'The Night Gwen Stacy Died' A Novel By Sarah Bruni

I will openly say that this book was nothing like I anticipated. When I first ordered the book I though it would be a novelisation of the comic book arc of the aforementioned name. I presumed that the novel would span over the 24 hour period of the loveable Gwen Satcy, the first love of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and her inevitable death. This was not the case. This book focused on a young woman working in a gas station who meets a boy who identifies himself as Peter Parker and run away together. This novel was so much more than I expected, it surpassed my hopes and has actually become one of my favourite books of all time. With a deep and dark psychological background, hilarious characters and strong allegory to issues of The Amazing Spider-Man. This book was a wonderful roller coaster of emotions.

This novel focuses on a male and female interchanging between the perspective. However the main protagonists are not Spider-Man and his love Gwen Stacy. The protagonists are two small town people who have been affected psycholoically by the events in Amazing Spider-Man using this as a coping mechanism for the harsh reality of everyday life.

The writing style represents that of a comic book. Swooping from a focus on Peter to Sheila (Gwen) this allows the reader to feel that this is a comic book. As a key norm within comic books is the scenes overlapping the same time frame. Thus, meaning that during one section of the book we are shown Perter's emotions and actions and once we have been told this we are then given the actions and thoughts of Gwen during this same period of time. This is a subtle expression of the writing style acknowledging where the story of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey's love began- in the comic books.

The psychological elements of the novel show us the reasoning behind a young boys decision to adopt the name Peter Parker. With a story of devastation and loss propelling the plot at times the effects of these events on Peter are some what uncomfortable- however always intriguing, whilst turning the pages I found a deep connection to Peter with a great fear of how he may turn out or react to Gwen's words. The hope that he may acknowledge the love he has without becoming delusional to the fact that Sheila has adopted the persona of Gwen Stacy, but is not actually her. 

At times within the novel particular Amazing Spider-Man comic books are referenced such as #37 and #121 and actual comments from #124 regurding 'The Death of Gwen Stacy' in issue #121. This inter textually of the original comic books allows the novel to appear as a mirror of events that were found within Spidee-Mans story, fuelling the readers lust for events to unfold differently. It is asif this knowledge grants the wishes that actual readers longed for when commenting on #121.

The theme of family is expressed as a vital and key component to a successful and happy life and we are show the consequences of losing or leaving loved ones behind, be that emotionally, geographically or through death. This theme correlates with the cover art of #121 in which it explained that Spider-Man is haunted by the ideology of the loss of a (if not all) loved ones.

Overall this novel is a fantastic breakthrough for any comic book fan, love story fan or a reader looking for an abstract psycholoically challenging book. Having read the book, I cannot advise you to read it enough it truly is a whirlwind of emotions, humour and intense storyline. This review may be a little difficult to follow however due to the nature of the plot twists within the narrative I didn't want to spoil the enjoyment of the book.

I truly hope you enjoy this book a fraction of the amount I did. You can pick up a copy from amazon or Ebay easily. Enjoy!