I will admit this was a super odd book and some parts went very over my head. But it was a compelling read. I kept wanting to read more but i did get a tad lost in the details of the story overall. ( )

I will admit this was a super odd book and some parts went very over my head. But it was a compelling read. I kept wanting to read more but i did get a tad lost in the details of the story overall. ( )

oh Vasilisa...I mean Vassa Lisa Lowenstein. You poor lost girl. You forgotten child of parents who didn't want you but couldn't allow you to be hurt either.

A fine re-imagining of a Magical Brooklyn where Baba Yaga is a business owner and the night stretches for so long because how can you tally grief? ( )

This has to be one of the strangest books I've ever read. A retelling of a Baba Yaga story, this version is set in contemporary Brooklyn as the nights stretch longer. Vassa is a young woman who's lost her mother and been abandoned by her father, left to live with a stepmom and two stepsisters. She ends up venturing to the local BY's in part because of an adversarial stepsister and in part due to her own stubbornness. Once there, however, Vassa is trapped and must find a way to free everyone trapped by BY's dark magic or else. An interesting read, but not one I can summon much enthusiasm for. ( )

In this Baba Yaga retelling, Vassa is caught in a Brooklyn where the nights seem to be stretching longer and longer, and when she has to run an errand to BY's, the only store open 24 hours, she is caught in a bargain with the owner whereby she must work for three nights without going home in between shifts. During her three nights, she must complete impossible tasks -- but she has a few magical helpers. By the third night, it's clear that her quest is not just to survive the three nights, but to bring an end to the lengthening nights and the cruel machinations of Babs, the shop's owner.

I am the audience for retold fairy tales, especially Russian ones, but this book didn't work for me. The dialogue was clunky, and the attempt at merging the magical aspects of the book with present-day life just stretched my credulity a little too far. I also wanted Vassa to be able to solve some of her problems herself, but she always had magical help and could not have succeeded without it. There's a whole lot of weirdness in this book, so I can see readers who enjoy a book that continually throws them off-balance liking this, but it wasn't for me. ( )