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Black Widow: Novels #1
Black Widow Forever Red
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. . . .
Black Widow:Forever Red features all the heart-pounding adventure readers expect from Marvel, written by #1 New York Times best-selling author Margaret Stohl. Uncover a new side of the Marvel Universe that will thrill loyal fans and newcomers alike, as Stohl reveals the untold story of Black Widow for the very first time.
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. . . .
Black Widow:Forever Red features all the heart-pounding adventure readers expect from Marvel, written by #1 New York Times best-selling author Margaret Stohl. Uncover a new side of the Marvel Universe that will thrill loyal fans and newcomers alike, as Stohl reveals the untold story of Black Widow for the very first time.
432 pages, Paperback
First published October 13, 2015
About the author
Margaret Stohl
106 books6,036 followersMargaret Stohl is the #1 New York Times, PW, USA Today, LA Times and Internationally bestselling co-author or author of twelve books, including the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES NOVELS, the DANGEROUS CREATURES NOVELS, the ICONS NOVELS, MARVEL'S BLACK WIDOW NOVELS, ROYCE ROLLS & CATS VS ROBOTS THIS IS WAR (forthcoming!) She writes the MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL comic for Marvel Comics (ongoing) and has contributed to countless videogames; currently, she is a Narrative Director at Bungie.
From the author:
Goodreads Peeps! Please note I no longer review the books on my shelf, "stars"-wise. I do list books I read, and they're all automatically marked as 5 stars. That's because a) I don't list books that I didn't like enough to finish and b) I didn't want to delete the ratings I had already given. If I particularly love a book and feel inclined to comment, you'll still see the comments here. Sadly, I have to ask: please don't reproduce these comments on book jackets, websites, or in any other medium for the marketing of books. They're only meant for fellow goodreaders. Thanks so much!
ABOUT ME:
Writing has gotten me in and out of trouble since I was 15 (back then, mostly just in trouble.) For 10 years, I designed &/or wrote for lots of video games, one of which was nominated for “Most Innovative Game Design,” but I lost to a rapping onion. If you know games you get why my two bad beagles are named Zelda and Kirby.
From the author:
Goodreads Peeps! Please note I no longer review the books on my shelf, "stars"-wise. I do list books I read, and they're all automatically marked as 5 stars. That's because a) I don't list books that I didn't like enough to finish and b) I didn't want to delete the ratings I had already given. If I particularly love a book and feel inclined to comment, you'll still see the comments here. Sadly, I have to ask: please don't reproduce these comments on book jackets, websites, or in any other medium for the marketing of books. They're only meant for fellow goodreaders. Thanks so much!
ABOUT ME:
Writing has gotten me in and out of trouble since I was 15 (back then, mostly just in trouble.) For 10 years, I designed &/or wrote for lots of video games, one of which was nominated for “Most Innovative Game Design,” but I lost to a rapping onion. If you know games you get why my two bad beagles are named Zelda and Kirby.
School: I spent more years in it than a person ever should, because let’s face it, reading books is so much better than having a job. I fell in love with American literature at Amherst and Yale, earned an MA in English from Stanford, and studied creative writing under the late great poet George MacBeth at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. I taught Intro to Film as a TA at Yale and Romantic Poetry as a TA at Stanford. Don’t tell the people at Yale but sometimes I taught the section before I’d seen the movie it was about...
I live in Santa Monica, CA, with my family, most of whom were enslaved into working with me in one form or another on my first YA book for Little, Brown. I’m not kidding; when my daughters wanted to go to school I said “Why are you so selfish? Get back in there and edit,” and by said I mean yelled and maybe threw things, it’s all a haze. Now the Beautiful series has wrapped, but you can see the movie on February 13, 2013 or read my new book ICONS on May 7th. Nothing gold can stay, Ponyboy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,533 reviews
August 2, 2015
This is not a book I would usually read, but I was at BookCon and I got introduced to Scott Westerfeld at a party and I have read a lot of his work, and he had an ARC of this under his arm, and I said "That looks cool!" And the woman next to him just took it from him and gave it to me lol. She was the author so she was cool to do that, lol, but it really was Scott's ARC he'd been carrying around all day (which I didn't know at the time, I just took it) so sorry Scott. I'm a thief.
This book is very good though. I'm not a Marvel fan, and frankly don't read a lot of licensed, TV/Movie-based fiction ever. So this is something i never would have picked up, but glad I read! Black Widow is kind of a character I love hate. I love her tormented past, I hate how she's the lone girl elevated to play on the block with the other Superheroes, but she's organically never going to equal them because she's just not a superhero, gene-wise (Hawkeye I have the same feelings about, so it's not just a girl thing. Your bow does diddly against Hulk bicep, dude.) This book was a pretty cool YA take on her and introduces characters I'd love to see more of in the future. And since I'm a fan of Agents of Shield, it was cool to know that world building deeper than I would have known another licensed property. Anyway, for a YA superhero tale with some kickass ladies, this is a good candidate!
This book is very good though. I'm not a Marvel fan, and frankly don't read a lot of licensed, TV/Movie-based fiction ever. So this is something i never would have picked up, but glad I read! Black Widow is kind of a character I love hate. I love her tormented past, I hate how she's the lone girl elevated to play on the block with the other Superheroes, but she's organically never going to equal them because she's just not a superhero, gene-wise (Hawkeye I have the same feelings about, so it's not just a girl thing. Your bow does diddly against Hulk bicep, dude.) This book was a pretty cool YA take on her and introduces characters I'd love to see more of in the future. And since I'm a fan of Agents of Shield, it was cool to know that world building deeper than I would have known another licensed property. Anyway, for a YA superhero tale with some kickass ladies, this is a good candidate!
October 15, 2015
Adventures in Babysitting Spy Kids
That's the best way to describe this book. It's fairly disappointing that Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) is basically secondary here, despite being the titular character. Instead she spends her time running around after 2 teens. To be quite honest, I felt like this was not the best effort that could be made from a Black Widow solo story tied in with the MCU. It's a fast-paced book with some pretty good writing, which makes me think that Margaret Stohl wasn't the dead weight on those Beautiful Creatures books after all (though there is some YA romance here [read: instalove]).
We get to see Tony Stark make an appearance.
And Natasha's protegé, Ava, who turns into the Red Widow.
I'm actually glad that Bruce is only barely mentioned, because the Black Widow/Hulk thing really messes up the perfect ship you didn't know you needed in Science Bros.
Rant About The Editing:
Page 209 finds this bit where there's an extra set of quotation marks, even though nobody is talking at the end of the paragraph. Also notice those half page and half paragraph indents? They're on every chapter.
Page 389 has a paragraph that is missing not only the beginning letter, but a capital one. It should read "Ava" not "va".
Page 47 finds a reference to "Jabba the Hut", which is strange because since Marvel and Star Wars are owned by Disney, the editor should at least know that it should be "Hutt" with 2 ts.
Emily Meehan is credited as the Editorial Director "who did a brilliant job editing this book" (per the author's own words in the Acknowledgements section), but she actually did quite a crappy one in my opinion. The formatting is odd, there are obvious errors, and the debriefing scenes that precede each chapter are off-putting. I'm really tired of this kind of lazy editing from big publishers, and it shows that people obviously aren't going to be paying for quality in a book like this nor are they getting the story they thought they would.
August 12, 2023
Reread 2023 - Still enjoy the book! 4.5 stars - Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
**********
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
I loved this book I got it from the library but I'm buying it after this review! (Own Hardback)
LET'S BEGIN
The Black Widow is very deadly... --->EXCERPT<---
She sighed. "Knock-knock, Ivan. "Who's there? S.H.I.E.L.D."
He looked at her blankly. "I don't get it."
Natasha punched him in the face as hard as she could.
As he went flying back, she rubbed her fist. "Sorry. It's more of a punch than line."
When I first started reading the book, it seemed that the Black Widow was taking the backseat, it was more focused on the kids in the book and she would come in here and there. BUT<---- All of this is for a reason and she is in it when the time comes and she's in the whole more than half the ending of the book. Either way, the whole story line rocks!
Here's how it goes:
1. There is a jerk named Ivan Somodorov who is evil.
2. There is a little girl named Ava Orlova who Natasha (B Widow) saves from said evil jerk.
3. Ava doesn't see Natasha until many years later even though she promised she would be there.
4. There is a dude named Alex Manor that said girl Ava has been dreaming about (like premonitions)
5. Tony Stark helps this trio out, now with the beat em up stuff but with the tech stuff.
So, Natasha saves this little girl Ava from the bad man Ivan and thinks she kills him at the same time. That was the prime directive of S.H.I.E.L.D. was to take him out. He did experiments on children, even Natasha when she was young. I won't say what all he did or was trying to accomplish but it's not good as villains usually don't do good.
Years later when Ava is a teenager, she runs away from S.H.I.E.L.D, who had her in protective captivity and is now living homeless. She keeps having these dreams about this boy Alex and they are bizarre because they are so vivid and real and she finds out so is he! They meet at a fencing convention. It's mind blowing when I finally read what those dreams were about! Sorry.. got off track... so the two kids meet at the convention and they also meet Natasha. Ava is ticked off of course since she hadn't seen Natasha since she was a kid and felt like she could trust no one in the world with their promises. But, that's all whole other story. So.. Ava and Natasha are talking about things, Alex bursts into the fray and then they all start getting shot at.. lovely. Natasha, being the Widow gets them out of dodge and heads on over to see Stark. The thing is... the old evil dude (Ivan) he isn't dead --->of course<--- and he's after Ava .....soooooooo... I'm not telling you why but Stark tries helping them out with this little problem (that I can't tell you) ... and let's just go ahead and add some excerpts!
Natasha nodded. "Ava, Alex, this is Tony Stark."
"Look. It's a small human. Hello, small human." He waved, and Ava froze. She couldn't help it. Like everyone else, she'd heard the sound bites from Tony Stark of Iron Man fame-of Stark Industries fame-of tabloid and headlines and fast cars and fast everything fame. Even when the only channel she had was C-SPAN.
"Hi, Mr.--Iron--Stark."
Natasha was silent and focused, but Tony talked as he worked. "Walk me through it again. Your not-so-dead long-lost Red Roomie shows up in Panama City. Your afraid he'll try to tangle with Natasha Junior, here."
Ava coughed. "Excuse me?"
"So you circle the wagons, pick up Mini-Me, take out Ivan's welcome party, hop on Coulson's good ship Lollipop, and hitch a ride to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s doorstep."
Anyhoo... they are all hanging out with Tony, the kids are supposedly sleeping, but escaping. Let me just say they have some powers too.. They go back to where it all began, find out some messed up stuff, some really sweet stuff, some sad stuff, Natasha shows up (because she's Black Widow) they put more pieces together and set out to stop evil Ivan from hurting more kids, fight a bunch of dudes, some more sad stuff happens, and .... I'm not saying any more :-)
I was really sad at one part though, really, really sad :-(
I cried - don't judge me! But yeah, it seems like when something really good happens, then is all turns to shite!
Either way, I loved the book, I'm buying the book, I love the cover and I want more of these books!
**********
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
I loved this book I got it from the library but I'm buying it after this review! (Own Hardback)
LET'S BEGIN
The Black Widow is very deadly... --->EXCERPT<---
She sighed. "Knock-knock, Ivan. "Who's there? S.H.I.E.L.D."
He looked at her blankly. "I don't get it."
Natasha punched him in the face as hard as she could.
As he went flying back, she rubbed her fist. "Sorry. It's more of a punch than line."
When I first started reading the book, it seemed that the Black Widow was taking the backseat, it was more focused on the kids in the book and she would come in here and there. BUT<---- All of this is for a reason and she is in it when the time comes and she's in the whole more than half the ending of the book. Either way, the whole story line rocks!
Here's how it goes:
1. There is a jerk named Ivan Somodorov who is evil.
2. There is a little girl named Ava Orlova who Natasha (B Widow) saves from said evil jerk.
3. Ava doesn't see Natasha until many years later even though she promised she would be there.
4. There is a dude named Alex Manor that said girl Ava has been dreaming about (like premonitions)
5. Tony Stark helps this trio out, now with the beat em up stuff but with the tech stuff.
So, Natasha saves this little girl Ava from the bad man Ivan and thinks she kills him at the same time. That was the prime directive of S.H.I.E.L.D. was to take him out. He did experiments on children, even Natasha when she was young. I won't say what all he did or was trying to accomplish but it's not good as villains usually don't do good.
Years later when Ava is a teenager, she runs away from S.H.I.E.L.D, who had her in protective captivity and is now living homeless. She keeps having these dreams about this boy Alex and they are bizarre because they are so vivid and real and she finds out so is he! They meet at a fencing convention. It's mind blowing when I finally read what those dreams were about! Sorry.. got off track... so the two kids meet at the convention and they also meet Natasha. Ava is ticked off of course since she hadn't seen Natasha since she was a kid and felt like she could trust no one in the world with their promises. But, that's all whole other story. So.. Ava and Natasha are talking about things, Alex bursts into the fray and then they all start getting shot at.. lovely. Natasha, being the Widow gets them out of dodge and heads on over to see Stark. The thing is... the old evil dude (Ivan) he isn't dead --->of course<--- and he's after Ava .....soooooooo... I'm not telling you why but Stark tries helping them out with this little problem (that I can't tell you) ... and let's just go ahead and add some excerpts!
Natasha nodded. "Ava, Alex, this is Tony Stark."
"Look. It's a small human. Hello, small human." He waved, and Ava froze. She couldn't help it. Like everyone else, she'd heard the sound bites from Tony Stark of Iron Man fame-of Stark Industries fame-of tabloid and headlines and fast cars and fast everything fame. Even when the only channel she had was C-SPAN.
"Hi, Mr.--Iron--Stark."
Natasha was silent and focused, but Tony talked as he worked. "Walk me through it again. Your not-so-dead long-lost Red Roomie shows up in Panama City. Your afraid he'll try to tangle with Natasha Junior, here."
Ava coughed. "Excuse me?"
"So you circle the wagons, pick up Mini-Me, take out Ivan's welcome party, hop on Coulson's good ship Lollipop, and hitch a ride to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s doorstep."
Anyhoo... they are all hanging out with Tony, the kids are supposedly sleeping, but escaping. Let me just say they have some powers too.. They go back to where it all began, find out some messed up stuff, some really sweet stuff, some sad stuff, Natasha shows up (because she's Black Widow) they put more pieces together and set out to stop evil Ivan from hurting more kids, fight a bunch of dudes, some more sad stuff happens, and .... I'm not saying any more :-)
I was really sad at one part though, really, really sad :-(
I cried - don't judge me! But yeah, it seems like when something really good happens, then is all turns to shite!
Either way, I loved the book, I'm buying the book, I love the cover and I want more of these books!
Want to read
June 4, 2015Black Widow, so basically, YAAAAASSSSS.
March 20, 2020
I did really want to like this book, but it a bit too slow for me. I like the characters, this is more the marvel comic book version of the Black Widow as opposed to the warmer more flirtatious version played by Scarlet in the movies (however I am sure she would turn on the charm when it is needed). This is the part of the book I like, but my main problem with the book is it is too slow. There is almost nothing in the book you will not see coming a few chapters before. The book is written from 3 perspectives, Natasha's, Ave's, and Alex's. The are also a few guest stars and honorable mentions. The thing that really does not work for me is, transcripts of the deposition at the end/beginning of every chapter. I can see this working in a movie setting as a cut scene, but it did not work for me in the book format, also in some cases I though it gave too much of the game. To me this is origin story.
The Red Room, now defunct, was where a young girl Natasha Romanoff was trained/tortured into the super spy and now Averger the Black Widow. Still bearing scars and trauma, The Widow is sent to "take care of" her one time mentor and head of the Red Room program, Ivan the Strange. However Ivan is not done and still has a few cards to play including a long term plan for Natasha and the world. For someone who has always know hardship and betrayal, this give Widow something she has not had in a long time. Hope.
There are parts of this book that I though were very good, but it is just too slow for me and like I said a bit obvious what is going to happen. It is a bit overly ambitious in the plot as well it reminds me of the 80s villains for spy movies.
The Red Room, now defunct, was where a young girl Natasha Romanoff was trained/tortured into the super spy and now Averger the Black Widow. Still bearing scars and trauma, The Widow is sent to "take care of" her one time mentor and head of the Red Room program, Ivan the Strange. However Ivan is not done and still has a few cards to play including a long term plan for Natasha and the world. For someone who has always know hardship and betrayal, this give Widow something she has not had in a long time. Hope.
There are parts of this book that I though were very good, but it is just too slow for me and like I said a bit obvious what is going to happen. It is a bit overly ambitious in the plot as well it reminds me of the 80s villains for spy movies.
May 11, 2016
English review at the bottom
Lo primero que diré es que este libro es un busca fama, ha sido vendido como la historia no revelada de Natasha Romanoff A.K.A. Black Widow, lo cual es,en el 90% de la historia, no del todo correcto (por no decir una total mentira). Natasha aparece en,aproximadamente, el 30% del libro y funge como personaje secundario y los secretos pues...no son realmente reveladores
Ahora bien, si no habla de Natasha Romanov ¿De quién habla? Pues preparense porque los verdaderos protagionista son Ava Orlova A.K.A
El otro personaje principal es Alex, un adolescente problemático que se enamora de Ava y, que a los 3 minutos de conocerla, decide acompañarla en las balas y en la tranquilidad. En este caso, él tenía una buena historia detrás que queda totalmente desaprovechada tanto por el poco desarrollo que éste presenta como por la poca explicación del lugar de donde salen sus habilidades.
La historia se centra en cómo, tras descubrir que están enamorados (?), Alex y Ava comienzan un viaje de acercarse/alejarse de Black Widow, de S.H.I.E.L.D y de Ivan El extraño. El conocer la historia de la más grande espia de Marvel queda delegado a segundo plano para centrarse en un romance que nunca se forma del todo y que yo jamás logré creerme. Los puntos interesantes se dan cuando Black Widow aparece, algo así como 40-60 páginas en total, y esto se debe a que es cuando se dan las escenas de acción. Estás partes fueron las que considero que están mejor escritas pero, el resto del libro se siente pesado, aburrido y repetitivo.
Me es imposible entender como la gente se quedo contenta con la "historia" de Black Widow sin Black Widow. Las referencias a otros personajes de Marvel se sienten forzadas y aunque no podría decir que es la más grande porquería que hay para mi es aburrido y decepcionante, aunque acepto que si el título y la descripción no prometieran a Natasha no tendría el éxito que logró.
_____________________________________________
The first thing I will say is that this book is a seeks fame, has been sold as the undisclosed story of Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow, which is 90% of the story, not entirely correct (if not a total lie). Natasha appears in approximately 30% of the book and serves as a secondary character and her secrets...aren't really developers
Now if this doesn't speak about Natasha Romanov, About who speaks? Well get ready because the real protagonist is Ava Orlova A.K.A
The other main character is Alex, a troubled teen who falls for Ava and after 3 minutes of meeting, decides to accompany her on the bullets and tranquility. In this case, he had a good story behind that is totally wasted because low development and the little explanation for the place from where their skills.
The story centers on how, after discovering they are in love (?), Alex and Ava begin a journey to get close/go away of Black Widow, S.H.I.E.L.D and Ivan The strange. Knowing the history of the largest spy Marvel is delegated to the background to focus on a romance that never gets completely form and I never believe. The interesting points are when Black Widow appears, like 40-60 pages in total, and this is because it's when the action scenes are given, which are the parts that I think are better written, but the rest of the book feels heavy, boring and repetitive.
I can't understand how people are happy with the Black Widow story without Black Widow . References to other Marvel characters feel forced and even when I couldn't say it's the biggest crap out there for me is boring and disappointing, although I accept that if the title and description didn't promised talk Natasha this wouldn't have the success that made.
December 22, 2015
Originally posted at Lady Knight Reads
WE COULD HAVE, ADELE. WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL. I MEAN. NATASHA FREAKING ROMANOFF. She is literally the best part of the Avengers, so this book should have been amazing. Or at least somewhat good. I'd have even settled for okay. Unfortunately this book went wrong pretty much from the start, and okay, I should have known that would happen. I historically have not enjoyed Stohl's solo writing and I'm not entirely sure why I thought this would be any different.
It's not even that the writing is bad per se. It's just bland. There is nothing remarkable about it. The characterization was flat, especially with Ava and Alex, and the three viewpoints were unnecessary and distracting. I could have handled the alternating Ava and Natasha but Alex was pointless. He should not have even existed in this book.
Also calling this a book about Black Widow felt a little misleading since she barely seemed to be a part of the story at all until nearly the end. The only part of the characterization I really enjoyed was the fact that Natasha's voice sounded like movie Natasha in my head and that made it easy to visualize her scenes.
THE PLOT IS THE WORST THING EVER THOUGH. SERIOUSLY. WHO OKAYED THIS? WHO READ THAT AND THOUGHT "YES, THIS IS THE STORY NATASHA DESERVES". Now admittedly I've never read the comics so I have no idea if this book was supposed to be truer to those than the movies or something else entirely. No matter what, she deserved better. I wanted action and bad-ass Black Widow taking care of business and that wasn't even close to what we got. Seriously I am not here to read about a couple of boring kids making terrible life choices and their instalovey feels. Nothing that happened in this book made any logical sense, even for a Marvel world. AND JUST. Screw. That. Ending. Okay. *burns everything to the ground*
WE COULD HAVE, ADELE. WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL. I MEAN. NATASHA FREAKING ROMANOFF. She is literally the best part of the Avengers, so this book should have been amazing. Or at least somewhat good. I'd have even settled for okay. Unfortunately this book went wrong pretty much from the start, and okay, I should have known that would happen. I historically have not enjoyed Stohl's solo writing and I'm not entirely sure why I thought this would be any different.
It's not even that the writing is bad per se. It's just bland. There is nothing remarkable about it. The characterization was flat, especially with Ava and Alex, and the three viewpoints were unnecessary and distracting. I could have handled the alternating Ava and Natasha but Alex was pointless. He should not have even existed in this book.
Also calling this a book about Black Widow felt a little misleading since she barely seemed to be a part of the story at all until nearly the end. The only part of the characterization I really enjoyed was the fact that Natasha's voice sounded like movie Natasha in my head and that made it easy to visualize her scenes.
THE PLOT IS THE WORST THING EVER THOUGH. SERIOUSLY. WHO OKAYED THIS? WHO READ THAT AND THOUGHT "YES, THIS IS THE STORY NATASHA DESERVES". Now admittedly I've never read the comics so I have no idea if this book was supposed to be truer to those than the movies or something else entirely. No matter what, she deserved better. I wanted action and bad-ass Black Widow taking care of business and that wasn't even close to what we got. Seriously I am not here to read about a couple of boring kids making terrible life choices and their instalovey feels. Nothing that happened in this book made any logical sense, even for a Marvel world. AND JUST. Screw. That. Ending. Okay. *burns everything to the ground*
August 28, 2017
Behind the projection mask were the exquisitely cold eyes of Natasha Romanoff, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., the infamous Black Widow herself.
Natasha Romanoff.
Avenger. Agent. Assassin.
Black Widow is the battlefield I will die on.
A year ago I wasn’t even into comics. I loved Marvel movies but comics? Too complicated. Until I watched Captain America The Winter Soldier and I just needed more. More stories! More action scenes! So it was then that I decided that I was going to read… all Captain America’s comics.
Sweet summer child. I knew nothing back then, but I quickly realized that Cap’s comics were literally endless so I decided to read about another character. Someone with less volumes and less intricate plot. So I thought, why not Black Widow? I didn’t know much about her so one day I just opened my first comic ever and I changed forever.
Natasha came out guns blazing, a whirlwind of energy and a part of me that I didn’t know existed said there you are. It all sounds romantic as hell but I’ve loved Natasha ever since.
I’ve read all her comics, every movie she’s in, probably seen every picture and now, a book.
Is the book perfect? Not at all. It’s based on MCU!Natasha, meaning that her origin story is not the same as in the comics but I do like what Stohl did with Nat’s past and I hope one day we get to see this story on the big screen.
Forever red, that’s what they call your kind.
As a diehard fan I loved all the little nods to the comics (her past with Bucky, Liho the cat, being/not being a ballerina, etc). Many complained that this isn’t a 100% Black Widow book but I’m just going to say that this is a young adult novel and you know what that means: teenagers, instalove, fast faced plot… Ava and Alex get tangled in Natasha’s web and it was so fun and interesting that I didn’t care that Nat wasn’t in every single page.
If you know Natasha, you’ll notice right away that this isn’t Natasha Romanova from the comics that is badass, mature and old. This is Natasha Romanoff, younger, kinder? And fresh out of the Red Room, the brutal place where she was trained. Exactly like her movie counterpart.
I love both Natashas, and I can’t wait for the whole world to meet them.
_______________________________
EDIT 13/10: FOREVER RED IS OUT!
EDIT 11/10: JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL THERE'S GOING TO BE A SEQUEL! MORE NATASHA! I! AM! CRYING!
EDIT 03/09: The official synopsis is now on GR! and there's going to be an audiobook! and Ava has already made her first appearance on the 616 universe!
All we need now is a Black Widow movie...
EDIT 27/07: I just pre ordered this!
EDIT 04/06: I read an excerpt and I just AJDLSFHUW
IS IT OCTOBER YET!?
EDIT 24/05: The release date has been pushed back a few days but THERE IS A COVER OH MY GOD BE STILL MY HEART THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING.
EDIT 24/03: A title! Black Widow: Forever Red
I'm so emotional right now which is stupid, but there are so many things in Natasha's life that are red jfc the book could be all about Nat doing exercises and watching movies and I would still get excited.
EDIT 7/02: THERE'S A RELEASE DATE!!!
Expected publication: October 6th 2015
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15/10/14:
November 3, 2015
Full Review: http://leaninglights.blogspot.com/201...
What do you expect from the first ever YA novel about a comic-book superhero? That was the question many of us were wondering upon the news that Marvel was branching out into one of the biggest book markets today.
If I'm being completely transparent, I need to disclose that I had no intention of reading this book. I am a big fan of the Marvel Avenger's movie franchise, but I've never read the comics nor have I invested a lot of time into the characters. And after the big backlash to the Black Widow storyline in Avengers: Age of Ultron, I wasn't that interested to see what happened next.
However.
I did manage to grab a copy at my library and figured I wouldn't actually read it, but I'd at least take a look. 24-hours later, I am happy to say that sitting down to read the first chapter spiraled into reading the entire book in a day. Yes, it was that good.
There isn't much I need to tell you regarding the plot or style of Black Widow: Forever Red. It's the (sort of) origin story of Natasha as well as the rise of a new Marvel superhero, Red Widow. I thought the two women's storylines interwove beautifully and I am truly excited to see more from both their stories.
If you are an Avenger fan, you will not be disappointed, as several of our favorite superheroes make cameo appearances. If you are a YA fan, you will not be disappointed, as their are classic elements and tropes that will give you all the feels.
One of my only critiques comes from the marketing and title of the book itself. The title "Black Widow: Forever Red" leads to imply that this is solely Natasha's book, and it isn't at all. This book is told in multiple perspectives and dare I say that Natasha's is smaller than others. It does all revolve around her but she isn't the stand-alone MC of the book. And if you think this book is going to 100% remedy the problematic storyline from Age of Ultron, I'd say you might be disappointed. As much as the book gave in regards to Natasha's past, we still didn't get the full picture. BUT I do think it's satisfactory and well done.
Also, a tad bit of instalove but I was shipping it, so I overlooked for the most part :P
So all in all, I really loved this book! I am shocked and delighted because I had less than zero expectations going in (I didn't even think I'd finish the book), but I was deeply invested and brought to tears. It was moving and you could tell that the author, Margaret Stohl, truly cared for the beloved character she was writing about.
*Please note that I read and did NOT like Beautiful Creatures, but I still think this book is worth checking out. I wouldn't judge this one based on the Castor Chronicles. Just saying.
What do you expect from the first ever YA novel about a comic-book superhero? That was the question many of us were wondering upon the news that Marvel was branching out into one of the biggest book markets today.
If I'm being completely transparent, I need to disclose that I had no intention of reading this book. I am a big fan of the Marvel Avenger's movie franchise, but I've never read the comics nor have I invested a lot of time into the characters. And after the big backlash to the Black Widow storyline in Avengers: Age of Ultron, I wasn't that interested to see what happened next.
However.
I did manage to grab a copy at my library and figured I wouldn't actually read it, but I'd at least take a look. 24-hours later, I am happy to say that sitting down to read the first chapter spiraled into reading the entire book in a day. Yes, it was that good.
There isn't much I need to tell you regarding the plot or style of Black Widow: Forever Red. It's the (sort of) origin story of Natasha as well as the rise of a new Marvel superhero, Red Widow. I thought the two women's storylines interwove beautifully and I am truly excited to see more from both their stories.
If you are an Avenger fan, you will not be disappointed, as several of our favorite superheroes make cameo appearances. If you are a YA fan, you will not be disappointed, as their are classic elements and tropes that will give you all the feels.
One of my only critiques comes from the marketing and title of the book itself. The title "Black Widow: Forever Red" leads to imply that this is solely Natasha's book, and it isn't at all. This book is told in multiple perspectives and dare I say that Natasha's is smaller than others. It does all revolve around her but she isn't the stand-alone MC of the book. And if you think this book is going to 100% remedy the problematic storyline from Age of Ultron, I'd say you might be disappointed. As much as the book gave in regards to Natasha's past, we still didn't get the full picture. BUT I do think it's satisfactory and well done.
Also, a tad bit of instalove but I was shipping it, so I overlooked for the most part :P
So all in all, I really loved this book! I am shocked and delighted because I had less than zero expectations going in (I didn't even think I'd finish the book), but I was deeply invested and brought to tears. It was moving and you could tell that the author, Margaret Stohl, truly cared for the beloved character she was writing about.
*Please note that I read and did NOT like Beautiful Creatures, but I still think this book is worth checking out. I wouldn't judge this one based on the Castor Chronicles. Just saying.
November 26, 2015
I'm a massive Marvel fan and I adore Black Widow so I was insanely curious to see what this book would entail.
It was exactly what I thought it was going to be. Great writing, even better characters but not emotionally engaging. I really enjoyed reading this book but I wasn't glued to the pages. I liked the characters (okay, I loved Natasha) but I wasn't surprised by any of the characters. Ava was really cool but I just didn't love her. I can't pin point why, I just didn't fangirl over this book. I wasn't expecting to but it would have been nice.
Maybe because the characters that I really loved (Natasha and Coulson) weren't new to me. Between the Marvel movies and comic books, I know these characters fairly well. And I love them but I knew that I would. All the other characters didn't really shine in any amazing, spectacular way.
Everything in this book was very Marvel. It was fun, witty, action packed. I loved it all but I loved everything I knew I was going to love. I wasn't overwhelmed with excitement but I still really enjoyed reading this book. I had a great time and I'd read any other Marvel YA books that may or may not be released in the future.
It was exactly what I thought it was going to be. Great writing, even better characters but not emotionally engaging. I really enjoyed reading this book but I wasn't glued to the pages. I liked the characters (okay, I loved Natasha) but I wasn't surprised by any of the characters. Ava was really cool but I just didn't love her. I can't pin point why, I just didn't fangirl over this book. I wasn't expecting to but it would have been nice.
Maybe because the characters that I really loved (Natasha and Coulson) weren't new to me. Between the Marvel movies and comic books, I know these characters fairly well. And I love them but I knew that I would. All the other characters didn't really shine in any amazing, spectacular way.
Everything in this book was very Marvel. It was fun, witty, action packed. I loved it all but I loved everything I knew I was going to love. I wasn't overwhelmed with excitement but I still really enjoyed reading this book. I had a great time and I'd read any other Marvel YA books that may or may not be released in the future.
May 17, 2018
I kinda enjoyed this book, though it was not at all what I expected. Natasha was not the main character, with Ava and Alex taking the front seat of the story, but it was still very interesting and well-written.
I wanted more Black Widow. This was supposed to be a book about her, but she was really a secondary character and I only gained limited insight into her past. I thought that her character was very well written, though very different to the Black Widow in the movies, and the few comics I've read. If I pretend that this wasn't about the real Black Widow, then I would quite like her.
PHIL COULSON THOUGH!!! He was absolutely perfect, hands down the best character in the whole book. Maybe I'm biased (I'm definitely biased) but he was so brilliant, fantastic, spot-on, well written. Just incredible!
References to other Marvel characters felt very forced, but that's too bad because I loved them anyway. I don't care that they were forced, they warmed my Marvel heart. When Steve and Bucky were the references on her classified file... I almost lost it. BUCKY!!!
And Tony Stark was so Tony Stark. That inclusion was very well done.
But even if you're not a Marvel fan, I think you can still enjoy this book because the main focus of the story is actually on Alex and Ava.
Ava is not the greatest protagonist. I wasn't a huge fan of her character, but Alex was pretty great. He was so sassy, honest, hilarious and realistic. He acted so much like an actual teenager, but he was also really not like an actual teenager (I know, I'm so eloquent.) But despite my poor descriptions, he was a good character.
The story was nice enough, and quite engaging, though not what I expected. I wanted more Natasha, more Marvel and less angsty teenagers, but hey, it wasn't a bad novel! I would maybe recommend, but wouldn't obsess over it.
I wanted more Black Widow. This was supposed to be a book about her, but she was really a secondary character and I only gained limited insight into her past. I thought that her character was very well written, though very different to the Black Widow in the movies, and the few comics I've read. If I pretend that this wasn't about the real Black Widow, then I would quite like her.
PHIL COULSON THOUGH!!! He was absolutely perfect, hands down the best character in the whole book. Maybe I'm biased (I'm definitely biased) but he was so brilliant, fantastic, spot-on, well written. Just incredible!
References to other Marvel characters felt very forced, but that's too bad because I loved them anyway. I don't care that they were forced, they warmed my Marvel heart. When Steve and Bucky were the references on her classified file... I almost lost it. BUCKY!!!
And Tony Stark was so Tony Stark. That inclusion was very well done.
But even if you're not a Marvel fan, I think you can still enjoy this book because the main focus of the story is actually on Alex and Ava.
Ava is not the greatest protagonist. I wasn't a huge fan of her character, but Alex was pretty great. He was so sassy, honest, hilarious and realistic. He acted so much like an actual teenager, but he was also really not like an actual teenager (I know, I'm so eloquent.) But despite my poor descriptions, he was a good character.
The story was nice enough, and quite engaging, though not what I expected. I wanted more Natasha, more Marvel and less angsty teenagers, but hey, it wasn't a bad novel! I would maybe recommend, but wouldn't obsess over it.
January 10, 2016
Hmm, 2.75 rounded up? I'm going to have to think on this a bit as I write my review.
--------
Now that I've had some time to distance myself from the book, I'm dropping my initial review to 2 stars. Because this was just okay, but not terrible enough to warrant a 1 star. As a supposed tie in to the movie universe, this was disappointing.
Natasha Romanoff hated pierogies—but more than that, she hated lies.
This opening line of the novel represents everything that drove me crazy about it. First, the mention of pierogies; yes, there's a point to having it in there (or at least a theme is shoehorned in), but it seems like pierogies were settled on because they're appropriately Eastern European, and that's how most of this novel felt. There is so much Russian used, immediately followed by a translation of the Russian in English only a line later. What's the use in sprinkling Russian throughout if you're just going to awkwardly translate it right away? Let readers understand from context, or write English in italics to denote Russian being spoken. None of this awkward "look at the random Russian I looked up to sound authentic!" stuff.
Then there's the fact that the line reads as a complete non-sequitur, especially as an opening line. It's clunky, it's awkward, and almost all of the rest of the novel read exactly like that.
There's no distinguishing between the POVs of Natasha, Ava, or Alex. You could have done without Alex's POV entirely and still had a novel that made sense. Mostly.
The plot is paper thin, and relies too heavily on the teenagers being complete idiots. Yes, I know there's a reason Ava does what she does, but it drives me nuts when a plot is driven by teenagers not trusting adults or not waiting two seconds to listen to someone.
And then there's the instalove. Gag.
I'm also not sure where this is supposed to fall in the MCU, if it IS a tie-in to the MCU. (I feel like I read it is, but can't find the source.) If this is post-Avengers, since Natasha and Tony are friends and the alien invasion is mentioned, what is Coulson doing around? If this is pre-Avengers, which it reads like, then what is Tony doing around, and why is he so familiar with SHIELD? If this is part of the comic universe, that makes a touch more sense -- but again, Coulson? I know he's part of Marvel 616 now, but his relationship with Natasha here feels like their MCU relationship.
It's confusing.
Ultimately, this novel isn't really worthy of being called a Black Widow novel. Yes, it includes Natasha, but she's basically a secondary character here. The spotlight is on Ava, the plot revolves around Ava, Natasha's reactions and emergence of a feeling or two are because of Ava (and Alex), and at the end, we realize...this is Ava's origin story.
Good job, Marvel. You successfully pulled one over on me.
If you want a better comic book tie-in novel, try Fallout, a Lois Lane story.
--------
Now that I've had some time to distance myself from the book, I'm dropping my initial review to 2 stars. Because this was just okay, but not terrible enough to warrant a 1 star. As a supposed tie in to the movie universe, this was disappointing.
Natasha Romanoff hated pierogies—but more than that, she hated lies.
This opening line of the novel represents everything that drove me crazy about it. First, the mention of pierogies; yes, there's a point to having it in there (or at least a theme is shoehorned in), but it seems like pierogies were settled on because they're appropriately Eastern European, and that's how most of this novel felt. There is so much Russian used, immediately followed by a translation of the Russian in English only a line later. What's the use in sprinkling Russian throughout if you're just going to awkwardly translate it right away? Let readers understand from context, or write English in italics to denote Russian being spoken. None of this awkward "look at the random Russian I looked up to sound authentic!" stuff.
Then there's the fact that the line reads as a complete non-sequitur, especially as an opening line. It's clunky, it's awkward, and almost all of the rest of the novel read exactly like that.
There's no distinguishing between the POVs of Natasha, Ava, or Alex. You could have done without Alex's POV entirely and still had a novel that made sense. Mostly.
The plot is paper thin, and relies too heavily on the teenagers being complete idiots. Yes, I know there's a reason Ava does what she does, but it drives me nuts when a plot is driven by teenagers not trusting adults or not waiting two seconds to listen to someone.
And then there's the instalove. Gag.
I'm also not sure where this is supposed to fall in the MCU, if it IS a tie-in to the MCU. (I feel like I read it is, but can't find the source.) If this is post-Avengers, since Natasha and Tony are friends and the alien invasion is mentioned, what is Coulson doing around? If this is pre-Avengers, which it reads like, then what is Tony doing around, and why is he so familiar with SHIELD? If this is part of the comic universe, that makes a touch more sense -- but again, Coulson? I know he's part of Marvel 616 now, but his relationship with Natasha here feels like their MCU relationship.
It's confusing.
Ultimately, this novel isn't really worthy of being called a Black Widow novel. Yes, it includes Natasha, but she's basically a secondary character here. The spotlight is on Ava, the plot revolves around Ava, Natasha's reactions and emergence of a feeling or two are because of Ava (and Alex), and at the end, we realize...this is Ava's origin story.
Good job, Marvel. You successfully pulled one over on me.
If you want a better comic book tie-in novel, try Fallout, a Lois Lane story.
March 9, 2022
Does this book feature Natasha Romanoff? Yes.
*instantly added to my favorites shelf*
I have very high standards.
RTC
*instantly added to my favorites shelf*
I have very high standards.
RTC
December 30, 2018
Marvel's Black Widow is one of the more mysterious and complex characters in the publisher's large catalog of heroes and villains, and while Forever Red goes some ways to delving into her rich backstory, the book largely centers around a couple of teens with unexpected ties to Romanoff.
Author Margaret Stohl captures the essence of the character to perfection, so much so, that Forever Red could easily be a short cinematic experience with all the action and espionage trappings. Coupled with two new characters in Ava and Alex and a consistent frenetic pace, the story never looses traction.
My rating: A solid 3.5/5. I would've rated Forever Red much higher had the story been more Romanoff-centric, which in a way, it was, just not to the extent I had hoped. Definitely work checking out if you're a Marvel fan.
Author Margaret Stohl captures the essence of the character to perfection, so much so, that Forever Red could easily be a short cinematic experience with all the action and espionage trappings. Coupled with two new characters in Ava and Alex and a consistent frenetic pace, the story never looses traction.
My rating: A solid 3.5/5. I would've rated Forever Red much higher had the story been more Romanoff-centric, which in a way, it was, just not to the extent I had hoped. Definitely work checking out if you're a Marvel fan.
January 9, 2024
One of the inherent flaws of writing stories about a Marvel comic book superhero is that the end of the novel will very much resemble the beginning. What I mean is that although a novel is all about a character's transformation from what s/he was to what s/he is becoming, characters like Batman, Superman, and James Bond never change. They are perpetually 35 and single. (I would say that the Death of Superman and James Bond's marriage in On Her Majesty's Secret Service underscore the point that after both storylines, Bond and Superman were essentially unchanged.)
I make the point only to express the challenge Margaret Stohl had in writing Black Widow: Forever Red. My expectation was low not because she does not have talent, but because I did not believe that she would be allowed to make any major changes to Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow. To a certain extent, I was right, but the writer did something cagey. Stohl creates a cast of supporting characters in the beginning that flow organically from the plot and then causes chaos to occur to and with those characters so that in essence they are changed by the things that happen from the characters as they were in the beginning.
It's good, but I'm not distracted by the writing gymnastics that Stohl has to employ in order to tell a significant tale. I recommend it as a good story (I listened on Audible), if you're a fan of Marvel movies, but recognize that there is that inherent limitation to the character.
I make the point only to express the challenge Margaret Stohl had in writing Black Widow: Forever Red. My expectation was low not because she does not have talent, but because I did not believe that she would be allowed to make any major changes to Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow. To a certain extent, I was right, but the writer did something cagey. Stohl creates a cast of supporting characters in the beginning that flow organically from the plot and then causes chaos to occur to and with those characters so that in essence they are changed by the things that happen from the characters as they were in the beginning.
It's good, but I'm not distracted by the writing gymnastics that Stohl has to employ in order to tell a significant tale. I recommend it as a good story (I listened on Audible), if you're a fan of Marvel movies, but recognize that there is that inherent limitation to the character.
October 26, 2015
MOTHER FUDGER. A YA BLACK WIDOW BOOK?! STOHL DOING MARVEL?! I WILL TRADE ANYTHING FOR THIS.
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So. Damn. Awesome.
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So. Damn. Awesome.
November 21, 2016
Sorta stupid. Russian got really messed up in the book. The author didn't even bother to understand what patronimics are and how they are used.
Not my regular cup of tea but fun nonetheless.
Q:
“People are shooting at us?” Alex was in shock. “At a fencing tournament?”
(c)
Q:
“If you hadn’t noticed, I was shooting back at them. Which wouldn’t exactly make me mercenary of the month, would it?
(c)
Q:
“Enough!” Romanoff barked. “Look around you. You’re on a military transport. Nobody’s flirting. S.H.I.E.L.D. does not run a dating service.”
(c)
Q:
Ava didn’t respond. She could barely look at him, and he realized how difficult this was for her. How private she was.Ava can’t stand people looking through her underwear drawer any more than Natasha Romanoff can.
His head was still pounding as he took in the sketches.Maybe neither can I.
(c)
Not my regular cup of tea but fun nonetheless.
Q:
“People are shooting at us?” Alex was in shock. “At a fencing tournament?”
(c)
Q:
“If you hadn’t noticed, I was shooting back at them. Which wouldn’t exactly make me mercenary of the month, would it?
(c)
Q:
“Enough!” Romanoff barked. “Look around you. You’re on a military transport. Nobody’s flirting. S.H.I.E.L.D. does not run a dating service.”
(c)
Q:
Ava didn’t respond. She could barely look at him, and he realized how difficult this was for her. How private she was.Ava can’t stand people looking through her underwear drawer any more than Natasha Romanoff can.
His head was still pounding as he took in the sketches.Maybe neither can I.
(c)
December 8, 2015
Before reading...
OMG IT HAS A COVER!!
THIS BOOK BETTER BE GOOD OR I AM GOING TO LOSE THE LITTLE FAITH I'VE HAVE LEFT IN HUMANITY
After reading...
When I first read about this book I expected a novel about Natasha Romanoff and especially what was more interesting for me was knowing something more on her past and the Red Room...and what did I get? A book where Nat, which you may not know but she is my favourite Marvel character with Cap and Bucky, is actually a secondary character. Yes, because the actual protagonist is Ava Orlova, which on the other side I found quite boring.
I was excited to read it, but many people warned me about Stohl's writing and they were so right: the writing is so bad that made all the characters flat and the plot, which could have been fast-paced, tedious. Also, the "big revelation" and the death (if you have read it you know what I mean) were so predictable to be honest. So I got a question for Marvel: with all the writers out there you really had to choose Stohl?
Oh and, in addition, Clint is practically non-existent in this book: Nat mentions ALL the avengers except for Clint like he never really existed in the Marvel Universe.
I was gonna give one star, but then I decided for two because that cover is glorious and also Tony Stark was the only good thing of the book.
OMG IT HAS A COVER!!
THIS BOOK BETTER BE GOOD OR I AM GOING TO LOSE THE LITTLE FAITH I'VE HAVE LEFT IN HUMANITY
After reading...
When I first read about this book I expected a novel about Natasha Romanoff and especially what was more interesting for me was knowing something more on her past and the Red Room...and what did I get? A book where Nat, which you may not know but she is my favourite Marvel character with Cap and Bucky, is actually a secondary character. Yes, because the actual protagonist is Ava Orlova, which on the other side I found quite boring.
I was excited to read it, but many people warned me about Stohl's writing and they were so right: the writing is so bad that made all the characters flat and the plot, which could have been fast-paced, tedious. Also, the "big revelation" and the death (if you have read it you know what I mean) were so predictable to be honest. So I got a question for Marvel: with all the writers out there you really had to choose Stohl?
Oh and, in addition, Clint is practically non-existent in this book: Nat mentions ALL the avengers except for Clint like he never really existed in the Marvel Universe.
I was gonna give one star, but then I decided for two because that cover is glorious and also Tony Stark was the only good thing of the book.
Read
October 12, 2014How about FUCK to the NO.
There are very few authors I'd trust to get the characterization, historical/cultural setting, and overall treatment of Black Widow right.
A co-author of Beautiful Creatures isn't even CLOSE to being one of them.
There are very few authors I'd trust to get the characterization, historical/cultural setting, and overall treatment of Black Widow right.
A co-author of Beautiful Creatures isn't even CLOSE to being one of them.
October 23, 2015
It pains me to say it but this book is garbage. The POVs are indistinguishable, there's instalove like whoa, the writing is mediocre af. I'll give the plot points for being appropriately twisty but other than that, it's just not good.
October 19, 2015
I'm so excited for this. I NEED more Black Widow.
March 9, 2016
Actual rating: 1.5 stars
This book is a huge disappointment. I had set extremely high expectations for this book due to my love for Marvel, and none of them were reached.
Natasha, who is supposed to be the central focus of this book (the book is named after her, for God's sake!), is relayed to second place. She has like maybe 5 chapters in the entire book. Not only that, but her characterization is done very badly. The woman I was reading about in Black Widow is definitely not the Natasha Romanoff I grew to love in the Marvel movies. I barely even recognized her! Some of the thing she said made me cringe so bad! Stohl tried to represent Natasha as a heartless robot who never loved anyone, not even herself. She made her seem like a robot, someone who couldn't experience emotions and didn't care about anything but being the best fighter.
The other main character, Ava, who actually was the main focus of the book, was no better. I just couldn't stand her. I don't exactly know why, but I just didn't care what happened to her. She could have died and I wouldn't have cared. She was too stubborn, overdramatic, selfish... and the list goes on. She pretended to be this badass with an attitude, when really she was just a scared teenage girl.
The author tried to alternate points of view. This could have been interesting. It would normally allow us to get inside the head of characters, understand their behavior, but this was done poorly. It was really more of an outside third person narrating the entire story. Chapters were supposed to be dedicated to specific characters, but we got into the head of both Ava and Alex whenever the author felt it was the right time to do so. So really, why bother with alternating the points of view if you're really just going to do as you wish?
The relationship in this book makes no sense at all. Of course, it's insta-love. Which means that only three minutes after they've met, Alex is willing to do to the end of the world with Ava. Ugh. They spent like four days together in total, and they already think they've met the love of their life. Like, really?
As for the actual story, the idea is not so bad. It's actually quite interesting, but I think it could have been better. I felt like it was so slow-paced! Not a lot of action actually happens and most of the time is spent trying to figure out what Ivan is planning . I was actually curious to see what were his plans, but that's about it. For a movie about an Avenger, there ought to be more action!
I have to give the author a thumbs up for mentioning certain famous Marvel characters such as Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner. She even went as far as adding some of them to the storyline! Tony's presence doesn't go unnoticed and actually makes the story evolve.
But, sadly, some things just didn't make sense with the Marvel timeline. For example, the presence of Phil Coulson was simply illogical. The story is a post-Avengers movie one, so Phil shouldn't be there. He died in Avengers, before being brought back to life in Agents of Shield. But, the thing is, none of the Avengers are supposed to know that Phil is alive. All of them think he died trying to save them. So why include him in this book? That simply made no sense to me.
Basically, this book involves a lot of eye rolling, of me saying Oh, really? and sighing. There's not much I liked beside the gorgeous cover and the mention of other Marvel characters.
Marvel fans, stay away from this book. Maybe other people would like it, but for me it was just a huge no.
This book is a huge disappointment. I had set extremely high expectations for this book due to my love for Marvel, and none of them were reached.
Natasha, who is supposed to be the central focus of this book (the book is named after her, for God's sake!), is relayed to second place. She has like maybe 5 chapters in the entire book. Not only that, but her characterization is done very badly. The woman I was reading about in Black Widow is definitely not the Natasha Romanoff I grew to love in the Marvel movies. I barely even recognized her! Some of the thing she said made me cringe so bad! Stohl tried to represent Natasha as a heartless robot who never loved anyone, not even herself. She made her seem like a robot, someone who couldn't experience emotions and didn't care about anything but being the best fighter.
The other main character, Ava, who actually was the main focus of the book, was no better. I just couldn't stand her. I don't exactly know why, but I just didn't care what happened to her. She could have died and I wouldn't have cared. She was too stubborn, overdramatic, selfish... and the list goes on. She pretended to be this badass with an attitude, when really she was just a scared teenage girl.
The author tried to alternate points of view. This could have been interesting. It would normally allow us to get inside the head of characters, understand their behavior, but this was done poorly. It was really more of an outside third person narrating the entire story. Chapters were supposed to be dedicated to specific characters, but we got into the head of both Ava and Alex whenever the author felt it was the right time to do so. So really, why bother with alternating the points of view if you're really just going to do as you wish?
The relationship in this book makes no sense at all. Of course, it's insta-love. Which means that only three minutes after they've met, Alex is willing to do to the end of the world with Ava. Ugh. They spent like four days together in total, and they already think they've met the love of their life. Like, really?
As for the actual story, the idea is not so bad. It's actually quite interesting, but I think it could have been better. I felt like it was so slow-paced! Not a lot of action actually happens and most of the time is spent trying to figure out what Ivan is planning . I was actually curious to see what were his plans, but that's about it. For a movie about an Avenger, there ought to be more action!
I have to give the author a thumbs up for mentioning certain famous Marvel characters such as Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner. She even went as far as adding some of them to the storyline! Tony's presence doesn't go unnoticed and actually makes the story evolve.
But, sadly, some things just didn't make sense with the Marvel timeline. For example, the presence of Phil Coulson was simply illogical. The story is a post-Avengers movie one, so Phil shouldn't be there. He died in Avengers, before being brought back to life in Agents of Shield. But, the thing is, none of the Avengers are supposed to know that Phil is alive. All of them think he died trying to save them. So why include him in this book? That simply made no sense to me.
Basically, this book involves a lot of eye rolling, of me saying Oh, really? and sighing. There's not much I liked beside the gorgeous cover and the mention of other Marvel characters.
Marvel fans, stay away from this book. Maybe other people would like it, but for me it was just a huge no.
November 24, 2015
Boricuan Bookworms- Book Reviews
You know, for a book called Black Widow: Forever Red, you’d think it would actually BE about… THE Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff.
Instead, Natasha is the side character in this mess. The book is ACTUALLY about these two teens: Ava Orlova, and Alex Manor.
It was very difficult to love either of these characters, as they were two dimensional and frankly very annoying. Ava is a little brat. She thinks that because she has SOME of Black Widow’s skills, that she’s suddenly an expert and can take perfect care of herself. Ava then goes on to yell at Natasha, whine uncontrollably, and throw fits as if she were 7, not 17 years old. Ava had such a “woe-is-me” attitude throughout the whole book. She was constantly crying about how everyone leaves and that she couldn't trust anybody (honey, Natasha has been through this and more, yet she doesn’t need to complain about it every 5 seconds). If I were Natasha, I would’ve fed Ava to the bad guys a long time ago to rid myself from her incessant whining. Alex is far better because he brings a bit of comic relief to the story, however he is pretty unbelievable as a character as well. He has a hero complex and a bad attitude. He mysteriously knows how to fight, and he’s coincidentally the boy in Ava’s dreams.
There’s also instalove! The instalove here is so cringe-inducing. Alex and Ava have only known each other for maybe a few hours at most, and Alex is already proclaiming how his life is so different because Ava is in it. They’re kissing by one day of meeting. And they’re thinking of love maybe two days later. It’s ridiculous.
The world-building is incredible… In the fact that there isn’t any. I don’t know when this book takes place. It’s hinted to be after the Avengers movies, but doesn’t make sense because there are things that should’ve been known beforehand…. There were also some things that went over my head, because the author just assumed that I already knew most of the things she was talking about.
The only reason I even finished this was because of the audiobook. The narrator made it easy for me to finish the book. If I had been reading a physical version of this book, I probably would have thrown it against a wall and never read it again. Julia Whelan is a great narrator; I had already heard her narration of another series, so I was already accustomed to her voice. Her portrayal of male characters leaves a bit to be desired, but she definitely gave a distinct voice to Natasha Romanoff, Ava Orlova, and Alex Manor.
Overall, this book is not my favorite. I was expecting a story that showed Black Widow’s origin story, not one that featured two whiny, bratty, and angsty teenagers. There’s barely any world-building, almost no character development, and so many inconsistencies that you’d have to ignore everything you ever knew about Marvel to actually even passably enjoy this book.
1.5 stars
An audiobook copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Audiobook Jukebox
My Amazon Review.
You know, for a book called Black Widow: Forever Red, you’d think it would actually BE about… THE Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff.
Instead, Natasha is the side character in this mess. The book is ACTUALLY about these two teens: Ava Orlova, and Alex Manor.
It was very difficult to love either of these characters, as they were two dimensional and frankly very annoying. Ava is a little brat. She thinks that because she has SOME of Black Widow’s skills, that she’s suddenly an expert and can take perfect care of herself. Ava then goes on to yell at Natasha, whine uncontrollably, and throw fits as if she were 7, not 17 years old. Ava had such a “woe-is-me” attitude throughout the whole book. She was constantly crying about how everyone leaves and that she couldn't trust anybody (honey, Natasha has been through this and more, yet she doesn’t need to complain about it every 5 seconds). If I were Natasha, I would’ve fed Ava to the bad guys a long time ago to rid myself from her incessant whining. Alex is far better because he brings a bit of comic relief to the story, however he is pretty unbelievable as a character as well. He has a hero complex and a bad attitude. He mysteriously knows how to fight, and he’s coincidentally the boy in Ava’s dreams.
There’s also instalove! The instalove here is so cringe-inducing. Alex and Ava have only known each other for maybe a few hours at most, and Alex is already proclaiming how his life is so different because Ava is in it. They’re kissing by one day of meeting. And they’re thinking of love maybe two days later. It’s ridiculous.
The world-building is incredible… In the fact that there isn’t any. I don’t know when this book takes place. It’s hinted to be after the Avengers movies, but doesn’t make sense because there are things that should’ve been known beforehand…. There were also some things that went over my head, because the author just assumed that I already knew most of the things she was talking about.
The only reason I even finished this was because of the audiobook. The narrator made it easy for me to finish the book. If I had been reading a physical version of this book, I probably would have thrown it against a wall and never read it again. Julia Whelan is a great narrator; I had already heard her narration of another series, so I was already accustomed to her voice. Her portrayal of male characters leaves a bit to be desired, but she definitely gave a distinct voice to Natasha Romanoff, Ava Orlova, and Alex Manor.
Overall, this book is not my favorite. I was expecting a story that showed Black Widow’s origin story, not one that featured two whiny, bratty, and angsty teenagers. There’s barely any world-building, almost no character development, and so many inconsistencies that you’d have to ignore everything you ever knew about Marvel to actually even passably enjoy this book.
1.5 stars
An audiobook copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Audiobook Jukebox
My Amazon Review.
November 20, 2015
(Apologising in advance as this is more of a rant than a review. I'm a huge Marvel fan and this was one of my most highly anticipated books of the year, also beware as there may be slight spoilers.)
Going into this i was expecting it to be a story focused on Black Widow. I hadn't read any synopsises because i wanted to go in without knowing much, So i was pretty disappointed when i realised that she wasn't even the main character. Most of the story did revolve around her but i still wish we got more of her and more of her origin. She was great in the parts she was in though and she was mostly consistent which i appreciated. Also the sass was perfect.
Despite my disappointment about Natasha not being the main character i did like our main female character Ava, it took me a while to warm up to Alex our main male character but i didn't mind him in the end. I wasn't a fan of their romance at all though, it felt forced and moved too quickly to be believable for me.
I really enjoyed the plot, it was fast paced and engaging, i was never confused or bored. It was like watching a spy movie.
I really loved the guest appearance of Tony, SO great. But was this a Captain America: TWS situation again where apparently Clint Barton doesn't exist?? Seriously every avenger but him was mentioned. He's her best friend and a massive part of her origin story with SHIELD and i found it strange that he wasn't in this or at least mentioned. I got excited every time Steve was mentioned because i was hoping he would make a small appearance as well, unfortunately that didn't happen but at least he was mentioned unlike Clint who is non-existent.
For the most part i really enjoyed this and am excited to see if marvel will continue to release books like this.
Going into this i was expecting it to be a story focused on Black Widow. I hadn't read any synopsises because i wanted to go in without knowing much, So i was pretty disappointed when i realised that she wasn't even the main character. Most of the story did revolve around her but i still wish we got more of her and more of her origin. She was great in the parts she was in though and she was mostly consistent which i appreciated. Also the sass was perfect.
Despite my disappointment about Natasha not being the main character i did like our main female character Ava, it took me a while to warm up to Alex our main male character but i didn't mind him in the end. I wasn't a fan of their romance at all though, it felt forced and moved too quickly to be believable for me.
I really enjoyed the plot, it was fast paced and engaging, i was never confused or bored. It was like watching a spy movie.
I really loved the guest appearance of Tony, SO great. But was this a Captain America: TWS situation again where apparently Clint Barton doesn't exist?? Seriously every avenger but him was mentioned. He's her best friend and a massive part of her origin story with SHIELD and i found it strange that he wasn't in this or at least mentioned. I got excited every time Steve was mentioned because i was hoping he would make a small appearance as well, unfortunately that didn't happen but at least he was mentioned unlike Clint who is non-existent.
For the most part i really enjoyed this and am excited to see if marvel will continue to release books like this.
March 4, 2017
I am so, so, disappointed. this isn't even a black widow book... she's just a secondary character that named the book since it would sell better. there was nothing exciting or new about this and I'm just so sad they put black widow doing nanny work, basically... and I'm not even that big of a fan of the character either. imagine if I was.
full review here: https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2017/0...
full review here: https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2017/0...
July 15, 2019
Trends pretty YA but sneaks in some real gut punches along the way.
I’ve seen plenty of reviews already that point out that Natasha is treated as a supporting character in her own book but I think this works here, particularly in a plot that involves (un)healthy doses of brainwashing, amnesia and Level 7+ spy craft.
Kudos to the author for nailing Agent Coulson’s voice, though one must ask- if Natasha knows he’s alive, do the rest of the Avengers? I fell off Agents of SHIELD some time ago so I’m not sure what the current situation is there.
I’ve seen plenty of reviews already that point out that Natasha is treated as a supporting character in her own book but I think this works here, particularly in a plot that involves (un)healthy doses of brainwashing, amnesia and Level 7+ spy craft.
Kudos to the author for nailing Agent Coulson’s voice, though one must ask- if Natasha knows he’s alive, do the rest of the Avengers? I fell off Agents of SHIELD some time ago so I’m not sure what the current situation is there.
November 25, 2015
3'5★
Avenger. Agent. Assassin.
Black Widow: Forever Red is a cinematic and action-packed adventure with one of the best and most interesting characters in the Marvel universe, Natasha Romanoff. This YA book is full of twists, fast paced and with characters you’ll recognize from the comics and the MCU. There are also new ones whose fates will end up intertwined with the Black Widow in this story that gets back to Natasha’s origins and has a spies movie vibe that’ll keep you turning pages.
"Forever Red. That’s what they call your kind. You may talk a big game, but you’re no more American than I am."
Black Widow: Forever Red es la primera novela YA de Marvel protagonizada (más o menos, digamos que comparte ese protagonismo) por Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a, la Viuda Negra o Black Widow. Este libro ha sido uno de los que más ganas tenía este año y es que no sólo soy muy muy fan de Marvel, sino que adoro a Natasha Romanoff, lo badass y kikass que es, y cuando me enteré de que íbamos a tener un libro YA sobre ella me emocioné. A LOT.
El principio se me hizo un poco pesado, no voy a negarlo. Durante las primeras 80-100 hojas no sabía muy bien que pensar del libro y sobre los otros protagonistas del libro: Ava y Alex, dos adolescentes con conexiones más o menos aparentes con Natasha, pero también entre ellos. Y es que tras el prólogo inicial en el que vemos como Ava y Natasha ‘se conocen’, por decirlo de algún modo, la historia parece centrarse en Ava y Alex, lo que no estaba muy segura de que acabara gustándome. Mi cara leyendo sobre ellos al principio era un poco
Sin embargo, pasadas esas 100 primeras hojas y tras habernos presentado un poquito a esos dos personajes y su vida (aunque aún quede mucho que averiguar) comienza la verdadera trama, repleta de acción, con un ritmo trepidante y un estilo muyyyy cinemático (plot twists incluídos) que te hacen sentir que estás en una auténtica peli de espías. No esperéis muchas descripciones, lo importante es el diálogo y la acción y toda esa trama que una vez se pone en marcha es un no parar. No es lo que esperaba exactamente de este libro, pero lo he disfrutado y me ha entretenido mucho. Hay mucho de:
La caracterización de Natasha ha sido una de mis cosas favoritas del libro. Seriously. Creo que Margaret Stohl ha sabido plasmar muy bien la personalidad de esta asesina-espía-vengadora y esa dicotomía que siempre tiene presente entre Rusia/América y entre quién es realmente y quién es debido a la habitación roja e Ivan Somodorov (un acierto que el libro trate los orígenes de Natasha y de la Red Room).
“This? This never started. Your whole life never started, because you don’t have one. No real friends, no real family. Is that your big secret? That those aren’t memories in your head-that’s a case file? That your problem isn’t being a superhero, it’s being a human?”
“Yes.”
Siempre está dispuesta a hacer sacrificios y a hacer lo que tenga que hacer por el bien mayor pero para ello no le importa mancharse las manos y olvidarse de la moralidad, y eso la hace no sólo contradictoria a veces, sino de lo más interesante.
”I guess I’m a Romanoff, sir.”
“And that’s something you have to live with now.”
“We have to live with a lot of things, sir. That’s the other part of being a Romanoff.”
No quiere tener distracciones cómo el amor (es para niños, anyway) y debe ser dura (como una Kalashnikov, como un Romanoff) y cuánto menos ataduras mejor ( su piso sin amueblar). Sin embargo, y a pesar de que diga y le digan que no tiene amigos y que el amor es una distracción, Nat está rodeada de gente a la que le importa y que también le importan a ella: Coulson, Tony (cameo inlcuído), Pepper y el resto de Vengadores, que se mencionan y mucho (STEVE!!! –exijo aparición de Cap en la siguiente novela-, Bruce –ese apunte final sobre todo- y Thor –me ha extrañado un poco que en ningún momento se mencione a Clint). Y muy fan de sus one-liners y sarcasmo.
”If I had a piece of czarist gold for everything Tony Stark has no problema with—“
“We’d all be in Boca, Agent.”
En cuanto a Ava y Alex pues lo dicho, al principio era como ‘¿quiénes son estos adolescentes que no me interesan y dónde está Natasha?’ jajaja, más en el caso de Alex que de Ava, la verdad. Ava, al fin y al cabo, tiene una historia con Nat desde el primer capítulo y es interesante ir averiguando hasta qué punto le ha cambiado esa experiencia (…). Pero ¿Alex? No sabía muy bien que pintaba ahí, excepto ser el romance interest de Ava, y tbh, me daban muy igual como parejita, desde el principio es todo muy awkward entre los dos y too much too fast. Sin embargo, después, cuando vamos averiguando más cosas de Alex…my god, me esperaba todo menos eso y me quedé muertecita O_O
Lo que no me ha acabado de quedar claro es el universo en el que se ubica la novela. En un principio parecía que en el MCU ( Marvel Cinematic Universe ) entre las dos pelis de Avengers, pero hay cosas que no cuadran. Por ejemplo, la presencia de Coulson, que muere en la primera peli aunque no es así exactamente y vuelve en Marvel’s Agents of Shield (<33333333). Sin embargo, ninguno de los Vengadores sabe que está vivo y por lo tanto no sigue trabajando con Nat como su AIC, así que esto es más propio de los cómics. Pero al final, en una transcripción queda claro que Coulson es el Director de Shield (no Fury, como se supone que es durante la mayor parte del libro, así que confusión otra vez). Tengo un poco de lío, y supongo que Stohl habrá hecho una especie de popurrí entre el MCU y los comics, pero me he quedado con ganas de saberlo.
En fin, que he disfrutado mucho el libro y el final da pie a una continuación con Black y Red Widow que puede dar muchísimo juego. No es the best book ever, no nos engañemos, tiene fallos como ya he dicho, pero si eres fan de Marvel y de Natasha Romanoff y quieres saber más cosas del personaje y vivir más aventuras dentro de este universo, lo recomiendo.
“What do you say? Want to help me get a little red out of my ledger-Red Widow?”
Avenger. Agent. Assassin.
Black Widow: Forever Red is a cinematic and action-packed adventure with one of the best and most interesting characters in the Marvel universe, Natasha Romanoff. This YA book is full of twists, fast paced and with characters you’ll recognize from the comics and the MCU. There are also new ones whose fates will end up intertwined with the Black Widow in this story that gets back to Natasha’s origins and has a spies movie vibe that’ll keep you turning pages.
"Forever Red. That’s what they call your kind. You may talk a big game, but you’re no more American than I am."
Black Widow: Forever Red es la primera novela YA de Marvel protagonizada (más o menos, digamos que comparte ese protagonismo) por Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a, la Viuda Negra o Black Widow. Este libro ha sido uno de los que más ganas tenía este año y es que no sólo soy muy muy fan de Marvel, sino que adoro a Natasha Romanoff, lo badass y kikass que es, y cuando me enteré de que íbamos a tener un libro YA sobre ella me emocioné. A LOT.
El principio se me hizo un poco pesado, no voy a negarlo. Durante las primeras 80-100 hojas no sabía muy bien que pensar del libro y sobre los otros protagonistas del libro: Ava y Alex, dos adolescentes con conexiones más o menos aparentes con Natasha, pero también entre ellos. Y es que tras el prólogo inicial en el que vemos como Ava y Natasha ‘se conocen’, por decirlo de algún modo, la historia parece centrarse en Ava y Alex, lo que no estaba muy segura de que acabara gustándome. Mi cara leyendo sobre ellos al principio era un poco
Sin embargo, pasadas esas 100 primeras hojas y tras habernos presentado un poquito a esos dos personajes y su vida (aunque aún quede mucho que averiguar) comienza la verdadera trama, repleta de acción, con un ritmo trepidante y un estilo muyyyy cinemático (plot twists incluídos) que te hacen sentir que estás en una auténtica peli de espías. No esperéis muchas descripciones, lo importante es el diálogo y la acción y toda esa trama que una vez se pone en marcha es un no parar. No es lo que esperaba exactamente de este libro, pero lo he disfrutado y me ha entretenido mucho. Hay mucho de:
La caracterización de Natasha ha sido una de mis cosas favoritas del libro. Seriously. Creo que Margaret Stohl ha sabido plasmar muy bien la personalidad de esta asesina-espía-vengadora y esa dicotomía que siempre tiene presente entre Rusia/América y entre quién es realmente y quién es debido a la habitación roja e Ivan Somodorov (un acierto que el libro trate los orígenes de Natasha y de la Red Room).
“This? This never started. Your whole life never started, because you don’t have one. No real friends, no real family. Is that your big secret? That those aren’t memories in your head-that’s a case file? That your problem isn’t being a superhero, it’s being a human?”
“Yes.”
Siempre está dispuesta a hacer sacrificios y a hacer lo que tenga que hacer por el bien mayor pero para ello no le importa mancharse las manos y olvidarse de la moralidad, y eso la hace no sólo contradictoria a veces, sino de lo más interesante.
”I guess I’m a Romanoff, sir.”
“And that’s something you have to live with now.”
“We have to live with a lot of things, sir. That’s the other part of being a Romanoff.”
No quiere tener distracciones cómo el amor (es para niños, anyway) y debe ser dura (como una Kalashnikov, como un Romanoff) y cuánto menos ataduras mejor ( su piso sin amueblar). Sin embargo, y a pesar de que diga y le digan que no tiene amigos y que el amor es una distracción, Nat está rodeada de gente a la que le importa y que también le importan a ella: Coulson, Tony (cameo inlcuído), Pepper y el resto de Vengadores, que se mencionan y mucho (STEVE!!! –exijo aparición de Cap en la siguiente novela-, Bruce –ese apunte final sobre todo- y Thor –me ha extrañado un poco que en ningún momento se mencione a Clint). Y muy fan de sus one-liners y sarcasmo.
”If I had a piece of czarist gold for everything Tony Stark has no problema with—“
“We’d all be in Boca, Agent.”
En cuanto a Ava y Alex pues lo dicho, al principio era como ‘¿quiénes son estos adolescentes que no me interesan y dónde está Natasha?’ jajaja, más en el caso de Alex que de Ava, la verdad. Ava, al fin y al cabo, tiene una historia con Nat desde el primer capítulo y es interesante ir averiguando hasta qué punto le ha cambiado esa experiencia (…). Pero ¿Alex? No sabía muy bien que pintaba ahí, excepto ser el romance interest de Ava, y tbh, me daban muy igual como parejita, desde el principio es todo muy awkward entre los dos y too much too fast. Sin embargo, después, cuando vamos averiguando más cosas de Alex…my god, me esperaba todo menos eso y me quedé muertecita O_O
Lo que no me ha acabado de quedar claro es el universo en el que se ubica la novela. En un principio parecía que en el MCU ( Marvel Cinematic Universe ) entre las dos pelis de Avengers, pero hay cosas que no cuadran. Por ejemplo, la presencia de Coulson, que muere en la primera peli aunque no es así exactamente y vuelve en Marvel’s Agents of Shield (<33333333). Sin embargo, ninguno de los Vengadores sabe que está vivo y por lo tanto no sigue trabajando con Nat como su AIC, así que esto es más propio de los cómics. Pero al final, en una transcripción queda claro que Coulson es el Director de Shield (no Fury, como se supone que es durante la mayor parte del libro, así que confusión otra vez). Tengo un poco de lío, y supongo que Stohl habrá hecho una especie de popurrí entre el MCU y los comics, pero me he quedado con ganas de saberlo.
En fin, que he disfrutado mucho el libro y el final da pie a una continuación con Black y Red Widow que puede dar muchísimo juego. No es the best book ever, no nos engañemos, tiene fallos como ya he dicho, pero si eres fan de Marvel y de Natasha Romanoff y quieres saber más cosas del personaje y vivir más aventuras dentro de este universo, lo recomiendo.
“What do you say? Want to help me get a little red out of my ledger-Red Widow?”
December 14, 2015
DNF at 30%. Couldn't even make it halfway.
Warning to self: do not attempt to read bad YA after discovering the hilarious @BroodingYAHero account on twitter.
Quotes from book:
Alex was as good-looking as Dante, even if his long dark hair did hang halfway over his even darker eyes.
At least there wasn't a gemstone mentioned. Strike 1.
Ava found herself automatically kicking her foot beneath her attacker's outstretched leg - taking her down, slamming her to the floor beneath them.
There was something about him that responded to every attack as if it were lethal. His body wasn't wired to tell the difference, though his brain should have been.
Hitherto unknown fighting skills. Unnaturally good at fighting for no particular reason. Strike 2.
And more embarrassing, Ava was almost certain that he could see them.
And that he was beautiful.
There's something about her - but what?
She was beautiful, but it was more than just that.
gag. Strike 3.
Bonus points: not understanding a damn thing about New Jersey / New York / Philly.
Warning to self: do not attempt to read bad YA after discovering the hilarious @BroodingYAHero account on twitter.
Quotes from book:
Alex was as good-looking as Dante, even if his long dark hair did hang halfway over his even darker eyes.
It's like you don't even understand how hard it is to be a really good looking fictional character.
— Brooding YA Hero (@broodingYAhero) September 18, 2015
At least there wasn't a gemstone mentioned. Strike 1.
Ava found herself automatically kicking her foot beneath her attacker's outstretched leg - taking her down, slamming her to the floor beneath them.
There was something about him that responded to every attack as if it were lethal. His body wasn't wired to tell the difference, though his brain should have been.
I'm a rock star/football great/assassin extraordinaire/hacker genius... Who is never once seen practicing my skill.
— Brooding YA Hero (@broodingYAhero) September 20, 2015
Hitherto unknown fighting skills. Unnaturally good at fighting for no particular reason. Strike 2.
And more embarrassing, Ava was almost certain that he could see them.
And that he was beautiful.
There's something about her - but what?
She was beautiful, but it was more than just that.
Oh crap. In under thirty pages, we've admitted our mutual attraction. Now we'll be bombarded with random plot contrivances to keep us apart.
— Brooding YA Hero (@broodingYAhero) August 18, 2015
gag. Strike 3.
Bonus points: not understanding a damn thing about New Jersey / New York / Philly.
July 4, 2020
درباره ناتاشا رومانف چی بگم؟ :)
بهشدت دوستدارش هستم و واقعا دوستش دارم اصلا کی از بیوهی سیاه بدش میآد؟ :/
شخصیتپردازی جذاب ناتاشا طی کتاب، با وجود پختگی و کامل بودنش، باز هم طی صفحات داستان پیشرفت محسوسی داره و شخصتیهای دیگه هم از زمان ورود به داستان، تا پایان داستان بهنحوی غیرقابلانکار رشد میکنن و میشه طرز افکار، نوع نگاه و نیت و اهدافشون رو بهتر شناخت و تحلیل کرد.
توصیفات داخل کتاب و دقت فراوان به جزئیات داستان از نکات جذبکننده کتابه و هر صفحه شامل کلی توصیف و اشارات ریز و درشت میشه و خواننده داستان رو کامل درون صحنه موردنظر قرار میده و خواننده حس میکنه که با تمام وجود داخل اون صحنهس و با شخصیتها فعل و انفعالات داره
روایت کتاب بهطور دقیقی روی مرز واقعیت و تخیلی میره جلو و این یکی از نکاتی بود نیازه بهش اشاره کنم، چون بهنظرم نیازه که خواننده روی این نکته تفکر و تعمق داشته باشه و تفاوتهای نیاز رو درک کنه
بیصبرانه منتظر جلد بعدی هستیم 😍
حتما که باز جذبش خواهم شد
بهشدت دوستدارش هستم و واقعا دوستش دارم اصلا کی از بیوهی سیاه بدش میآد؟ :/
شخصیتپردازی جذاب ناتاشا طی کتاب، با وجود پختگی و کامل بودنش، باز هم طی صفحات داستان پیشرفت محسوسی داره و شخصتیهای دیگه هم از زمان ورود به داستان، تا پایان داستان بهنحوی غیرقابلانکار رشد میکنن و میشه طرز افکار، نوع نگاه و نیت و اهدافشون رو بهتر شناخت و تحلیل کرد.
توصیفات داخل کتاب و دقت فراوان به جزئیات داستان از نکات جذبکننده کتابه و هر صفحه شامل کلی توصیف و اشارات ریز و درشت میشه و خواننده داستان رو کامل درون صحنه موردنظر قرار میده و خواننده حس میکنه که با تمام وجود داخل اون صحنهس و با شخصیتها فعل و انفعالات داره
روایت کتاب بهطور دقیقی روی مرز واقعیت و تخیلی میره جلو و این یکی از نکاتی بود نیازه بهش اشاره کنم، چون بهنظرم نیازه که خواننده روی این نکته تفکر و تعمق داشته باشه و تفاوتهای نیاز رو درک کنه
بیصبرانه منتظر جلد بعدی هستیم 😍
حتما که باز جذبش خواهم شد
January 26, 2022
Why do all the Alexeis have to die😫
We got Alexei Romanoff. DEAD
Alexei from Stranger Things. DEAD
Other wise, FANTASTIC book!
We got Alexei Romanoff. DEAD
Alexei from Stranger Things. DEAD
Other wise, FANTASTIC book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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