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White Widow: Secret Sisters
Join Marvel’s breakout super spy, Yelena Belova AKA the White Widow, in a new YA espionage adventure.
On a top secret mission, top spy Yelena Belova discovers something very familiar about her next target.
Yelena is used to the brutal, cutthroat world of the Red Room—the elite, mysterious spy-training facility that raised her. But when her handlers send her on a top secret mission to the US—what they call “the American Outpost”—she finds barely capable girls who can’t even take a punch. Yelena doesn’t make many friends, but the freedom Americans enjoy gives her a glimpse of what her life could be—if she could ever escape the Red Room.
Then her mission goes terribly wrong. Now she’s on the run with an orphaned eight-year-old. It’s a deadly road trip of self-discovery, as Yelena outruns her past and struggles to save a girl who reminds Yelena of her younger self—a girl whose shocking origin ties her fate inextricably to Yelena’s.
On a top secret mission, top spy Yelena Belova discovers something very familiar about her next target.
Yelena is used to the brutal, cutthroat world of the Red Room—the elite, mysterious spy-training facility that raised her. But when her handlers send her on a top secret mission to the US—what they call “the American Outpost”—she finds barely capable girls who can’t even take a punch. Yelena doesn’t make many friends, but the freedom Americans enjoy gives her a glimpse of what her life could be—if she could ever escape the Red Room.
Then her mission goes terribly wrong. Now she’s on the run with an orphaned eight-year-old. It’s a deadly road trip of self-discovery, as Yelena outruns her past and struggles to save a girl who reminds Yelena of her younger self—a girl whose shocking origin ties her fate inextricably to Yelena’s.
Audible Audio
First published September 2, 2025
18 people are currently reading
350 people want to read
About the author
Tess Sharpe
19 books2,198 followersI do not read my goodreads mail, but if you'd like to contact me the best way to reach me is tess(at)tess-sharpe.com
Born in a mountain cabin to a punk rocker mother, Tess Sharpe grew up in rural California. She lives deep in the backwoods with a pack of dogs and a growing cabal of slightly feral cats.
Born in a mountain cabin to a punk rocker mother, Tess Sharpe grew up in rural California. She lives deep in the backwoods with a pack of dogs and a growing cabal of slightly feral cats.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 21, 2025
I wanted to read this because I love Yelena Belova and I trust in Tess Sharpe, but this being a young adult (or middle grade?) novel did not work at all for me. This read so juvenile and it was also strangely repetitive and overall not really enjoyable for me. I want to rewatch Thunderbolts* now, though.
September 11, 2025
I love Yelena Belova. I love a wild road trip. I love clone stories. And I love Tess Sharpe!! What more could a girl want!!?
(Also, Miss Bess and Miss Irene… I saw that hand hold in the diner. Thank you Tess Sharpe for that:)
(Also, Miss Bess and Miss Irene… I saw that hand hold in the diner. Thank you Tess Sharpe for that:)
Want to read
March 26, 2025can it be september please?
December 23, 2025
3.5⭐ I kinda had high expectations for this book because I love Yelena Belova and it didn't quite meet them. It was still good and interesting but just a little off for me.
December 1, 2025
I need Marvel books to STOP making me cry like a baby, thanks. I just wanna give people hugs. And I really wish I could have a sequel to this one because I really want more Yelena. :P Also, 10/10 simply for the fact that this book referenced the Yelena + hot sauce thing of the MCU. I'm a big fan.
November 5, 2025
To start, this book was a much lower reading level than I thought it would be. This would be a great book for a sixth grader than a college student (I found this book in the YA section). That being said it was a cute book, Yelena is one of my top three favorite Marvel characters so this was a nice read for me.
February 9, 2026
A really great addition to the Marvel YA catalog. I experienced this book as an audiobook, and I absolutely loved the narrator (Carlotta Brentan). She was able to tap into Florence Pugh's characteristics and speaking style - which has become so iconic - while still making it her own in many ways. Speaking of Florence Pugh, she really put the White Widow on the map for me and was able to infuse her with such tenderness and humor that she in turn humanized Black Widow's character in the process. This book captures all of that. I love the character, I really enjoyed this particular story, and I want more.
February 7, 2026
⭐️ 3.5 ⭐️
I adore White Widow/Yelena Belova, both in comic and on screen. I was very excited to pick this up and dive in. I enjoyed the story and as a YA novel, I think it’s well done. I could see my middle/high school self enjoying it more than my late-twenties self. The clone idea felt like a stretch to me and a little unrealistic, especially given the nature of the Red Room (I don’t think that big of a secret could’ve been kept hidden). That being said, the idea was very original and kept me reading. I was expecting more of Belova’s story as a widow in training (more along the lines of becoming a Widow specifically in the Red Room, rather than her on an espionage mission). I’m not disappointed in the book, I just expected a something different and something more.
I adore White Widow/Yelena Belova, both in comic and on screen. I was very excited to pick this up and dive in. I enjoyed the story and as a YA novel, I think it’s well done. I could see my middle/high school self enjoying it more than my late-twenties self. The clone idea felt like a stretch to me and a little unrealistic, especially given the nature of the Red Room (I don’t think that big of a secret could’ve been kept hidden). That being said, the idea was very original and kept me reading. I was expecting more of Belova’s story as a widow in training (more along the lines of becoming a Widow specifically in the Red Room, rather than her on an espionage mission). I’m not disappointed in the book, I just expected a something different and something more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2025
Tess Sharpe is fantastic and so absolutely suited to tell this story. Loved it, couldn't put it down.
February 13, 2026
Book Review: White Widow: Secret Sisters by Tess Sharpe
White Widow: Secret Sisters is not a story about becoming a hero. It’s a story about unlearning what you were taught to be — and that makes it one of the most emotionally grounded Marvel YA novels to date.
Tess Sharpe takes Yelena Belova, a character often defined by lethal competence and icy control, and reframes her not as a finished weapon, but as a young person mid-fracture. The result is a spy thriller that uses Marvel trappings to explore trauma, autonomy, and the quiet rebellion of choosing empathy in a system designed to erase it.
From the outset, Yelena exists in a world where obedience is survival. Her Red Room training has stripped her life down to mission parameters and acceptable outcomes. Sharpe’s prose mirrors this conditioning: efficient, precise, emotionally restrained. It’s a subtle but effective choice that pulls readers directly into Yelena’s mindset before slowly — sometimes painfully — loosening its grip.
The novel’s turning point arrives not through spectacle, but through moral rupture. When Yelena discovers that her mission involves an orphaned girl tied to her own buried past, the story pivots from traditional espionage into something far more intimate. Running from her handlers becomes less about escape and more about confrontation — with memory, with guilt, and with the possibility that loyalty to the Red Room has cost her something irreplaceable.
What makes Secret Sisters stand out in the crowded YA market is its refusal to romanticize trauma. The Red Room is not framed as a cool, shadowy origin story factory; it is a system of exploitation whose damage lingers even when Yelena begins to resist it. Sharpe treats this with seriousness and restraint, allowing Yelena’s emotional awakening to feel earned rather than sudden or convenient.
The relationship between Yelena and the young girl at the center of the story is the novel’s emotional backbone. Rather than leaning into sentimentality, Sharpe builds their bond through small, awkward moments — mistrust, miscommunication, flashes of protectiveness that surprise even Yelena herself. The girl is not a plot device or a symbol; she is a presence that destabilizes Yelena’s worldview simply by existing outside Red Room logic.
Thematically, the book wrestles with identity versus indoctrination. Yelena is forced to ask questions she was never meant to consider:
Who am I without orders?
What does strength look like if it includes fear?
Is survival the same thing as living?
These questions land particularly well in a YA context, where readers are often navigating similar tensions between expectation and self-definition, albeit without silenced pistols and burner phones.
Stylistically, Sharpe balances action and introspection with confidence. Chase sequences and combat scenes are sharp and cinematic, but they never overshadow the quieter beats — moments where Yelena hesitates, listens, or makes choices that feel small but seismic. The pacing trusts the reader, allowing emotional weight to accumulate rather than rushing toward explosive payoffs.
For Marvel fans, the novel works as both an accessible entry point and a deeper character study. Prior knowledge enhances appreciation, but it isn’t required. Yelena here is not the quip-ready assassin of later appearances; she is raw, guarded, and unfinished — and that’s precisely what makes her compelling.
If the book has a limitation, it’s that readers seeking large-scale superhero spectacle or intricate geopolitical plotting may find it deliberately restrained. Secret Sisters is not about saving the world. It’s about choosing to save one person — and in doing so, beginning to save yourself.
In the end, White Widow: Secret Sisters succeeds because it understands that the most dangerous escape isn’t from enemy agents or secret organizations — it’s from the version of yourself that was built to obey. Tess Sharpe delivers a YA spy novel with emotional intelligence, moral clarity, and a quiet, powerful heart.
Recommended for:
Fans of character-driven Marvel stories, readers who enjoy espionage grounded in emotional realism, and anyone drawn to narratives about reclaiming agency after systemic control.
White Widow: Secret Sisters is not a story about becoming a hero. It’s a story about unlearning what you were taught to be — and that makes it one of the most emotionally grounded Marvel YA novels to date.
Tess Sharpe takes Yelena Belova, a character often defined by lethal competence and icy control, and reframes her not as a finished weapon, but as a young person mid-fracture. The result is a spy thriller that uses Marvel trappings to explore trauma, autonomy, and the quiet rebellion of choosing empathy in a system designed to erase it.
From the outset, Yelena exists in a world where obedience is survival. Her Red Room training has stripped her life down to mission parameters and acceptable outcomes. Sharpe’s prose mirrors this conditioning: efficient, precise, emotionally restrained. It’s a subtle but effective choice that pulls readers directly into Yelena’s mindset before slowly — sometimes painfully — loosening its grip.
The novel’s turning point arrives not through spectacle, but through moral rupture. When Yelena discovers that her mission involves an orphaned girl tied to her own buried past, the story pivots from traditional espionage into something far more intimate. Running from her handlers becomes less about escape and more about confrontation — with memory, with guilt, and with the possibility that loyalty to the Red Room has cost her something irreplaceable.
What makes Secret Sisters stand out in the crowded YA market is its refusal to romanticize trauma. The Red Room is not framed as a cool, shadowy origin story factory; it is a system of exploitation whose damage lingers even when Yelena begins to resist it. Sharpe treats this with seriousness and restraint, allowing Yelena’s emotional awakening to feel earned rather than sudden or convenient.
The relationship between Yelena and the young girl at the center of the story is the novel’s emotional backbone. Rather than leaning into sentimentality, Sharpe builds their bond through small, awkward moments — mistrust, miscommunication, flashes of protectiveness that surprise even Yelena herself. The girl is not a plot device or a symbol; she is a presence that destabilizes Yelena’s worldview simply by existing outside Red Room logic.
Thematically, the book wrestles with identity versus indoctrination. Yelena is forced to ask questions she was never meant to consider:
Who am I without orders?
What does strength look like if it includes fear?
Is survival the same thing as living?
These questions land particularly well in a YA context, where readers are often navigating similar tensions between expectation and self-definition, albeit without silenced pistols and burner phones.
Stylistically, Sharpe balances action and introspection with confidence. Chase sequences and combat scenes are sharp and cinematic, but they never overshadow the quieter beats — moments where Yelena hesitates, listens, or makes choices that feel small but seismic. The pacing trusts the reader, allowing emotional weight to accumulate rather than rushing toward explosive payoffs.
For Marvel fans, the novel works as both an accessible entry point and a deeper character study. Prior knowledge enhances appreciation, but it isn’t required. Yelena here is not the quip-ready assassin of later appearances; she is raw, guarded, and unfinished — and that’s precisely what makes her compelling.
If the book has a limitation, it’s that readers seeking large-scale superhero spectacle or intricate geopolitical plotting may find it deliberately restrained. Secret Sisters is not about saving the world. It’s about choosing to save one person — and in doing so, beginning to save yourself.
In the end, White Widow: Secret Sisters succeeds because it understands that the most dangerous escape isn’t from enemy agents or secret organizations — it’s from the version of yourself that was built to obey. Tess Sharpe delivers a YA spy novel with emotional intelligence, moral clarity, and a quiet, powerful heart.
Recommended for:
Fans of character-driven Marvel stories, readers who enjoy espionage grounded in emotional realism, and anyone drawn to narratives about reclaiming agency after systemic control.
July 24, 2025
"White Widow: Secret Sisters" follows the still-in-training, teenage Yelena Belova as she takes part in an exchange visit to The Outpost, an American-based offshoot of the infamous, spy training facility the Red Room. Finding herself infinitely better trained than her American counterparts, Yelena is pressed into service to lead a fledgling team from the Outpost on a mission to eliminate a "package" in a secure penthouse -- only to discover the "package" is an eight-year-old girl who looks startlingly familiar. Suddenly, Yelena finds herself set against her former comrades from The Outpost and on the run with little support as she tries to determine the connection between the young girl, the Outpost, the Red Room, and herself -- a connection that will involve Yelena learning as much about herself as the mystery she has unearthed.
Tess Sharpe has done an amazing job in planting the seeds for the ruthless, but ultimately moral, Yelena of the Marvel universe. While the book is categorized as YA, it definitely leans on the lower end of that spectrum with the violence curbed to a point where it would be relatively safe for older tweens. It is a quick read with a relatively straight forward plot that nonetheless presents a picture of how even at sixteen, there is still a lot of room for growth and self discovery set against very well defined expectations. It is a fun read for anyone, whether a Marvel or Black/White Widow fan or not.
Great thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's Books | Random House/Marvel for the opportunity to read this eARC.
Tess Sharpe has done an amazing job in planting the seeds for the ruthless, but ultimately moral, Yelena of the Marvel universe. While the book is categorized as YA, it definitely leans on the lower end of that spectrum with the violence curbed to a point where it would be relatively safe for older tweens. It is a quick read with a relatively straight forward plot that nonetheless presents a picture of how even at sixteen, there is still a lot of room for growth and self discovery set against very well defined expectations. It is a fun read for anyone, whether a Marvel or Black/White Widow fan or not.
Great thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's Books | Random House/Marvel for the opportunity to read this eARC.
December 11, 2025
Years before she becomes the White Widow, Red Room trainee Yelena Belova is sent on a special assignment to America to observe their Widow program. After a field mission goes wrong, Yelena finds herself on the run with an eight-year-old girl who has a mysterious connection to Yelena.
Yelena has been one of my favourite Marvel characters lately, so I was really excited when this book was announced. Yelena's characterization and personality seem to be based on the movie version of her character, which I appreciated, as I don't know much about comics Yelena. This book was super fun and I really enjoyed it. Leni was adorable and I loved her relationship with Yelena. The book doesn't require much background knowledge, and would still be enjoyable for someone who doesn't know Marvel, and is just looking for a fun spy book.
Yelena has been one of my favourite Marvel characters lately, so I was really excited when this book was announced. Yelena's characterization and personality seem to be based on the movie version of her character, which I appreciated, as I don't know much about comics Yelena. This book was super fun and I really enjoyed it. Leni was adorable and I loved her relationship with Yelena. The book doesn't require much background knowledge, and would still be enjoyable for someone who doesn't know Marvel, and is just looking for a fun spy book.
July 3, 2025
I love the Black Widow character, so I was beyond excited to see this title. Yelena Belova is such a fantastic character and this book helped to build on that. Not an origin story, not a superhero story, but a story about finding your true self as well as the importance of sisters. Yelena's sassy attitude and ruthlessness was effectively shown throughout the book, as well as her good heart that she tries to hide. A fun read for Marvel fans, or anyone who enjoys a strong female character.
August 11, 2025
Enjoyed spending time with Yelena and her mini-mes!
Action-filled, just as you would expect from a Marvel story. Now the question is, will any of these characters play a role in the upcoming this next segment of the MCU?
Action-filled, just as you would expect from a Marvel story. Now the question is, will any of these characters play a role in the upcoming this next segment of the MCU?
January 8, 2026
This book was incredibly!! I sometimes struggle with reading but this was a very nice and smooth read for me which I appreciate. Highly recommend if you are a marvel fan that sometimes has trouble reading, or if you just love marvel in general too :)
August 4, 2025
ARC from Netgalley.
A brisk read that hits the notes you would expect with a Marvel product. Sharpe does a good job capturing Pugh as Belova.
A brisk read that hits the notes you would expect with a Marvel product. Sharpe does a good job capturing Pugh as Belova.
September 3, 2025
This book made me happy. If anything I wish it were longer. Very quick read but it captured Yelena well and added a layer to her character.
September 26, 2025
tess sharpe i am so very fond of you
October 10, 2025
Quick read. It seems to follow Florence's take of White Widow, but I enjoyed this book from the Marvel universe.
November 1, 2025
my fault for not looking into the book more but it’s a much lower reading level than i excepted. didn’t love the story line. took me a long time to read just because i want very interested
November 13, 2025
"a version of her that she never got to be" ouch
December 25, 2025
Rating: B-
December 11, 2025
Yeah sure, why not? A fun little YA Yelena story that felt a bit too tame, but had a lot of heart.
January 12, 2026
I walked into this totally not knowing what it was about. I saw Marvel, I saw Yelena and that was all I needed to know.
This was precious and I loved it and wanted it to be two hundred pages longer. All of the characters were likeable (obviously not the evil guys)
This was precious and I loved it and wanted it to be two hundred pages longer. All of the characters were likeable (obviously not the evil guys)
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews