Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter
Published 20th September 2016 by Tor Teen
Star Rating - **.5
Goodreads Challenge - 20/75
Synopsis (from Goodreads)
In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, 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 away 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…
In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling away 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…
My Thoughts
I've had this one on my TBR for a while and I decided to pick it up for the Booktubeaton challenge, a book with a beautiful spine. I was intrigued by the synopsis and I know that it's a retelling of the Russian fairy tale Vassilisa the Beautiful and, if you follow my reviews, you will know I love fairy tale retellings so I was keen to give it a go. Unfortunately it didn't hit the spot for me and I was a little bit disappointed.
I'm not really familiar with Russian fairy tales and I've never actually read the original story so I can't comment on how close to the original tale this book is. I can say however, that the story was completely and utterly weird. After reading the prologue and the first chapter or so I knew it was going to be a strange read and I was actually a little bit confused to begin with. As I continued with the story I was able to distinguish who was who and I was able to follow the plot however, the story continued to get stranger and stranger as well as quite graphic and gruesome in some parts.
Now, even though the story was completely and utterly weird, there were parts of the writing that were really magical. Sarah Porter has a really wonderful and lyrical writing style and it was such a shame that the story was so strange as I think I could really love the way she writes. I also quite liked Vassa as a character, she was strong willed and independent which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed her interactions with Erg. They were quite snarky and humorous and this really lightened up the writing a little bit and brought us back down to earth if you like.
Overall it wasn't a bad book. There were some aspects that I really enjoyed such as the writing and some of the characters however, the story just got too weird for me. Maybe I might have found it a bit easier to read had I been familiar with the original tale, I'm not sure, and other reviews seem to have contradicting opinions over this. If you can get on board with weird storytelling then maybe give this one a go but if you prefer a more straight forward plot then maybe avoid this one.
I'm not really familiar with Russian fairy tales and I've never actually read the original story so I can't comment on how close to the original tale this book is. I can say however, that the story was completely and utterly weird. After reading the prologue and the first chapter or so I knew it was going to be a strange read and I was actually a little bit confused to begin with. As I continued with the story I was able to distinguish who was who and I was able to follow the plot however, the story continued to get stranger and stranger as well as quite graphic and gruesome in some parts.
Now, even though the story was completely and utterly weird, there were parts of the writing that were really magical. Sarah Porter has a really wonderful and lyrical writing style and it was such a shame that the story was so strange as I think I could really love the way she writes. I also quite liked Vassa as a character, she was strong willed and independent which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed her interactions with Erg. They were quite snarky and humorous and this really lightened up the writing a little bit and brought us back down to earth if you like.
Overall it wasn't a bad book. There were some aspects that I really enjoyed such as the writing and some of the characters however, the story just got too weird for me. Maybe I might have found it a bit easier to read had I been familiar with the original tale, I'm not sure, and other reviews seem to have contradicting opinions over this. If you can get on board with weird storytelling then maybe give this one a go but if you prefer a more straight forward plot then maybe avoid this one.
Overall Rating (2.5*)
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