In Vassa's neighbourhood, 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 neighbourhood. But Babs won't be playing fair. Inspired by the Russian folktale "Vassilissa the Beautiful" and Sarah Porter's years of experience teaching creative writing to New York City students, Vassa in the Night weaves a dark yet hopeful tale about a young girl's search for home, love, and belonging.
Initial Thoughts: Parts of this were definitely confusing. Non-human characters often make nonsensical statements, sort of Alice in Wonderland-esque. Vassa sometimes parses them out and sometimes just ignores them, so I did too. That didn't really both me about the book. The lack of character motivations did. Even when explanations were given for why the characters made dangerous, illogical, or otherwise major decisions, they didn't seem like believable or particularly good explanations. The first and most obvious of these is that Vassa goes to a store known for murdering all its customers to buy light bulbs...because that will stick it to her meanie sister who suggested she go. I get there might be a gut reaction of wanting to respond that way to the "dare," but why would anyone actually go through with this? The villain's motivations honestly weren't entirely clear either, even after explained. Full review to come.
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
3 January, 2017:
Finished reading
-
3 January, 2017:
Reviewed