Vassa in the Night is an enchanting, modern retelling of the Russian folktale Vassilissa the Beautiful for young adults by the critically-acclaimed author, Sarah Porter. Leigh Bardugo, New York Times bestselling author of the Grisha Trilogy, calls it, “A dark, thoroughly modern fairy tale crackling with wit and magical mayhem.”In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on … 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 out 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 .
Inspired by the Russian folktale Vassilissa the Beautiful and her years of experience teaching creative writing to students in New York City public schools, acclaimed author Sarah Porter weaves a dark yet hopeful tale about a young girl s search for home, love, and belonging.
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I keep trying to read things other than fairy tale retellings, I promise! Anyway, I have a special soft spot for the Baba Yaga story — it’s so grotesque and weird that I can’t help myself. I guess if I had to categorize this version, I’d slide it into the urban fantasy slot. It’s set in Brooklyn — not Brooklyn as it is now, but a Brooklyn that’s infested, run-down, dark, and extremely dangerous. Babs lives what’s essentially a 7/11 on chicken legs, Vassa has purple hair and a sassy, sentient doll sidekick, and there’s a pair of disembodied evil hands. Fans of Holly Black and Sara Rees Brennan will love this one.
I got this book in my October UpperCase box. Took me quite a while to get to it and quite a bit of the book to get into it. I was actually quite confused and had to go back and re-read parts that I thought I missed something. But once I hit the second half, things started making more sense and I actually enjoyed the end of it. Overall this was quite a wonderful book and I loved the ending. There are also some common core questions that help younger readers a lot.
Rating:
Genre: Urban Fantasy + Young Adult +Retelling
Very ambitious, sometimes funny and whimsical and other times confusing and boring!
This is a modern retelling of Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga by Alexander Afanasyev. We follow this strange story of the girl Vassa and her wooden talking doll Erg. I have picked up this book at a used book store. The beautiful cover attracted me and I had no idea what the story was about. When I read the synopsis then of a girl who lives with her stepmother and two stepsisters I thought this might be a retelling of Cinderella. Turned out a totally different story.
Sometimes it felt like the story was becoming something like Alice in Wonderland because everything seemed to be strange but it definitely lacked the charm that Lewis Carroll’s classic has. What this book excels in is creating this dark weird atmosphere. I just wish the characters were as strong or at least the plot was more defined and not all over the place.
If you like to read something strange and wicked maybe Vassa in the Night will appeal to you. If you find the idea of a father leaving his family to become a dog appealing then give it a shot . For me, this was an ambitious project that could not live up to its goals. I am going with a two-star rating.
I love strange books and this one was strange in the best way. Vassa and Erg are such great characters. I loved the magic and chaos in the book. Babs is a great villain. She is creepy and wicked. I highly recommend this book.
Hmmm. I remember the Baba Yaga stories from when I was growing up and doo not remember her being so wicked. This modern take on the fairy tale was tough to follow but perhaps I am too old. Maybe if I was a teen it would be more understandable.
Coraline-Alice and Wonderlandy, I loved this book!