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A review by beccaconsumesbooks
Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter
5.0
4.5/5
Vassa in the Night is what you get when you cross Welcome to Nightvale with old Russian storytales and I loved it.
This strange story is a retelling of Vasilissa the Beautiful fairytale which was pretty fruit loops to being with, so really it's just continuing in the same spirit. Vassa in the Night uses its strange setting and characters to tell a story that is ultimately very small scale and human.
How weird is it? Well, kind of weird but nothing crazy. All the plot events make sense, and it's never weird enough that it loses its narrative train. If you like your stories to be entirely free of weird though, this probably isn't the book for you. Personally, I love it when a book uses unconventional settings or characters to tell conventional stories so it's not surprise that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. Weird ass life events that result in the main character reflecting on their inner struggles and growing as a person? Send it my way I will eat that shit up
The setting is great. We're in Brooklyn where magic exists but, like the magic in fairy tales, it's bad news. The night has been getting mysteriously longer in a way that no one can account for, and Baba Yaga's walking shack is now a Walmart-esque chain with discount on decapitations.
Vassa is a fun main character, she's an occasionally dumb teenager just trying to survive but she has a very real feeling voice. Her relationship with her sisters and the doll Erg also just feel genuine and nuanced, Sarah Porter did a great job those characterizations.
Madeleine Maby does an excellent job narrating here, so props to her as well.
As for downsides, there are a few minor plot threads that never really amount to anything. It feels like they were put in just to have an explanation for laters story events, but seeing those wrapped up or elaborated on would have been nice.
Overall, a great YA pick if you're down for some weirdness.
Vassa in the Night is what you get when you cross Welcome to Nightvale with old Russian storytales and I loved it.
This strange story is a retelling of Vasilissa the Beautiful fairytale which was pretty fruit loops to being with, so really it's just continuing in the same spirit. Vassa in the Night uses its strange setting and characters to tell a story that is ultimately very small scale and human.
How weird is it? Well, kind of weird but nothing crazy. All the plot events make sense, and it's never weird enough that it loses its narrative train. If you like your stories to be entirely free of weird though, this probably isn't the book for you. Personally, I love it when a book uses unconventional settings or characters to tell conventional stories so it's not surprise that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. Weird ass life events that result in the main character reflecting on their inner struggles and growing as a person? Send it my way I will eat that shit up
The setting is great. We're in Brooklyn where magic exists but, like the magic in fairy tales, it's bad news. The night has been getting mysteriously longer in a way that no one can account for, and Baba Yaga's walking shack is now a Walmart-esque chain with discount on decapitations.
Vassa is a fun main character, she's an occasionally dumb teenager just trying to survive but she has a very real feeling voice. Her relationship with her sisters and the doll Erg also just feel genuine and nuanced, Sarah Porter did a great job those characterizations.
Madeleine Maby does an excellent job narrating here, so props to her as well.
As for downsides, there are a few minor plot threads that never really amount to anything. It feels like they were put in just to have an explanation for laters story events, but seeing those wrapped up or elaborated on would have been nice.
Overall, a great YA pick if you're down for some weirdness.