I was a little hesitant to pick this up after I received it in the Owlcrate October box because I thought it would be surreal, and I hate surreality with a vengeance. No worries! It's not a surreal story; it's just a fairytale taking place in Brooklyn. The universe in this story has zany rules, but there's a definite rhyme and reason. Plus, one of the things that drives me up a wall with surreality is people's numbed reactions to things. Something crazy will happen, and the characters will accept it. It kind of makes me . . . anxious? But when crazy things happen in Vassa in the Night--out of the ordinary things--Vassa reacts in a normal way. Some things, like Random Acts of Magic, she's used to. But others--dismemberment, for example--cause her to freak out. The highlight of this story was definitely Erg, Vassa's talking doll. I'm insanely disappointed that I don't have my own wooden kleptomaniac to hug my finger when I'm upset.