The verse novel, also known as a novel in verse, is a fusion of narrative prose and poetic elements. Its origins can be traced back to ancient times, with roots in epic poems and narrative poetry. The modern concept of the verse novel gained prominence in the late 20th century and continues to evolve today. The genre embraces the poetic form to narrate a story, incorporating elements such as rhythmic language, imagery, metaphorical expression, and line breaks. The verse novel typically utilizes verse and stanzas instead of traditional paragraphs, with a condensed and lyrical approach to storytelling.

Verse novels often explore themes such as introspection, emotional depth, and character development, using an interplay of poetic language and storytelling techniques. They blend narrative and poetic features. They also use white space, or areas where there is no text or other elements:

[White space] is an invitation to look at what’s around the line rather than just taking the line at face value […] Some will pause quickly, unnerved by the silence, whereas other will sit in it, embrace it, and let it draw itself out.