Title: Black Widow Forever Red
Author: Margaret Stohl
Genre: YA fiction, superheroes


I never got into reading comic books but when I heard that the Black Widow storyline had been turned into a YA novel, I was intrigued...
Ava Orlova is a scrappy orphan on the run from SHIELD (yes, that SHIELD) with one best friend and a stray cat to call family. Alex Manor lives a comfortable suburban life but lately he feels like he's being watched. Ava has dreams of people she never met, especially a certain tall and handsome boy who loves fencing. Ava also remembers the day that Black Widow saved her from Ivan Somodorov. At a fencing tournament Alex and Ava meet and their fates become intertwined when the Black Widow shows up and saves them from Ivan's stooges. Soon Natasha learns that her connection to Alex is blood-related our favorite female assassin starts to become human again when she realizes she has a family member to protect.

Overall, the book was okay. The pacing started out quick, dragged in the middle, and picked back up again during the last few chapters. Natasha Romanoff is a lot more aloof and self-protective in this book than in the Avengers movies. She has guarded herself for decades and once she finds out she has a brother, she starts to soften (although that seemed to happen a little too quickly considering all that she has been through).