Forever Red is a young adult novel about the Marvel character, Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff). While I think my teenaged self would have adored this book, my adult self thought it was…OK. It had some great moments, mostly courtesy of Tony Stark, and some good action, but it wasn’t incredibly engrossing.
The story involves Ava and Alex. Ava, like Natasha, spent time in the Red Room being tortured by Ivan Somodorov. Natasha rescued Ava when Ava was very young, but once she turned Ava over to S.H.I.E.L.D. she pretty much abandoned her. Ava was held by S.H.I.E.L.D. in what they presumably thought of as benevolent captivity until she ran away. When our story opens she is homeless and having constant dreams about a teenage boy, Alex, who she’s never met. They finally do meet, just in time for Ava to be hunted by Ivan. Most of the book is Natasha, Ava, and Alex on the run while they try to figure out how to stop Ivan and how they are all connected.
The story picks up a lot of steam about halfway through. Partly this is because enough plot elements come together that the characters are able to start fulfilling their potential. Partly it’s because Tony Stark shows up and injects some much needed humor into the story.
A few things you should know: for the book to make sense, you need to know a little bit about Natasha and S.H.I.E.L.D. going in (the Marvel Avenger movies will do fine; you don’t have to be a comic book expert). There’s a romance, but not a happy one. There are children in peril and a cliffhanger ending that is depressing in the same way that most stories about Black Widow are depressing. There’s a ton of violence but it’s not graphic, and no sex. Although it’s based on a comic book character, this is a novel, not a comic or a graphic novel.
Overall, I found this book to be moderately entertaining but difficult to invest in emotionally. However, as a teen, this would have been a great wish-fulfillment book. I spent hours wishing that the TARDIS would materialize in the Quad and that the Doctor would take me away. For Ava and Alex, this story is basically the Marvel superhero version of that very thing happening – especially for Alex, who idolizes The Avengers and who, unlike Ava, is not aware of being anything other than a normal suburban kid. One day Ava and Alex are just living their lives and the next thing they know they are jumping off bridges with Black Widow and discovering that the have special talents of their own.
As an adult there’s plenty of YA that I enjoy, but some YA works best for its target audience and this is a prime example. It’s a book about teens, for teens. Putting Natasha in charge of two teenagers is a great twist on her character, because she feels completely unprepared to deal with them. However, it does have some of the “tough woman develops character by becoming more nurturing” cliché. While I’m of the personal opinion that we should all be nurturing regardless of our gender, I am less interested in seeing Natasha learn how to hug someone than I am in seeing her kick butt.
However, watching her exasperation with the teens, and Stark’s gleeful amusement at her plight, was pretty entertaining. I’d recommend this book highly for teens and moderately for adults with an interest in the character.
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YES. I absolutely love Black Widow in the MCU, but this was awkward and I had a hard time getting into it. I got an ARC in July and didn’t finish it until October. Once Tony showed up, I had more fun, but it took slogging through the first 60% until it picked up. And I still have A LOT of questions about the plot, but mostly I’m glad I read it just so I can booktalk it later.