The Night Gwen Stacy Died: A Fiercely Smart Literary Coming of Age Drama for Women About First Love, Loss, and Identity

by Sarah Bruni

An offbeat love story about the adventures and mutual rescue of a young woman out of place in her hometown and a mysterious stranger who calls himself Peter Parker (and begins to cast her in the role of Spider-Man’s first sweetheart), The Night Gwen Stacy Died is about first loss, first love, and finding our real identities.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Mystery, Adult, Novels

278 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Sarah Bruni is a graduate of the University of Iowa and the MFA program at Washington University in St. Louis. She has roots in Chicago, has taught creative writing in St. Louis, volunteered as a writing and English tutor in San Francisco, and Montevideo, Uruguay, and currently lives in Brooklyn. The Night Gwen Stacy Died is her first novel.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a long time Spider-Man fan, the title of Sarah Bruni's first novel caught my attention.

And while it would be easy to assume that The Night Gwen Stacy Died is another in the long trend of tie-in novels, retelling a classic comic book story line, that is not the case here.

Seventeen-year-old Sheila Gower doesn't quite fit into her small town. Taking a job at a local convenience store to save up money to escape town by going to France, she meets a man who refers to himself as Peter Parker. And while Peter does have a secret identity, it's not necessarily that of everyone's favorite wall-crawler. Instead, it's to hide the fact that his life is just as mundane and doesn't quite fit into the small town life as Sheila does.

The two have a budding flirtation which gets taken up to the next level when Peter and Sheila decide to run off together and hit the road to Chicago with Peter even referring to Sheila by the name of Gwen. To add some zest to the story, Peter pretends to hold up the convenience store and kidnap Sheila (the store's surveillance system only captures video, not audio).

With a lot of references and examination of classic Spider-Man storylines, The Night Gwen Stacy Died is a fascinating character novel for the first two-thirds of its run. It's one the novel hits the final third that things begin to derail a bit, keeping what could have been a great book merely a good one. I can see what Bruni is trying to do here, but it feels like the final third of the novel works too hard to drive the point home and it all ends up feeling a bit less than satisfying.

[Renata · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guys, I don't even know? I picked this up because I was intrigued by the title, as a comics fan, but... okay. So I liked the start of the story. It's set in Iowa City/Coralville, which I liked, because I like Iowa City. The protagonists are a 17-year-old girl named Sheila, who works at a gas station, and a 20-something dude named Peter Parker, who frequents the gas station to buy cigarettes. Sheila suspects Peter Parker's ID is fake, because who would name their child after Spider-Man, right?

Anyway, at first I liked Sheila a lot. High school misfit, saving up her money to go to France after high school with no set plan because she doesn't want to go straight to college and she wants to get out of Iowa. So she listens to French CDs and practices while she works at the gas station. Get it, Sheila.

But then she lets herself be voluntarily kidnapped by Peter Parker and goes with him to Chicago? And he gives her a fake ID with the name Gwen Stacy, aka Peter Parker's first girlfriend who dies?? Again... I'm still interested, here. Is Peter going to kill her, or what.

Then... okay, I described the plot of this to a co-worker and she said it sounded like it was written as an exquisite corpse story. (You know, where you fold over the page and pass it to the next person and they write something without having seen your part.) I agree, or maybe like it were part of an improv scene where the author just kept saying "Yes, and." Yes, and... Peter has accurate visions of death. Yes, and... Peter's long-thought-dead brother is actually alive and well in Chicago. Yes, and... Gwen decides to kidnap Peter's brother. Yes, and... coyotes are taking to the streets of Chicago. Yes, and... Gwen has visions of talking coyotes.

???

Also it seemed like the Spider-Man thing was kind of used as a hook and then dropped?

I'd be way into reading a book that used comic book characters/archetypes as a way to explore relationships but I just found this very confusing and weird.

I'm seeing a lot of great reviews for it so it's totes possible that it just all went over my head. If anyone else I know has read it, I'd LOVE to talk about it.

[Oriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprisingly delightful book.

I got this, as is my wont, off the proof shelf at the Strand. I knew nothing about it, not even the pop-culture reference so obvious that it would make most people roll their eyes: turns out that Gwen Stacy is the name of Spiderman's first love, who is killed either before or as he tries to save her.

Apparently this is her:


I didn't know that; in fact, I was surprised that the protagonist is named Sheila, and I was at least thirty pages in before I stopped waiting for there to be a character named Gwen. I also didn't get it when the other protagonist showed up, named Peter Parker.

Apparently this is him:


I never read comic books, okay?

Let me tell you a bit about the book itself. Sheila is finishing high school in Iowa, working at a gas station, learning French and dreaming of moving to Paris as soon as she graduates. Peter Parker is a cute older cab driver who comes into Sheila's station to buy cigarettes with some regularity, and they sometimes flirt innocently and sometimes don't.

Then one day Peter comes in and calls her Gwen and asks if she'd like him to kidnap her, because he has something unspecified but urgent to do in Chicago and could use some company. I won't tell you what she says but I bet you can guess.



The rest of the book is a somewhat twisty story of falling into a strange and shimmery kind of love, and also of creating a life and a reality out of nothing, and also about just who saves whom and when and why, all with a fizzy overlay of a slightly blurred reality boundary, which has a lot to do with the story of Spiderman.

There's also coyotes who (maybe?) talk, dreams that (maybe?) predict semi-comprehensible bits of the future, a (maybe?) dead brother, and other puzzlings.

It's all really quite lovely.

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a confusing book.

It's not confusing because it's difficult to read or anything like that, but because the point is a little lost. Those looking for a comic book analogy of sorts will probably be disappointed, because, at its surface, the book is a story about a teenage girl who meets a man, and they run off together after staging a kidnapping. The man has taken the name of Peter Parker, Spider-man's real name, and he sees Sheila, the teenager, as Gwen Stacy, Spider-man's love interest early on before she dies. The story is a lot of dealing with our two protagonists, as Parker had a rough childhood and thus uses the Parker name to distance himself from it, and Sheila forces herself to play along with it a bit.

If that's it, it's a perfectly serviceable story. It moves along quickly, doesn't try to do too too much. This might also be a story about mental illness, or about mental detachment from the past, or about teen angst if you see Sheila as the chief point. There's a lot of weird stuff to go along with the story, and it never becomes fully clear where it's going. There are often pros and cons to that sort of thinking, but it didn't always work here and I can't tell if it's me thinking too much about the story or if the story itself didn't 100% succeed at what it was trying to do.

Overall, an okay read. Not sad I finished it, not sure I'd recommend it, either.

[Glire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hay varias cosas en la vida que no termino de entender: la teoría de la relatividad, los mapas, la letra de los doctores... y este libro.

Lo juro, no estoy segura de haber entendido la trama en realidad. Y esto se debe a que la historia es contada alternativamente por diferentes PV y cada uno nos cuenta es su versión de los hechos. La autora desaparece, no nos aclara cual es la realidad, y deja que los personajes realmente tomen el control. Esa, me parece, que es la verdadera magia de la historia.

Estoy bastante segura que los personajes tienen serios problemas mentales. Por lo que, lo que leemos es una historia de amor y misterio contada por dos locos.

Extraña, bizarra, maravillosa. Inolvidable.

[Amy]

This book started off okay, but then it just got weird. I read reviews that the end sucked, so I skipped to the end and it made no sense whatsoever. Yeah.

[Filip Jovančević · Rating 2 out of 5]

the things i do for you, filološki fakultet beograd......

[Ray Palen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gwen Stacy is the name of the ill-fated first girlfriend of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Unlike the film versions, which totally botches that relationships, the comic book series took possibly the most dramatic arc of any to date when in issue #121 of The Amazing Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy is killed at the hands of Spider-Man's arch rival (and father of his best friend) the Green Goblin. Ironically, those who remember this issue will recognize the irony that Gwen Stacy may actually have been killed by Spider-Man's attempt to save her rather than the fall she suffered at the hands of the Goblin.

It is this fictional back-story that author Sarah Bruni uses as the center-piece for her brilliantly conceived novel ---- THE NIGHT GWEN STACY DIED. It is a tale of love, fantasy and rescuing those who are need of saving. When a 26-year-old cab driver named 'Peter Parker' takes off with a young gas station attendant in Iowa named Sheila the story truly begins. They head towards the nearest big city, Chicago, and make the journey appear to be a kidnapping at gunpoint.

Sheila is, in fact, a more than willing participant in this adventure as she sees something in Peter that makes her want to save him. She allows herself to answer to the name of 'Gwen Stacy' and they try to begin a new life --- albeit primarily a fantasy one --- in the Chicago suburbs. However, like the comic books, their union may not be fated to end happily and there are other hidden reasons why Peter wanted to head to Chicago.

Sarah Bruni is a refreshing new literary voice who has taken one of the most famous pop culture events of the last 40 years and used it as the jumping off point for a truly original tale.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well written and entertaining book that plays around with the Gwen Stacy/Peter Parker romance, and blurs the line between the real world and the world of fictional characters. It has shifting perspectives, all of which are smoothly done, and is basically a thriller set against the backdrop of silver age comics.

The best part of the story is the way that it works the idea of perpetual reinvention. The idea of places shaping people, languages shaping people and places, and chosen identities mingling with the secrets of our own pasts. I also liked the menacing whimsy of the coyotes, but wish more would have happened with them.

It's full of interesting conceits, and I enjoyed reading it, but I felt that it lacked a lot of real emotion. And it relied so heavily on the known mythology of Peter and Gwen, that the actual characters (Peter/Seth much moreso than Sheila/Gwen) wind up seeming a bit flat. I believe this is the author's first novel, however, and the overall vision for this book is so intriguing that I would be very eager to see what she comes up with next.

[Alyssa · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

difficult to follow with a changing timeline and POV, i never once felt connected to a character or their decisions. the best thing about this book is the cover design.

Also, again, i hate it when books use a descriptive blurb that is so far from the book - this is neither a "taut thriller" nor an "unexpected adventure of love and loss."

[jovana · Rating 2 out of 5]

i would sacrifice so much more for you, katedra za anglistiku...

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Reads Review - The Night Gwen Stacy Died by Sarah Bruni

So I was really psyched when I won this through the Goodreads First Reads program, because it is literary fiction, which I probably don't read all that much of, and also because it pulls in some comic book stuffs into it, which is interesting and I think, in this case, really does work into the narrative and the themes that the author creates. It is a great book, filled with flawed people navigating a flawed world, and I found myself hungrily tearing through it, wanting to plunge down into its cool depths and join the coyotes there.

This is a bit of a strange book, though, because at first glance or in the hands of another writer I would probably have found it much more problematic. As it is there are still some aspects that I'm not sure I can full support, but by and large this is a story about people creating narratives of their lives. I feel that most people deal with this, that we all, in some way, create a narrative for ourselves that makes our lives worth something, that gives our actions significance. In this story of Sheila and Seth, Gwen and Peter, their narratives are to overcome the rather oppressive environments that they were brought up in. Not opressive in the traditional sense where they were beaten or otherwise physically abused, but more that they were oppressed through absence. Peter by the absence of his father and brother and mother, Sheila through a similar absence of her family.

Perhaps it is that these characters are a product of their times, because they do seem to be modern characters, people born and raised to believe in their own narrative while being denied real access to the tools to realize it. Neither are from wealthy homes, and both live now that the dream of going to college and being "successful" is not something they can believe in despite the adults in their lives thinking that is still the only way to do well. Basically, the narrative that their parents, that the world creates for them is stifling, oppressive. And to combat this they strive to create alternative narratives, Seth with comic books, with the story of Peter Parker, and Sheila with first her vision of Paris and later with Seth's narrative, though even as she adopts his narrative she demands equal authorship of it, which was refreshing, which gave her as Gwen much more agency than the actual comic book character ever had.

The story of the book and their personal narratives make them seek escape from the one imposed on them and they travel together to Chicago to try and make some sort of change, to try and save someone even as they try to save themselves. Along the way they start a relationship that is both not healthy at all and at the same time exactly what each person needs. They create their own sort of fantasy, their own story, as they search for meaning, as they try to avoid being pulled back in. For Sheila, the coyote comes to be a sort of totem animal, the way that they wander into the fringes of human society, the way they get lost in the maze, the way they adapt. The book is very artful in how it sets all this up, and I find myself wanting to go back and reread to catch everything.

The writing is excellent, though, and the story moves right along, everything interesting, powerful. While there are problematic aspects of the relationship, I was more comfortable with it considering that these were consenting adults (mostly) and that the problems didn't spring from them as much as they sprang from the dissonance between their preferred world and the one they had to move through. This comes to a head in the ending of the book, which is surreal and moving. I couldn't help but feel, though, that the ending wasn't quite as complete as I would have liked. I understand the choice to end where it does, with the sort of dissolution of the narratives they had chosen, the fantasies, with the two characters taking steps to leave behind the layers of story and make a more real connection, and I get that not everything needs to be wrapped up or explained. Still, there was something about the ending that struck me as needing a little more time, a final meeting or thought. For the later part of the book the characters are apart, always missing each other, and I just wanted some final feeling of confrontation to get a truer feeling of how they had changed to each other.

But perhaps it isn't necessary. And it definitely isn't needed to make the book good, because the book is very good. It is deep and moving and I liked it a great deal. As a comic book fan I found myself nodding along at certain parts, and the depiction of the comic book shop was a bit painful to read because it does seem fairly accurate to many places which is sad. But I liked the book, and recommend it for anyone who is a fan of books, a fan of comic books, or anything in between. That al said, I'll give it four and a half stars out of five.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly don't have a lot of positive things to say about this book.

Shelia is a basic MPDG, and while she initially starts out strong, her character diminishes almost immediately after meeting Peter. She's hellbent on getting out of her small hometown and moving to France. I was a senior in high school once too, so I know that feeling all too well. I assumed I'd feel a strong connection to Shelia, but more than anything I was confused by the direction she goes in. You're telling me that someone who has been saving money for ages, along with tediously studying the language of the place she dreams of calling home, is perfectly okay with giving all of that up and getting in a vehicle with a man she only knows based off his cigarette preference and moves to Chicago without any complaints? I don't think so.

That leads me to Peter. I have so many problems with him and his relationship with Shelia. For starters, he's clearly someone suffering from a multitude of deep-rooted issues, and he's delusional enough to believe that he has a sense of Spiderman in him. Changing his drivers license so his name is Peter Parker? Constantly feeling the need to rescue people who aren't actually in any danger? Whisking a girl off her feet and falling madly in love because that's how it plays out in the comics? Nah.

And their relationship itself, because it's a wonderful mess. I had a really difficult time believing either of them would be okay with robbing the gas station Shelia works at and stealing a cab to get them to Chicago. Shelia expresses guilt maybe once, and even then Peter shrugs it off. Seriously? Then there's the fact that they just magically, suddenly fall in love overnight. Except not really. The author does such a terrible job at showing how their relationship develops and instead opts to tell us. For the record, they're only gone a few weeks (I believe), and I had to strain to not roll my eyes at how much their love apparently blossomed. They knew nothing about each other! From day one Shelia insisted he call her Gwen. She transforms herself into a fucking comic book character to fit the mold of his fantasy, throwing away every ounce of her that made her unique. Peter was purely in love with the idea he constructed of Shelia, and she was stupid enough to play into it. Their entire relationship is built entirely off a facade, and I can't back that. I just can't.

The writing itself, along with the plot, made it impossible for me to enjoy this story. I had no idea what direction the book would take, but it still wound up going somewhere completely unexpected - and that wasn't a good thing. A majority of the story exists as build up for the ending, and that would be great, if the ending hadn't been horribly expected. Ninety-nine percent of the story takes place over the span of a few weeks in which they...what, exactly? Move into a shitty place in Chicago, find boring jobs to keep a stable income and? There was no plot. Peter's dreams came off as a dull sub-plot that weren't strong enough to grasp the reader's attention. I didn't care about him drinking tap water in his sleep. I didn't care about Shelia buying a blue dress that he constantly begged her to wear for a few minutes.

Their relationship was stale. The writing was stale. The characters were stale. Also what the hell was with the coyote crap? Seriously.

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOTE: This is really a 3.5 star review.

The Night Gwen Stacy Died is the story and Sheila Gower, a 17 year old from Iowa who dreams of going to France in order to find her place in the world and a 26 year old who has decided to call himself Peter Parker, a lonely man who is taking care of his not quite elderly mother. He suffers from premonitions, an infliction he's had since his older Jake died 20 years previously.

It is because of one premonition that Peter decides to kidnap Sheila at the gas station she works at and he frequents quite regularly. Sheila, wanting to escape Iowa, goes along with it. There they head to Chicago where Peter gives Sheila the name of Gwendolyn Stacy, Spider-Man's first love. There is another motive to Peter's impulsive action: he's had another premonition of a man swallowing an obscene amount of pills in Sheila's presence that he wants to stop from happening.

There are also lots of coyotes.

I liked The Night Gwen Stacy Died. As a sort of comic book fan, I giggled at the references a-plenty that occurred in this novel. Especially at the fans' reaction letters to when the real Gwen Stacy died. They were an awesome part of history. I liked the love story between Sheila and Peter. It was quirky but never bothersome. I believe that this kind of fast and crazy love could happen.

It reminded me of the movie Nurse Betty. The titled character suffers a traumatic loss while she has a soap opera on and mentally becomes a character in that world while functioning in the real world. Peter loses his brother and his only link to him is his extensive comic book collection featuring Spider-Man. Peter's able to slip into that world by identifying with it and then assimilating into it. Peter is mysterious and charismatic in his own way and he's able to suck in aimless people, like Sheila, into his world.

But it's impossible to steal someone else's story and claim it as your own for long. Sooner or later reality seeps in. A person's story needs to be forged on their own. Sheila learns this lesson toward the end. I liked how that this was the moral, so-to-speak, of The Night Gwen Stacy Died.

I liked the twist toward the middle of the book. It definitely gave me the "Oh!" moment and gave another distinctive POV besides the narratives of Sheila and Peter. I loved the coyotes throughout the book. They served numerous purposes. They were messengers, confidants, saviors, odd friends. They were pretty cool.

Sarah Bruni is a first time novelist and I thought she did a really good job. I saw her speak at a book event and she read from this novel. It's what made me pick it up. It was humorous, sarcastic, poignant, and sad. Plus, I like how she chose to designate the different POVs and the different acts with little illustrations. They were truly boss and I can't wait for more from this author.

And the coyotes.

[DJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted a superhero book that wasn't a graphic novel and it wasn't typical. And I think that's exactly what this book is.

There's this girl named Sheila. She's a run of the mill high school student with good grades, a job as a gas station attendant and a big dream of leaving Iowa behind for Paris when she graduates. In comes Peter Parker, a twenty-six year old cab driver in their Iowa town.

Life is boring, humdrum. She wants big things, he wants the strange, bad dreams to stop. His goal is to leave the town in search of this man from his who is trying to kill himself with pills. But, the girl from his dreams, Sheila, is who he worries about more.

After he asks her to go, she tells him to point his gun at her. She cleans out the register. He drives them to Chicago on this mission. Along the way, he starts to refer to her as Gwen Stacy. She loves the idea of them, Peter and Gwen.

And they just belong, though they're eight years apart in age. He gives her the adventure she craves, she gives him a sense of belonging he needs. Together, they are adorable, yet sometimes infuriating. They grow together and yet fall apart. All the while, they're trying to make money to live, hide out from the law as they're wanted--him for robbery and kidnapping, her for being the victim--and solve the mystery of his dreams before Gwen Stacy can die.

This story was very cute, sort of building and expanding and taking the tale of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy to a place they hadn't been before. There were parts that felt muddled and confusing, like when this third person perspective would change main characters and regress or progress without too much warning. The coyotes, while at the end make sense, make no sense through half the book. And the ending...I'm left with more questions than answers. Which isn't bothersome so much as I want to know, what's going to happen next to Peter and Gwen.

Other than that, which is the reason I deducted a star, it was a great story. There are some major pieces I left out of the review, but it keeps this review spoiler free.

This would make a great read for a rainy weekend, especially if you adore the original Marvel storyline. Very cute, but not something I think is for everyone.

[Kelly Lynn Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I noticed a lot of reviewers giving this book low stars and complaining about the book's "plausibility." In my opinion, these reviewers are completely missing the point of the book.

The book's two protagonists take on the identities of comic book characters, and in many ways, begin to become them. The line between reality and fiction blurs for the characters and the reader. Coyotes serve as messengers, guides, friends. Things get a little weird. The prose gets slippery. The writing is a journey in and of itself, but one well worth taking--whether you come into it liking comics or not.

The author explores identity and our places in the world, and how we inhabit them or refuse them and go out in search of different, perhaps better (but perhaps not) places. The characters reject the identities they were given by their parents and the people around them and become new people, and while they set out to save another person, they wind up saving themselves -- even if it looks like they are getting into a giant mess. The author explores place as not just a physical thing, but a thing made up of the people and objects around us.

I thought the ending brought all of the books disparate strands together beautifully, with one exception -- we're left wondering what exactly happened to Sheila/Gwen's coyote companion. Perhaps this was on purpose. The author does not wrap things up neatly, there are many questions for the characters that don't get answered, and I'm fine with that. Bringing things together doesn't necessarily mean tying them up into a nice package. I like a book that leaves me wondering, even if I hate it at the same time.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sheila Gower is almost an adult. She is seventeen. she lives in a small town in Iowa. She dreams of someday leaving and going to Paris. She is preparing by learning French. So when a mysterious man comes into Sheila's place of employment, she shows the man attention. The man is older and he is a little odd. His name is Peter Parker. Yes, just like Spiderman. Peter likes Sheila. He even starts calling her Gwen Stacy, Peter's girlfriend. Peter and Sheila decide to run away together. They come up with a plan. Peter fakes a robbery and together Peter and Sheila aka Gwen drive off together. Will they have a happy ending?

You could say that my interest was high when I read the summary for this book. I wanted to see what author, Sarah Bruni would do with this concept of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. I have to say that this book is unique in a good way. while I was never over excited about Peter and Sheila, I did find their story appealing. Sheila's naiveness grew old quickly after a while. Than there was Peter. Let's just say he is nothing like the "real" Peter Parker. This book is more about what happens to two people who are different from each other and live in their own world. Not a lot of excitement. I was expecting more humor to be featured in this book and there was hardly any moment that I was laughing. Overall a book that deserves a look but you might want to check it out at your local library.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this on a lark. The cover caught my eye while I was stocking the bookstore shelves. Having a soft spot for Spiderman, a purchase felt necessary.

At it's core, this novel is a love story between a girl who yearns to escape her very ordinary hometown life and an older, mysterious guy. What lurks underneath speaks volumes about how we create identities around ourselves and others.

It's a delight to see this weird and peculiar tale unfold, when Sheila runs off with Peter Parker (as his fake ID reads) to assist in a mission he doesn't explain. Along the way, she more than happily goes along with his desire to think of her as comic book character Gwen Stacy, Perter Parker's doomed girlfriend.

The very idea of people relating to each other in terms of a constructed identity is fascinating, as we all do this in varying degrees. The way Sarah Bruni uses this as a framework to tell her story is quite entertaining.

The book is a clever, occasionally charming, and unpredictable love story that reads like a mystery thriller. It's a tale I was quite surprised with and one I recommend checking out.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book for the title alone, but in the end, it was so disappointing. Towards the end I lost all interest in the book and just wanted to finish it.

This book is the story of 17-year old Sheila. Sheila only wants to escape her small Iowa town and dreams of moving to Paris. She meets a man named Peter Parker. The two end up in Chicago.

The book is narrated by Sheila and Peter in alternating chapters, sometimes overlapping the same events.

Overall, the book is decent and written well. However it felt like an MFA thesis project. The writing was good, but I wasn't interested in the characters and there was no substantial plot. Some call it a mystery, and there are some things the reader doesn't know, but I would hardly call it a mystery.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though this book uses the names of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy as means of escape for its main duo, this is not a book for Spiderman fans. I'm not really sure who this book is for, to be honest. It's mostly a vehicle for a meditation on identity: how it's defined, how it's changed by where we are and who we're with, why we feel the need to charge it with meaning beyond our day to day lives. But that idea is not enough to sustain this story, nor are its character or their experiences. It all fell a bit flat. I think this would have been better suited to a short story or a novella. As it was, most of this novel felt like filler.

So...a 1.5ish stars? Let's clock it in around there.

[Celia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good till the end where I felt it spiraled into this sort of pseudo-artsy territory in lieu of a well planned conclusion, especially given the emphasis on fate and destiny versus individual choice. When I read in the acknowledgments that it was written over many years in many different places I felt this was sort of reflected in the last few chapters- sort of like, "let's get this over with, already." That said, it was still entertaining, and I spent a huge portion of the book trying to decide if the main character was mentally ill or actually in possession of some "super power" or both.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a truely unique and enjoyable read. Probably 3.5 stars, but cute enough to round up. Comic book lovers will enjoy this "coming of age" tale about a seventeen year old Iowa loner who sets on an adventure with a young man living under the persona Peter Parker. Our protaganist takes on the persona of Peter's first girl friend, Gwen Stacy. Through in a couple coyotes - one stuffed and one live, although, the second one may just be a stray dog, and you have a good easy to read story. If you like the Big Bang Theory, you will enjoy The Night Gwen Stacy Died.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing debut. It took a few pages to draw me in, but once it took off, I couldn't quit. It's one of those rare books that works as both adult and YA fiction. So many levels. So much blurring of lines between reality and imagination, between simply observing and having a stake in the outcome. I am from the Midwest, and so much of the apathy and passion rings true. Lovely book, worthy of a second read ...

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had super high expectations and the book just fell short for me. I would say that I would agree with some of the other reviews that stated it falls apart at the end. I definitely felt strongly about the book in the beginning but as it progressed I was less and less interested in the characters and the plausibility of the story.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was a bit frenetic. The coyote bit DID tie into the end, but the ending was so strange and the story just seemed to stop abruptly. I think I understand what the author was trying to say, but it left some things unanswered, like Peter's future-seeing dreams. I just wished that the Spider-Man premise was given more explanation, and that the characters were given more satisfying epilogues.

[Richard Sanford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conceit of the title felt a little precious at first but by the end of the novel it was remarkably gripping and moving. An astonishing, tough-minded coming of age novel that slips out of preconceptions and cliche, knowing exactly what it's doing.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a little too weird for me, but I give the author a lot of credit; the plot was very clever. I think if I were more of a comic book or graphic novel fan, I'd have enjoyed it more.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I am willing to suspend disbelief for a good story, but this story wasn't really about anything at all.

[ivana · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was boring for the most part, lowkey super problematic and has a really questionable ending that left me wondering what’s the point of it even being written

[Sara Jovanovic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such a bland and shallow book. If it wasn't a required read, I doubt I would've read it otherwise. It's like a really, really bad fanfiction. And to be honest, I think I didn't understand the ending.