RATING: creepy Bizarre Read (2) // AMAZON

PAGES: 296 PAGES | PUBLISHER: Tor Teen

FORMAT: Hardcover | SOURCE: owlcrate | AGE GROUP: YOUNG ADULT

GOODREADS SUMMARY

In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now—but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood.

In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling away again could become an issue. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters—and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission.

But Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and a ferocious cunning. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. But Babs won’t be playing fair…

2

The cover is eye-catching online, and in person it’s even prettier. Night plays an important aspect in the book, and I love how prevalent it is on the cover. I like how the silhouette of the Brooklyn skyline and bridge manage to almost blend into the night sky if you don’t pause to take a closer look. The red is a nice pop against the black, and it’s always interesting to see how many little details can be hidden in a cover, like the swan reference.

I really wanted to like Vassa in the Night. It’s a retelling of the Russian folktale Vasilisa the Beautiful, which I hadn’t heard before, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I love retellings, and I’d never read one based on a Russian myth. I was intrigued by the magic in Porter’s Brooklyn, but unfortunately I was disappointed by Vassa in the Night.

My main problem with this book was that I honestly had no idea what was going on for most of it. Vassa in the Night is a weird and bizarre story, but that’s also one of its selling points. Unfortunately it might have been a read that was too out there for me. I was never able to fully grasp the story, so it felt like I was missing out on multiple important parts throughout the book. It seemed like I was running blindly in a never-ending maze and somehow barely managed to stumble upon the exit. Continue reading →