Emily May's Reviews > Vassa in the Night

I’m slipping, saying too much; in a night this deep and strange the boundaries start to blur.

This is one of those books that I absolutely loved but I'd hesitate before rushing out to recommend it. Because it's weird. No, seriously, it's REALLY weird.

I guess it shouldn't be that surprising. The book promises a fairy tale version of Brooklyn, NYC, with talking wooden dolls, a witch's curse and people partying on rooftops at sunset. A story inspired by the Russian folktale Vassilissa the Beautiful. It's bound to be a tad strange. If you read the blurb and thought "awesome", then you're probably good. If you read it and thought "sounds a bit weird, but I'll try it", then you're probably not.

It's a story full of bizarre dreams, walking hands (yeah, just the hands), witches setting impossible tasks and an absent father who is now a German Shepherd. It's also a dark, gory, magical tale full of beautiful imagery and just the right amount of snark.

Around here it’s the dead who are living large. On the living side of the fence we have plastic kids’ bikes wedged into the balconies of burned-out apartment buildings. Mosaics of garbage and broken glass in the mud. So it’s not too surprising that I tend to wind up wandering around the graves. It reminds me that there are always options.

I kept trying to figure out what it reminded me of. At first I thought Laini Taylor, and later that changed to Catherynne M. Valente, but I think, in the end, it resembled the works of several authors of the weird and beautiful, whilst also having its own style.

While not necessary, I recommend a basic knowledge of the Vassilissa fairy tale, unless you want to experience some complete "WTF?!" moments. In this version of the story, Vassa lives in Brooklyn with her stepmother, two stepsisters, and a little secret hidden in her pocket - Erg, a talking wooden doll her mother gave her before she died.

Night has been slowly getting longer in Brooklyn, creeping over everything and making the morning ever further away. Even stranger than this is the magical convenience store that seems to float above the ground and has a policy of beheading shoplifters.

The parking lot is ringed in by poles maybe thirty feet high, and on top of every pole a severed head stares down, some with eyes and some with just gutted pits.

When Vassa stumbles in one night, she finds herself falsely accused of thieving by the owner - Babs Yagg. She desperately protests her innocence and, in return, is given three nights (and several impossible tasks) to prove it.

It's very atmospheric and creepy. You can practically feel the darkness and the magic swirling off the pages. I also really enjoyed the beautifully-written conversations between characters, and the friendship between Vassa and Erg.

The novel gets weirder and weirder, and builds to a crescendo of blood and secrets before delivering a bittersweet ending. For me, it was an oddly perfect mix of so many things I love and I felt completely sucked into Vassa's world. It's not one for those who like everything to make sense, but I really enjoyed it.

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