve read the novels and I’ve listened to the cast recordings on repeat.

Dear Evan Hansen

Which cast recordings have I heard, and which is my favorite? The only full version I’ve heard is the OBC, which is fantastic. It’s one of only a handful of cast recordings I have on my phone and listen to regularly. I love Ben Platt’s voice, and DEH has led me to his original music and The Politician, so you can’t go wrong with the OBC. Logically, considering that DEH is such a social-media-conscious musical, the official YouTube account does a great job of keeping fans excited about cast changes by posting videos of most of the major performers. I haven’t heard full recordings with any of the replacements, but all of the versions I’ve heard have been amazing.

Are there any good YouTube-available clips? Like I said above, there are lots of good ones. Obviously Ben Platt’s Tonys performance of “Waving Through a Window” and the full cast performing “You Will Be Found” on the Today Show are great, but I’d also recommend Mallory Bechtel’s solo version of “Requiem,” Taylor Trench and Alex Boniello’s “Disappear,” and this super cute version of “Only Us” performed by two Evan Hansens who are currently dating in real life. Have I spent a lot of time watching Dear Evan Hansen videos on YouTube? Yes. Is Dear Evan Hansen currently number one on my list of musicals I must see? Also yes. I have tickets for a touring production in February and I am desperately hoping that theatres are safe and open again by then.

What’s it about? Evan Hansen is a high school boy with crippling anxiety who—as an assignment from his therapist—writes letters to himself. When one of those letters is mistaken for the suicide note of the school bully, Evan gets deeply entwined in the lie that he was the dead boy’s best friend… a lie that brings him closer to the life he always wanted but never thought he’d get.

What’s so good about it? From just a brief description, Dear Evan Hansen sounds like a dark and disturbing story. It is, kind of. But the songs are gorgeous and incredibly evocative. Interestingly, there is no true villain in DEH. Every single character is deeply flawed—Evan is not an exception—but they are all fully rounded. Evan’s lying is morally irresponsible at best, but he’s also very easy to empathize with. You get caught in the lie with him, because it starts small and then grows out of control… but it also does good. People remember Connor because of Evan’s actions, and he starts a movement for mental health that genuinely helps people. Larry is a mean and dismissive father to Connor… but turns it around and is the supportive figure that Evan always needed. Even Connor, who is dead for most of the show, is a significant and fully formed presence. You get conflicting stories of him from his family members and fleeting glimpses of him (and even then you don’t know if you’re seeing the real Connor or Evan’s creation) that add up to a character that defies simple description. Dear Evan Hansen is not about heroes and villains; it is about real people and real communities. It offers a real message of hope to people who are struggling with mental illness, whether it’s anxiety like Evan or depression like Connor. This is a sad story, but it’s also very hopeful. When I wrote (one of the times) about Les Mis, I said that sometimes I just need to hear lyrics that make me feel like everything’s gonna be okay and DEH’s thesis is that

So let the sun come streaming in
‘Cause you’ll reach up and you’ll rise again
If you only look around
You will be found

And, more than anything else with a musical, Dear Evan Hansen is worth experiencing because the score is beautiful.

My favorite songs: “Waving Through a Window,” “You Will Be Found,” and “Requiem”

My book review for the novelization of Dear Evan Hansen is here. Update: this show is even better live than I expected. The movie, on the other hand, is not.

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The Scarlet Pimpernel

Which cast recordings have I heard, and which is my favorite? I’ve only ever heard the OBC. If there’s another version, I don’t know about it.

Are there any good YouTube-available clips? To be honest, I haven’t found many good ones. This is a criminally underrated show, and while I’d love to see some clips of it, everything I’ve found has been blurry and/or not legit. This version of “The Riddle” is pretty much the best I could do.

What’s it about? It follows the same plot as the novel: a mysterious English nobleman, self-christened “the Scarlet Pimpernel” is risking life and limb to smuggle French aristocrats out of the reach of the guillotine.

What’s so good about it? All the songs in The Scarlet Pimpernel are fun, but some of them are next level. Specifically, anything sung by Chauvelin, the villain. If you don’t know this story, you can imagine Chauvelin as Javert from Les Mis, except with less conscience for good and evil. I love powerful baritone solos, and there are several of them in The Scarlet Pimpernel alongside tunes that are cheerfully upbeat and silly. There’s a very good mix. It also helps that The Scarlet Pimpernel is one of my favorite classic novels.

My favorite songs: “Falcon in the Dive,” “Who’s the Girl,” and “The Riddle”

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Have you seen either of these shows? What’s at the top of your must-see list?

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The Politician Season 2 Review

I watched The Politician shortly after its first season dropped. I’ve watched and enjoyed a handful of Ryan Murphy’s earlier shows (specifically Glee and American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson) and I’m a big fan of Ben Platt. The first season is bizarre and over the top and weirdly compelling. It’s partly a parody of politics and partly a teen soap opera, and every time you think that it can’t get any crazier someone there’s an assassination attempt or a double-cross or a psychotic act act of stupidity and you get even more sucked in. The show is also very Dear Evan Hansen-esque, at least initially. It stars Ben Platt and Laura Dreyfuss, and River is essentially the fanon version of Connor. The Politician may as well have been actively courting DEH fans and hey, it worked on me!

So I was really looking forward to season two. While I still enjoyed it, there’s no getting around the fact that season two is significantly less compelling than what it follows. There are significant spoilers for both seasons one and two throughout this review.

What’s the show about? 

In season one, Payton–a very rich kid whose identity is almost entirely built out of his desire to grow up to be POTUS–is running for student body president against the very handsome, very popular River. Payton and River had a very ardent emotional relationship, so when River kills himself, it sets Payton spinning… but not so much that he can’t focus on his election. His new opponent is Astrid, River’s girlfriend. It’s the most intense student election ever. Payton finds out his running mate Infinity is being poisoned by her grandmother. Infinity’s ex-boyfriend Ricardo tries to kill Payton, and later Skye, who enters the race as River’s VP before becoming Astrid’s and then ultimately Payton’s, follows suit (he survives both). Payton’s brothers try to murder their dad for inheritance reasons. Astrid fakes her own death and Payton is a suspect in her murder, before she admits that she and Ricardo staged the whole thing. Payton’s mother (Gwyneth Paltrow, playing herself basically) has an affair. Payton’s girlfriend Alice cons a lie-detector test. And so on. It’s chaotic and hilarious.

In season two, a few years have passed and Payton is running for New York State Senate against a longtime Democratic incumbent, Dede. Dede has a few glaring gaps in her record, most notably her lack of urgency considering environmental issues, and Payton takes advantage of this to get a foothold in the election. As Payton’s popularity with young voters increases and Dede’s personal life threatens her strong standing, the race gets closer and closer.

 Why doesn’t season two hold up?

The biggest issue with the new season is that it fails to capitalize on its most interesting characters. Infinity, arguably the deuteragonist from the first season, is all but absent in the second one; it’s a shame, because some of the most fun storylines crop up when she’s around (like when she tries to teach Payton how to live a zero-waste life). Skye is now one of his closest friends and supporters, and there’s little to no indication of how she went from I believe in him so little I’ve decided to murder him to my man! of course I’ll stand behind you at a photo op so you don’t look racist! Like Infinity, Skye has some of the best moments in s2, but is criminally underused.

One of my favorite elements from the first season was the dynamic between Payton and his two longtime friends and advisors, James and McAfee. It’s fun because the three support each other but push against each other a lot. This time around, though, James basically disappears into the background except from a few scenes towards the end. McAfee still gets a lot to do, but without James to play off, she’s not as much fun. I still like her a lot, but she and James were always a dynamic duo and McAfee suffers when she can’t play off him.

Ricardo, by far the most insane character in a cast of insane people, has literally one scene. And River–who, yes, is a ghost and/or the voice of Payton’s conscience, but despite that emerged as one of the most popular characters on the show–is all but forgotten. He is recapped heavily at the start of the season, which led me to believe that he’d figure into season two prominently, but it was false advertising. If I’m counting correctly, he appears only three times and only actually speaks once.

To make up for these characters being pushed out of the spotlight, The Politician focuses more on Astrid, Alice, and Dede and Hadassah (the two ladies against whom Payton and company are running for office). This was a mistake, because their storylines are repetitive.

2020 Quarterly Report Jan-Mar

So ends the first quarter of 2020. Not gonna lie: it hasn’t been great so far. Still, entertainment-wise, I enjoyed myself.

Despite quarantine, I haven’t read any more than usual. I usually read around 100 books a year, but decided to read less this year so I can focus  more on fiction writing (this is also why not all these books have linked reviews; I’m allowing myself the occasional freedom of reading without reviewing). So far, it’s paying off. I managed to finish the first draft of a novel I started in November 2018. It’s also true that my reading trends are changing because of social distancing. I didn’t manage to stock up at the library before everything shut down, so I’m rereading books I own or borrowing books from family members. That’s going to skew my reading away from contemporary YA and fantasy and towards historical fiction (courtesy of my mom) and memoirs/graphic novels (from my sister).

As a blog reader, I really like monthly wrap-ups; in the future, I think I’m going to start doing those instead of quarterly ones. That will make them shorter, more frequent, and less formal sounding (“quarterly” yikes), all of which–I think–will be improvements.

Books:

What I Loved:

Infinity Son by Adam Silvera

Genre: YA Fantasy

Why I loved it: It’s got great writing, a full cast of complicated but lovable characters, a strong and central brotherhood, a unique magic system, and a fast-paced story

Read it if you’re a fan of Adam Silvera or the X-men, looking for diverse fantasy, or want to try Silvera without being emotionally devastated.

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 Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman

(reread)

Genre: YA sci-fi

Why I loved it: it has a terrifying but fascinating concept and great interpersonal relationships, is fiercely creative, and makes the insides of a troubled mind real in a way unlike anything else I’ve ever read

Read it if you like sci-fi, want something drastically different, or like psychological thrillers that aren’t too terrifying

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Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

(reread)

Genre: Nonfiction writing advice

Why I loved it: Lamott is a great writer, and she keeps it real

Who should read it? Wannabe writers, especially those who dream of fame and fortune and see writing as the way to get there rather than the goal itself

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Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed

Genre: YA contemporary romance

Why I loved it: It mixes a cute, shippable romance with timely social commentary that is both inspiring and necessary; it’s not afraid to make a stand, but it tells an enjoyable story first

Read it if you like your romances to be filled out with substantive familial relationships, enjoy Becky Albertalli’s writing, are interested in politics, or lean towards books with a solid moral stance

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I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

Genre: YA contemporary romance

Why I loved it: This book has everything I love: flawed but immensely lovable and compelling characters, fandom, internal focus, smooth writing, and that intangible thing that makes a book impossible to put down

Read it if you want something that digs into the beautiful and the ugly of fame and fandom and doesn’t shy away from tackling mental illness while still maintaining a loving, hopeful tone

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Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich with Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul

(reread)

Genre: YA contemporary

Why I loved it: I adore Dear Evan Hansen the musical, and this novel–while being immensely enjoyable on its own merits–does an admirable job of expanding on the existing story and adds dimensions to Connor’s character in particular

Read it if listening to the soundtrack isn’t enough Dear Evan Hansen for you, or if you’re simply looking for an excellent YA novel that balances moral ambiguity with effective depictions of mental illness.

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Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

(reread)

Genre: YA romance

Why I loved it: This novel is centered on the platonic love story between two best friends. The two protagonists are painfully real, and their experiences offer a complex and unusual perspective on the world that really resonates with me

Read it if you love YA that isn’t afraid to tackle the messiness of the world and that will leave you longing for a friendship like the ones depicted within its pages

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Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Genre: classics, historical fiction, science fiction

Why I loved it: It is very, very emotionally affecting. Rarely have I felt so indignant or helpless while reading a novel. The mix of the slave narrative with science fiction, especially with the modern (well, 1970s) mindset/narration, is something I’ve never seen before.

Who should read it? People who loved blended genres or classics

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What I Liked

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

Genre: YA LGBTQ+ romance, bildungsroman

Why I liked it: It has many well-balanced relationships, is unapologetically progressive, and features diverse characters and complicated but loving family dynamics

What kept me from loving it? I didn’t love any of the characters, and there’s some pointless drama

Read it if you like queer romance or are interested in diverse contemporary novels

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SLAY by Brittney Morris

Genre: YA contemporary,

Why I liked it: the complicated race relations, celebration of Black culture, and deep dive into gaming are all done well

What kept me from loving it? I’m not a gamer, so I was out of my depth, and the twist–while good–was obvious

Read it if you’re a gamer, a YA fan, or looking for novels dedicated to Black excellence

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Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

Genre: adult contemporary

Why I liked it: it’s got great writing, a well-balanced cast, and light but sure handling of complicated ideas

What kept me from loving it? it’s very sad and the central premise–a plane going down and a single person surviving–gave me nightmares for a week

Read it if you’re looking for a well-written novel and don’t mind a downer

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The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston

Genre: YA romance

Why I liked it: it’s a cute, quick celebration of fandom

What kept me from loving it? one of the two central romances is painfully contrived, and the book is similar enough to superior novels of the same genre that it couldn’t avoid unfavorable comparison

Read it if you like sweet but slightly cheesy romance, are a fangirl (or fanboy), or if you’re looking for a modern-day fairytale

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Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo

Genre: JF contemporary

Why I liked it: Kate DiCamillo always has quirky and immediately likable characters, and this is no exception

What kept me from loving it? I didn’t realize this is a sequel to a book I haven’t read (Raymie Nightingale), so I didn’t have the emotional connection I needed. Also, while I did enjoy it, it doesn’t stand up to some of DiCamillo’s other books, like Flora & Ulysses or The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulene

Read it if you love Kate DiCamillo

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The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

Genre: YA contemporary

Why I liked it: the narrative voice is fresh and funny, and the protagonist is consistantly held responsible for his behavior

What kept me from loving it? it rests heavily on existing stereotypes without doing much to challenge or deconstruct them

Read it if you are looking for something quick, fun, and comfortable

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Lady Susan by Jane Austen

(reread)

Genre: classics, epistolary novels

Why I liked it: Jane Austen is always fantastic, and Lady Susan is a character unlike any of those found in her other novels. Selfish, unscrupulous, and devious, her pursuits of her own ends cause no end of vexation for her relations (and no end of amusement for her readers)

What kept me from loving it? the conclusion is rushed; it almost feels like Austen got tired of this story and wanted to be done with it

Read it if you love Jane Austen and are interested in her lesser known works, or if you loved the movie adaptation with Kate Beckinsale and are interested in a comparison

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The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

(reread)

Genre: YA romance

Why I liked it: Becky Albertalli is a fun author, and she portrays those underrepresented in romance; the protagonist here is a fat girl who longs for–but fears–her own love story

What kept me from loving it? Unfortunately, I didn’t like this one as well on the reread. It’s a bit too crass for me , and a few of the characters the reader was supposed to care about rub me the wrong way

Read it if you’re in the mood for a nerdy romance with an atypical heroine and an adorable love interest.

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What I Neither Liked Nor Disliked

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Genre: YA romance

Why I’m neutral: It has lots of diversity, but somehow felt very safe and standard anyway. This book has gotten lots of hype for featuring an asexual protagonist, but I’m pretty sure that’s just because there are so few of them, and not because Let’s Talk About Love does an especially good job with it

Read it if you really, really need asexual rep and have already read The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy and Radio Silence

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Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza

Genre: YA contemporary

Why I’m neutral: There are some storylines that might have been compelling with better writing, but there are too many emotional gaps to get fully invested

Read it if you’re looking for books about gamers or female friendships

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What I Disliked

Love Boat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

Genre: YA romance

Why I disliked it: it hits every single basic romcom trope but does nothing new with them

Was there anything I liked? the first half has promise, and some of the cultural elements are interesting

Read it if you’re a hardcore romance fan or looking for Asian (specifically Chinese) representation

Instead, try: Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram or To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

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American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Genre: Adult contemporary

Why I disliked it: the depiction of Mexico as 90% murderous crime struck me as melodramatic at best and racist at worst, the characters are thinly drawn, the plot is driven by dumb luck, and overall the book isn’t enjoyable enough to make up for how culturally-appropriative it feels to read it

Read it if you want to be a part of the conversation

Instead, try: Something by a Hispanic writer. (Sorry for the lack of specific recommendations. This is a blind spot of mine that I’m trying to correct)

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What I Hated

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Genre: thriller

Why I hated it: the first half treads water, the reveals come too easily, there’s a weird pro-pedophilia tilt, it uses homophobic tropes, and is a bit boring

Was there anything I liked? The writing keeps you reading

Read it if you like thrillers but don’t mind what’s listed above

Instead, try: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn or My Whole Truth by Mischa Thrace

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The Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

Genre: YA dystopia

Why I hated it: I didn’t care about the characters, the world doesn’t make sense and is only halfway explained, there’s lots of meaningless action, and the writing is mediocre

Was there anything I liked? Honestly, no. I nearly DNF’d this a dozen times

Read it if action is the most important element of a story for you

Instead, try: The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, or Legend by Marie Lu

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On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Genre: Classics

Why I hated it: it’s about a bunch of sexist idiots driving around, doing drugs, and having sex without any plot to hang it all together

Was there anything I liked? I was interested to read it because apparently it inspired Supernatural, but I expected a whole lot more nuance than I got, so… eh

Read it if it is on your 100 Books to Read Before You Die poster

Instead, try: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde or The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Shows

Grey’s Anatomy/Station 19

I’ve been watching Grey’s Anatomy for a while. I just picked up Station 19, starting from season 3, because of all the crossovers. I’m on the opposite wavelength of most fans. I’m still mostly enjoying Grey’s, but I am way more interested in the firefighters now. For me, Grey’s has a stark divide between the characters whose stories work for me and those who I couldn’t care less about. I generally care when it focuses on Meredith, Catherine, Bailey, Richard, Koracick, Levi, Link, Amelia, or even DeLuca (except when they’re reduced to stupid baby/pregnancy plotlines). Owen and Jo, though. They’re the actual worst. If we had to lose Karev, couldn’t we have sent Jo packing with him? Because that way they would’ve avoided the character assassination AND dropped the second worst character in one swoop. And just don’t get me started on Owen, who is the worst. Teddy is awful, too, mostly because her two personality traits are ‘Owen’ and ‘military.’

I want to watch the first two seasons of Station 19, because I’m enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. Like its mother show, it’s got a few weak characters (lookin’ at you, Andy), but I got invested in everyone else very quickly. Travis and Vic are lots of fun, and I even care about Ben now. How did that happen? I found him incredibly annoying on Grey’s and kept complaining that he was nowhere near good enough for Bailey, and now I actually… like him? What? Plus, the musical nerd in me goes “That’s right… HERCULES MULLIGAN” anytime Dean walks into the scene.

Sex Education

Season 2 of Sex Education came out in January, and it was just as good as the first one. It’s an incredibly awkward show to talk about because almost every plotline has at least some element of cringe to it, but it’s just really good. My sister recommended it to me and at first I was very skeptical because nothing about Sex Education makes it sound like a show I’d like (or that she’d like, for that matter), but it’s actually a very smart, funny show that is both very entertaining and actually somewhat educational. Also, Eric is the best.

Musicals

I really should make a post about some of my favorite musicals, because I love them SO MUCH but never actually end up talking about them on this blog. But musicals may actually be my for-real top favorite thing. I listen to cast recordings obsessively. I make musical themed jeopardy boards and force my family to play them. I write long reviews of every musical I get to see live. I seek out movie musicals and professionally filmed stage productions. My phone case says “My brain is 95% Broadway show tunes and 5% useless stuff.” I love musicals.

And since I’ve been stuck inside, I’ve been watching and listening to them more than usual (which, again, is saying a lot). I watched Jersey Boys. I rewatched the 1991 version of Into the Woods and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, both of which were staples of my childhood. I watched The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall again. I’m psyching myself up to watch the Cats movie, since I absolutely adore that musical but am a little afraid because of the bad reviews. I have a long list of shows from BroadwayHD that I want to watch while stuck indoors. Also, I watched The Spongebob Musical, which sounds stupid but is actually a new favorite of mine because it is precious and very timely.

Seriously. It’s a great musical at any time, but it is especially good to watch while in quarantine.

What have you been watching and reading?

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 4×13 Review (I Have to Get Out)

I’ve gotten very behind on my reviews, because that’s what happens when I decide to go to sleep at a normal time so I can wake up for work instead of staying up to get all writing done. In other words, this review is nearly a week late. Oops.

After fighting against them last week, Rebecca is finally ready to start taking the medication recommended (and prescribed) to her by Drs. Akopian and Shin. It helps that Dr. Akopian reassures her that “Anti-Depressants Are So Not A Big Deal” in style of La La Land. It’s a ridiculous song full of prescription tap shoes, rescue dogs, and meta asides about brand names. Although it’s not my favorite song Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has produced, it has all the staples of the best: it’s catchy, its inspiration is clear, and it addresses serious issues with a light and humorous hand. “Dream Ghosts” will always be Dr. Akopian’s best song, but it’s always a treat when Michael Hyatt sings, because she has a powerful voice. “Anti-Depressants Are So Not a Big Deal” reminds me that someone needs to re-record all the songs in La La Land.

My Top 10 Books of 2018

The year is almost over, which means it is time for my annual top and bottom ten lists (here’s 2017’s top ten). I didn’t read as much this year as I did last year–124 books to last year’s 151–but I still read enough to have a pretty healthy list. Of course, what with book clubs and moving, I reread considerably more this year than I have done recently. I disqualify rereads from my official list since they have an unfair advantage (the books I reread tend to be some of my absolute favorites). I also only allow one entry per author per list.

Still, it’s always nice to give a shout out to my amazing rereads, so here are some of the best:

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black; The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky; Wonder by R.J. Palacio; Carry On by Rainbow Rowell; The Book Thief by Markus Zusak; Holes by Louis Sachar; The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin; Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli; The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy; The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

YA is my favorite, so the vast majority of my top ten list is YA (54% of what I read this year was YA, and YA makes up 70% of both my top and bottom ten lists). Weirdly, a lot of my top picks are downers. Apparently I read mediocre happy books and brilliant sad ones this year. Anyway… onto the list!

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10) The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding

Jordi Perez is a ray of sunshine. It is relentlessly cheerful and empowering. It features a queer, feminine, plus-sized heroine who is never given crap for any of that. It’s the kind of sweet, fluffy romance that queer, plus-sized people don’t usually feature in (except, at best, as the sassy sidekick to the straight, conventionally attractive heroine). Plus, it has a significant platonic relationship that never takes the backseat to the romance (or vice versa), which is unfortunately pretty rare.

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9) Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

This book is exactly the right kind of bonkers. It puts its heroine into a kind of choose-your-adventure, and depending on how she prioritizes things, she is tossed into a number of different genres that somehow all work together to create a cohesive whole. It’s the sort of novel that really shouldn’t work, but actually really does. When you read as much as I do, you end up having to accept that very few books will feel completely unique, but this one absolutely does.

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8) Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

Symptoms of Being Human tells the often-untold story of a genderfluid teenager trying to navigate a world that is far from welcoming. The novel is warm and funny at times, and educational and heartbreaking at others. The novel forces the reader to consider some of the most deeply ingrained assumptions of our society, and although it deals with difficult subjects like bullying, violence, and bigotry, it is more a celebration of individuality and strength than it is a demonstration of cruelty and ignorance.

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7) The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I went into this one somewhat reluctantly because I thought that I could tell from the title exactly what it was going to be… thankfully my preconceptions were completely wrong. Evelyn Hugo surprised me with how compelling, complex, and glitzy it is. The two timelines work together to tell a the story of a time gone by with a modern morality and flair that works really well, and I ended up loving Evelyn despite all the bad decisions she made and all the people she hurt on the path to ultimately unsatisfying fame and fortune.

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6) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

This is one of those classics that feels terrifyingly modern, like it could have been written this year. It is distressingly relatable at times, and painfully depressing at others, but there’s no dismissing just how powerful the writing is. It certainly makes for uneasy reading… but, dang, it’s good.

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5) History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

Speaking of sad… I discovered Adam Silvera this year. I read everything of his I could find (More Happy than Not, What if it’s Us?, They Both Die at the End) and History is All You Left Me is the best by a wide margin, which is saying a lot considering how consistently good he is. I’ve never had such a visceral reaction to a book. I felt literally choked by Griffin’s sadness, and I’ve never been so physically exhausted after reading a book. If you want to really feel with a character, this is absolutely the book to read.

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4) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

This is another one that I heard a lot about online. I love mythology, so I jumped in with some knowledge of what I was getting myself into. Despite that, there are a lot of surprises. Like basically everything on this list, The Song of Achilles is beautifully written and populated by characters who are flawed and real. Achilles in particular is fascinating because he is often selfish and violent and he regularly chooses fame over love, which are all more associated with villains than with characters we’re intended to sympathize with. And yet… I defy anyone to read this book and not hope fruitlessly that it won’t end the way that you know it has to.

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3) Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich with Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul

Since I blog mostly about books, I don’t get the opportunity to write much about my deep, encompassing love of musicals (though I did see Phantom of the Opera live recently and am considering writing a review of it). I’ve loved the soundtrack for Dear Evan Hansen since I first heard it, but I haven’t had the opportunity to see it. When I heard that the novelization is good, I went ahead and read it. Even though I’m generally against novelizations, this risk paid off. It’s amazing. The escalation of Evan’s lie feels terrifyingly inevitable, and poor Evan is such a relatable, lovable character even when he does cringily awful things. I was bound to love this novel because I love the musical so much, but it’s a good book in its own right.

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2) The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

I heard about this book over and over before I finally read it myself, and it is deserving of every bit of hype that it gets. It is relentlessly high energy and ridiculous from front to end, and its characters are three-dimensional and hilarious and lovable. The character development in particular is amazing. Diversity is not often associated with historical fiction, but The Gentleman’s Guide makes it a priority. It is a hugely entertaining romp that sends its characters on a bizarre adventure that is equal parts unlikely and hilarious. I also read the sequel, The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, which is also fabulous, but nothing beats the original.

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1) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

This book is legitimately phenomenal. I got it from the library and immediately regretted not buying it. It is so smart, so tightly-plotted, and so gripping that I couldn’t put it down. I stayed up so late reading Six of Crows and its sequel Crooked Kingdom, you have no idea. It’s one of those books where you say, “Okay, one more chapter and then you will go to bed,” and then all of a sudden it’s three in the morning and you’ve finished the whole thing. I love Six of Crows so much that I eventually did go out and buy it, and then I reread it because you can’t buy a book and then not read it before putting it on the bookshelf. And I stayed up all night reading it again, even though I had already read it less than six months ago and knew everything that happened. Then I went to the library and got Crooked Kingdom again because you can’t just read Six of Crows and not finish out the series. I didn’t sleep that night, either. Like with Adam Silvera, I found every one of Bardugo’s books and read them all, and I guarantee that I will read every single book that she ever writes, because she is just that amazing.

Dear Evan Hansen (Book Review)

I love musicals. I love going to see them. I love watching the movie versions. I love listening to soundtracks. I even like to read librettos. If I could sing worth a darn, I absolutely would have overcome my crippling shyness so that I could be in an ensemble at least once. The combination of loving musicals and being cripplingly shy made me aware of Dear Evan Hansen the musical well before I got around to listening to it.

Unsurprisingly, I love it. The music is beautiful and the story is unlike anything I’ve encountered before. For obvious reasons, I read the Wikipedia synopsis to understand more or less what goes on between songs, but I’ve never actually seen the show. When I saw that there was a novel version that has been getting good reviews, I got really excited. Finally, a way to experience Dear Evan Hansen!

Summary: What’s it about?

The novel Dear Evan Hansen–written by Val Emmich with Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul—tells the story of the titular Evan Hansen, a high school senior with chronic anxiety. Every day, as assigned by his therapist, Evan writes himself a letter: “Dear Evan Hansen, today is going to be an amazing day and here’s why.” In reality, that’s unlikely because Evan’s anxiety keeps him from doing much more than surviving school, speaking to no one, and occasionally hiking alone. Evan’s life changes quickly and irrevocably when a series of unlikely and tragic events occur. The school loner/drug addict Connor Murphy signs Evan’s cast and then finds one of Evan’s letters, a particularly truthful and therefore depressing one. When the same letter is found on Connor’s body after his suicide, it is naturally assumed that it was his suicide letter written to his best friend Evan Hansen. Before long, Evan finds himself swept up in a lie and a new life in which he’s not just Evan Hansen, friendless loser; instead he is Evan Hansen, best friend of the recently departed. As Evan gets more and more deeply entrenched in the lie that improves his mental health and social prospects, it becomes increasingly difficult to extricate himself.

Novel and Musical: A Brief Detour

It’s hard to separate Dear Evan Hansen the novel from Dean Evan Hansen the musical, and I’m not sure how necessary it is. I really enjoyed the novel. I was quickly and completely pulled into Evan’s story. I enjoyed all the moments that are immediately recognizable nods to the lyrics of one song or another (the scene derived from “Sincerely, Me” is particularly noticeable, and Zoe actually sings snippets from “Requiem” and “What if it’s Us”). For me, the novel feels complete, but I do wonder if that would be the case for someone who hasn’t heard the soundtrack. I think that the novel could probably stand on it’s own, but I’m not a hundred percent sure. I’m also not sure if it needs to.

I’d be very interested to know if there are people out there who would read the book as a standalone. Is everyone who reads it coming from the musical, or are there YA readers picking it up who are uninitiated? And if there are people who find the book first, will they listen to the soundtrack (or, if they’re lucky, see the actual show) afterward or keep it as a purely literary experience? I certainly don’t have the answers to those questions, but I would really like to know.

Personally, it’s somewhat rare for me to pick up a novelization of something. I often read books on which a movie or a show or a play or whatever is based on. For example, I read Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera and Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables because I’d seen the musical and wanted to read the source material. Ned Vizzini’s Be More Chill is on my to-read list for essentially the same reason Dear Evan Hansen was. But in those cases and all the other ones like it, the book came first. For some reason the fact that the Dear Evan Hansen novel came second makes me view it in a weirdly different way, even though I really liked it; it does not have the awkward ‘this is just a rehashing of something better’ feel that I halfway expected.

As far as I can tell, the book follows the musical extremely faithfully. Again, I haven’t seen the show, so I don’t know specifically what happens between songs, but I assume the differences come mainly from being inside Evan’s head–and occasionally Connor’s–rather than seeing him from a distance. As far as I’m aware, the plotline about Connor’s real friend is new for the book. If I’m wrong about that, will someone please let me know in the comments?

Anyway… On to the real review. From here on out, as much as possible for a musical nerd like me, I’ll discuss the book as a separate entity from the musical.

Review: What’d I think?

What If It’s Us (Book Review)

I have been looking forward to reading What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera for a long time because I love both of the authors. I was also really curious about the book, since—great as they both are—Albertalli and Silvera don’t seem like natural writing partners. Albertalli’s books—Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, The Upside of Unrequited, and Leah on the Offbeat—are upbeat coming-of-age stories about first love. Silvera’s—More Happy than Not, History is All You Left Me, and They Both Die at the End—are heavier and generally focus on death or heartbreak. I wondered which tone would win out, and how the two disparate styles would (or wouldn’t) compliment each other. My expectations for this one were high, and unfortunately, they weren’t quite met.

Summary: What’s it about?

While interning in New York for his mother’s law firm, Arthur briefly meets an adorable boy with a box and follows him into a post office. During their brief conversation, Arthur becomes convinced that the universe is setting the two of them up. There’s a problem: he failed to get either the name or the number of his potential soulmate.

The potential soulmate is Ben, who has just broken up with his first boyfriend/former best friend Hudson. Ben’s stuck in summer school and is convinced that his life is basically doomed to suck. He’s as intrigued by Arthur as Arthur is by him, but he assumes that it is just a missed connection.

Over the course of one summer, Arthur and Ben look for each other, find each other, and dare to wonder: what if it’s us?

Review: What’d I think?

In answer to my own question posed above, What If It’s Us is more like Albertalli’s usual offerings than Silvera’s. It is primarily the story of a summer romance between two apparently different boys whose lives probably wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for a very unlikely set of circumstances (and Arthur’s perseverance). Ben and Arthur’s relationships has its ups and downs, of course, but the novel is generally cheerful and hopeful. No one dies, and I can’t imagine anyone crying while reading this one.

If the two writers have any common ground generally, it’s that they both usually write about queer romances. What If It’s Us is, unsurprisingly, a queer romance in the sense that it is a romance and the two protagonists are gay. More than that, it’s just a romance. Arthur and Ben’s sexualities are a nonissue. Weirdly, though, I found the central romance the least compelling aspect of the novel. I never fell in love with Ben and Arthur’s love. It feels rushed, and the complementary traits that they supposedly have aren’t quite as developed as I’d have liked. They’re not a bad couple, but I certainly never felt the relationship was primed for longtime success, even without the specter of Arthur’s immanent departure looming. Since it is the heart of the novel, I wish I could’ve liked Ben and Arthur’s relationship more than I did.

That being said, there are other relationships present that are a lot better. Ben’s friendship with his ridiculous longtime dudebro bestie Dylan is unquestionably the best part of the novel. Dylan is the best friend that everyone needs. Dylan is at times supportive and inappropriate, helpful and self-absorbed. When I first started What If It’s Us, I was more interested in Arthur’s side of the story; by the end, I preferred Ben’s by a wide margin, and that is down almost entirely to Dylan’s involvement. His bumpy relationship with his new girlfriend Samantha is also really adorable and silly.