Book Review: Black Widow Forever Red

I love superheroes. The Marvel Cinematic Universe contains some of my absolute favorite movies. One of my favorite superhero characters is Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. Spies tend to be intriguing characters, and Black Widow is no exception. So when it was announced that Marvel would be releasing a Black Widow YA novel I was very excited. And one of my best friends, knowing how much I love Marvel, got me Black Widow Forever Red for my birthday.

Here’s the synopsis:

Enter the world of the Avengers' iconic master spy

Natasha Romanoff is one of the world's most lethal assassins. Trained from a young age in the arts of death and deception, Natasha was given the title of Black Widow by Ivan Somodorov, her brutal teacher at the Red Room, Moscow's infamous academy for operatives.

Ava Orlova is just trying to fit in as an average Brooklyn teenager, but her life has been anything but average.The daughter of a missing Russian quantum physicist, Ava was once subjected to a series of ruthless military experiments-until she was rescued by Black Widow and placed under S.H.I.E.L.D. protection. Ava has always longed to reconnect with her mysterious savior, but Black Widow isn't really the big sister type.

Until now.

When children all over Eastern Europe begin to go missing, and rumors of smuggled Red Room tech light up the dark net, Natasha suspects her old teacher has returned-and that Ava Orlova might be the only one who can stop him. To defeat the madman who threatens their future, Natasha and Ava must unravel their pasts. Only then will they discover the truth about the dark-eyed boy with an hourglass tattoo who haunts Ava's dreams. . . .

My rating: *****

Black Widow Forever Red is an enjoyable story. The characters are interesting, the story is intriguing, and we even get an appearance from one of Natasha’s Avengers teammates. Oh and our favorite agent of SHIELD, Phil Coulson is here too and he’s as enjoyable as always.

I do have one slight complaint though. For a book with Black Widow in the title and Black Widow herself on the cover, Black Widow isn’t really the main character. She’s important sure, and an integral part of the story. But overall the focus of this novel is on Ava, as the synopsis does indicate. Ava’s not a bad character by any means, she’s interesting and enjoyable for the most part, but I really wanted the story to be focused on Natasha.

When this book was announced, I was hoping that maybe we would get to see her life in the Red Room and her transition into SHIELD. We do get glimpses of that in this novel, but it is by no means a major part. But maybe Marvel could cover all of this if they ever get around to making a Black Widow movie. Come on Marvel, you know you want to do it.

Overall, if you enjoy all things Marvel I would recommend checking out Black Widow Forever Red. It’s a good read and I hope that Marvel will release more YA books in the future.