I was really expecting to love this book based on the description, but it was not what I was expecting at all. Glad to have read it, but it isn’t a book I will be remembering years, or even months, down the line. I think 14+ would be more apt as some content could be said to be disturbing, especially re: beheadings, and even I needed to re-read passages as I felt as though I had missed something. There are a lot of redeeming qualities though, especially the female: male character ratio, and that the only real male character of note (Tommin) is not coming in to save the day, but rather being saved by Vassa. It was…good to see a male character put in the role normally reserved for female characters, I think it reinforces the idea that girls can very much be heroes and do not need to wait to be saved by a knight in shining armour. I also appreciated Vassa having to give up Erg, and that though immensely difficult, it was necessary for her growth and you know she is going to be just fine. I am usually wary once I see a book described as ‘coming of age/learning to love yourself,’ as they have frequently been awkward and full of clichés (maybe I’ve just read a lot of bad ones), but Vassa in the Night definitely did not fall into this category, at all.