This book was beautifully written but batshit crazy, it was great!

I've been anxiously awaiting this book, with mixed expectations, since it was announced. As a Russian immigrant living in the US, the story seemed to call out to me, but Reader, I'm jaded. Mostly because I'm constantly on the look out for Russian based and inspired novels, but more often than not, I've been disappointed. So my approach to this novel was one of caution and reserve.

The story is very reminiscent of Deathless both in writing style and weirdness levels. But unlike Deathless, Vassa in the Night has no "Russian spirit". Vassa is not Russian, not even in a second-generation immigrant kind of sense. There was just absolutely nothing Russian about this story except tidbits of borrowed fairy tale. And even then, this "retelling" is so far and so changed from the original, you'd strain yourself to find more than a couple parallels. So the story summary is correct in saying that it is only 'inspired by a Russian fairytale' because it's only that, in every other sense, it's very much an American story.

Setting the "Russian" aspects aside, the story is actually very original, well written, and weird enough to be utterly magical. Vassa undergoes tremendous growth as a character and she is a great though sometimes an unreliable character.

The setting and world building are a bit weak. I'm not a New Yorker and only visited, but I definitely did not get any sense of New York or Brooklyn. Also, considering what a huge population of Russians New York has, there's even a mostly Russian neighborhood at Brighton Beach or "little Odessa". I'm surprised Vassa doesn't mention anything about it or knows more Russians simply from living around them. It feels as though the author either didn't do enough research or didn't care enough to include these elements in the story- which feels vaguely insulting.

The story is also filled with magical realism, though sometimes veering into deep fantasy, but not all of it was explained. Do these things just exist? Do people just accept it? It's said that magic traveled along with the people, but why?? And again, it's not like she talks about the huge Soviet immigrant influx and population in Brooklyn. I mean they accept a store chopping people's heads off and putting them on a stake. But it's not really explained how much "magic" is accepted or whether it was just because of Babs.

The names bothered me as well, especially "Vassa Lissa", but at least that was kind of explained as being important to the plot. But I don't understand the change of Baba Yaga to Babs Yagg... "Baba" is not a first name, but a really informal way to address an elderly woman, similar to "granny"; dropping the "a" from Yaga makes it masculine by Russian naming conventions - but she is simply Grandma/Granny Yaga. That's like if I changed Uncle Sam to Unc Sama, that's how it sounds. I realize Russian naming conventions are hard to understand to foreigners but come on (and unlike with Vassa Lisa, there was no explanation given for it).

So overall, I liked the story for itself, but I would hesitate to recommend it as "Russian" or even Russian inspired.

"The swans had never dreamed of revenge before, but as they huddled over their hurt human flock-mate the idea whirled from mind to mind like a wind coming from a direction previously un-imagined."

There’s something inherently creepy about classic fairy tales. I think that’s why I love them so much!

In Vassa in the Night, by Sarah Porter , I got to read a modern version of Vasilisa the Beautiful, a Russian fairy tale that is not only dark, creepy, magical and fun but it’s now also set in Brooklyn. And enchanted Brooklyn is really similar to the real thing, except for the part that the nights seem to drag on forever, there’s a convenience store that beheads thieves and there are magical creatures living in the shadows. Vassa is also an almost-normal-sixteen-year-old girl, but she likes to carry her talking wooden doll everywhere and feed her in exchange of favors.

♥ WHAT I LIKED ♥

~ The real folktale feeling. Holy Cow! This book certainly has a Russian fairy tale vibe. And I’m not talking about Disney-esque fairy tales (which I also love), I mean Brothers Grimm dark, gory stories. I loved the main villain as she’s a famous witch from Slavic folklore*. I loved the weird talking animals, witty dolls and whimsical scenarios involving chatting with the Night. And while I know that this kind of eerie fantasy is not for everyone, I truly enjoyed it.

~ Great take on The hero’s journey. Have you noticed how hundreds of stories focus on the protagonist following The Hero’s Journey? I bet you have. At the beginning they just want to keep their normal life, then something supernatural happens, they travel, solve it and then go home. The problem is that most of the time the hero goes home without a transformation. They face the biggest adventure of their life and that doesn’t change them at all! What I liked about Vassa is that she learned a lot, she grew up and she had to make sacrifices. It felt like one of those old stories that always tried to teach you morals (but in a fun way).

~ Vivid descriptions. I swear the descriptions where so enchanting that I could not take the book out of my head. Halfway through it I had to visit a convenience store and a part of my mind kept checking the aisles for an old witch or a severed head on a spike.**

*If you want to know which witch I’m talking about, check the Vasilisa the Beautiful Wikipedia article. ** This is a real story. I already had a protein bar in my hand and the cashier wouldn’t appear. I was sure she was expecting me to steal something so she could chop off my head.

♥ WHAT I DISLIKED ♥

~ A couple of interludes***. Every five or six chapters there’s a mini chapter called ‘Interlude’ that shows some flashbacks related to the events that are going on in the present. They all feature a magical being or magical event that is somehow related to the main story. And while I found them interesting, they sometimes felt a little out of tone, written in a different voice and featuring unknown characters. I’m also not a fan of the “Five Years Before” or similar flashbacks that try to show me how things got to be like this or that. I prefer good old chronological order.

*** The interludes didn’t bother me that much. I actually liked most of them but since that’s the only thing that I barely disliked, I felt like I had to mention it.

♥ YOU SHOULD READ IT IF ♥

♥ You like Grimm’s fairy tales.
♥ You enjoy urban fantasy books.
♥ You enjoy the creepy/weird side of fantasy (like talking animals, walking buildings and living disembodied body parts).
♥ You are interested in Russian folktales.

3/5 Stars

In my quest to read more and more stories inspired by Russian history and fairytales I knew I wanted to pick up Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter. Bringing the folklore of Vasilisa the Beautiful to the streets of Brooklyn creates a strange new world where magic and reality collide. There's plenty to experience within these pages, but for me this book missed the mark.

Characters tend to make or break books for me and this may be why Vassa in the Night didn't live up to the hype. Every single human character was pretty basic and there was no real connection between them. Vassa, as the MC, should have shone, but I really didn't care for her. The wooden doll Erg was more compelling with her honesty and attitude. The other characters of the not so human variety might actually be one of the best parts of this book.

Wooden dolls come to life, hands that have their own minds, a drugstore that dances on chicken legs, and ever present Night are just a bunch of the fantastical elements within this story. This book is full of extremely weird and strange things and while entertaining, it was really over the top. Unfortunately this led to the human element of the story being lost with all of the craziness that ensued.

It probably helps to know the original story before diving into a retelling but I'm not sure it would have helped Vassa in the Night. Mixing Russian fairytales and Brooklyn, NY would not be my first choice. I do have to give Sarah Porter kudos though for taking on these two vastly different areas and trying to bring them together. I even enjoyed her writing style with moments of such beautiful prose that I couldn't help but keep reading. It just didn't add up.

Overall Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter was alright but a bit of a disappointment. While it was an interesting retelling, the narrative was all over the place and the characters were pretty lackluster. I just wanted a whole lot more from this story. I'll say if you're into super strange stuff or Russian tales that you should give this one a shot, but otherwise it's probably not for the masses.

Originally posted on Hopeful Reads

this book was entirely wild and weird and i truthfully don't think i could summarize it for someone even if i wanted to

Great book for anyone with even a passing interest in Baba Yaga. Does a fantastic job of blending fairy tale elements in a modern setting without it feeling jarring.

it's rare to read a fairytale inn 2024. but this is one.
if I were a professor of lit, I'd teach this.

This was soooo confusing, on one hand I loved the idea, but the execution was so strange and just disconnected, I could not relate to any of the characters, and I really struggled to the novel. I also struggled with the way it was written, the language used was just so confusing and too flowery, but the description made no sense. And I usually like non-sense and flowery writing normally, but this one just did not work for me.

Great! I really enjoyed this! I definitely wouldn't have picked it up on my own and am glad that it was recommended to me!