Humble Beginnings: A Review of The Evolution of Claire

The Evolution of Claire is a new addition to the Jurassic franchise. This novel marks the first foray of the property into a canonical extended universe – a world of fiction beyond the films that is not relegated to promotional websites like Masrani Global and the Dinosaur Protection Group. As such, there are certain expectations fans might have in regards to quality, tone, and characterization. For the most part, this is a successful expansion to the Jurassic universe and should be commended for its efforts.

That said, it is not the most desirable entry point. The Evolution of Claire is a prequel to the latest films Jurassic World and Jurassic World:  Fallen Kingdom. The novel, set in 2004, chronicles the journey of college freshman Claire Dearing as she joins an internship at the forthcoming theme park. Thus, the reader is promised a peek into the inner workings of the theme park as it undergoes construction while building on the establishment of the character we meet in the films (played by Bryce Dallas Howard). And again, the book delivers, offering insight into the various troubles with integrating extinct creatures into a new business venture that’s never been successfully executed.

But that’s not all the book presents the readers. This is, primarily, a novel for the younger crowd, particularly a YA audience. As such, it suffers from all the accompanying fluff and junk that curtails that genre. In this case, superfluous characters, a juvenile romance, and the author’s personal politics hamper the potential of the book. There’s an interesting prequel buried beneath a litany of one-dimensional characterizations, poorly placed progressive rhetoric, and a romance arc so predictable you can call the whole of it from the book cover alone.

One character, Wyatt, seems to exist for the sole purpose of being crapped on and ridiculed by the author. That might be fine if he wasn’t a one-dimensional caricature who does little more than say slightly mean things about women. He, as well as the vast majority of the intern cast, feels inorganic to the story being told. Much like the other anachronisms (such as YouTube’s inexplicable early existence and allusions to “mansplaining”) in this book, it doesn’t fit the narrative nor the timeline.

Tess Sharpe knows her audience. I don’t deny that she has talent, and when she’s writing a book that more closely resembles a Crichton novel, it’s pretty good. But then the other half, the pixie dust fairytale romance, kicks in and I’m reminded that these characters don’t belong to the world they inhabit or sound their age. These are college freshman with tremendous credentials, but they’re often written like young teens.

”We don’t wear clothes or makeup for you. I do my hair because it makes me feel awesome and like a magical freaking mermaid. One who lures sailors into the sea and eats them.” She smiles, wicked, challenging, and so, so cool, still. – p. 73

”He’s playing ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight,’ and I’m laughing as they sing about being in the jungle, because Justin is a goof. A totally cute, utterly at-ease-in-his-own-skin, true-blue dork. And I tell him that. Not the cute part. But the dork part.” – p. 139

Now, granted, this isn’t entirely out of character for young women. But when you contrast it with their more scientific dialogues in the book, it makes the whole read schizophrenic. I don’t buy that these are the same characters speaking these lines.

”Physical adaptation to the modern environment,” Tanya says. “Studies suggest they existed in a world where [oxygen] levels were much higher. So without human interference, those Triceratops we saw yesterday wouldn’t be able to romp around – if they could exist at all, they’d be out of breath all the time. Plus we’re dealing with dangerously high carbon emissions and a warming climate. All these factors have to be taken into consideration.” – p. 120

It’s not that someone is incapable of both personality types or expressions, but that the changes are so tonally jarring and frequent that the novel doesn’t feel cohesive. Whenever I read the “fluff” of YA tropes, I’m completely unconvinced this belongs as an extension to the Jurassic universe.

Anyone who has read my work knows I’m not against romance, humor, or even schmaltzy bits in fiction. But there’s a time and a place, a way to write it, and too often this novel doesn’t succeed. Any time I’m yanked away from the park operations, the mysterious death of an intern, and the arrival of new dinosaur species, the book drags and becomes unfocused.

All art is personal. There’s nothing wrong with injecting oneself into a given work and I can tolerate other points of view, even give them credit where due. But there’s a point where it crosses the line from being a valid character trait, theme, or plot-point to becoming obtrusive, preachy, and over-the-top. When I’m engaging in an internal dialogue more often with the author’s belief system as a reader than the plot and characters themselves, something’s wrong with way the novel has been crafted.

In a way, I admire Sharpe’s gusto. It isn’t easy to put yourself out there for others to scrutinize and pick apart. I can love and respect her for that as a person and as a creative type. I just don’t think this was the right franchise or medium for that aspect to overtake the importance of the story being told.

But, as a Jurassic Park fan, can I recommend this book? Yes and no. If you can tolerate the occasional injection of politics and poorly conceived character dialogue/traits, there is some meat on the bones for hungry dinosaur lovers. But if you’re starved for a more “adult” take, this book will leave you with an empty stomach.

Now that my totally original and clever pun is out of the way, I’ll just say that I’m glad I read the book and am hopeful for more extended Jurassic universe. I just hope they pick an author whose resume is more suited to the material – no disrespect intended toward Tess Sharpe – next time.

P. S. – Go see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The critics are woefully wrong about that film. And if that doesn’t motivate you, I’ll just say that it has the single best opening sequence in the entire series. It’s so good it pays for the ticket by itself.

Thank you for reading. Hopefully I’ll have another post sooner rather than later. God bless and have a wonderful week.

Edit: Corrected a typing error and clarified my review with additional points.