Chapter By Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
We’re nearing the end of this ride and as usual I’m running out of ways to talk about it with as few spoilers as possible. Carnage is loose, he has the deadly stuff, and if Spider-Man doesn’t get to the park fast the homeless’ next meal may be their last. So let’s get to the action.
Apparently the prom rejections are getting stunt-worthy too.
Reading this chapter before bed may turn out to be a bad idea, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The chapter opens at the bank as Mary Jane marvels as what a rock Aunt May is being with all that’s going on. She’s about to lose the house and Peter is late. Usually May comes off as this doting, oblivious old lady but the writers try to put a different spin on it through MJ’s point of view, as she wonders why May is so calm. We also learn that when she’s nervous she fiddles with her wedding ring, and she’s nervous now because she wants to help somehow. I sense a bit of foreshadowing here.
The second half of the chapter brings us back to the penthouse and Carnage’s…shall we say eccentric ways of sending people to the afterlife? Again we look through the eyes of David, one of the partygoers whose perspective we also saw during Carnage’s arrival. The chapter is very descriptive (not too graphic but enough that reading it before bed might not have been the best idea) in the, pardon the term, carnage around them and how his love interest is going to need serious therapy. Then Carnage calls David over and tosses him out the window. He talks about providing a distraction and seems focused on the food delivery truck. I sense even more foreshadowing here since we know the suitcase with the vial of crazy juice is empty. Lucky David is saved by Spider-Man and even that is told from David’s perspective. It all works well…for nightmare fuel.
Overall a very good chapter as we near the end of the book. Did you guess Carnage’s plan before the book reveals it. Will Mary Jane save Aunt May’s house? The answers are coming soon. How soon? We’ll find out together.
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