This book was enjoyable for the 33% that I read of it, and I do like the idea, but I think it really could have used a developmental edit to strengthen what was there. I felt like a lot was happening very quickly, and I didn't get a chance to really connect with the characters before the plot started to take off. We were being told what events meant to the characters, instead of seeing them react to those events on their own. A lot of characters were introduced in a short amount of time. Overall a good plot and idea, but the execution wasn't compelling enough for me to keep going.

Vasilisa is a 14 year old girl living with her mother and grandmother after World War I. Her father has been "lost" in the war, and it's devastated her soft mother. Not only do Vasilisa and Babka share a name, they also share cleverness and a courageous spirit. When she meets a newcomer to town she wonders, can the new boy in town be trusted? And what's his connection with the man who is trying to take her father's place?

Mathison weaves these fantastical tales that draw in her readers. I loved hearing her old Russian folktales. Her characters are likable and their relationships with one another are relatable. I love the relationship between Vasilisa and Babka. As someone who sat around listening to stories her grandma told, I found the moments between the two of them enjoyable.

Mathison just always seems to write the stories I want to read.

**ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review**

I was not sure about this book when I started it...I have always loved stories about Baba Yaga and her house on chicken legs, and try to read any fictional books with her in it. After finishing the novel, I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite Baba Yaga tales. The author weaves in so many aspects of Russian history, folklore, and culture. Her descriptions invoke the Pennsylvania mining town in our world, and the freezing landscape of "Old Rus". This book is definitely worth the read, and a re-read! I will certainly plan on reading the next books in the series!

Vasilisa is everything I have ever wanted in a good ole fantasy folktale story and more. This book is phenomenal. The authors writing style is fantastic and kept in completely engrossed the whole time. I actually had to slow down near the end so I could enjoy the book a little longer, it was that good. The main character Vasilisa is wonderful, she is strong, caring, and very thoughtful. The other main character Ivan is also strong and caring. The quest they go on to find Bab Yaga and the egg is an Old Rus tale that I was not familiar with but I loved it so much. From what I gather in the afterword, there are more books from the Old Rus series coming. Awesome! I also want to add the cover is fantastic and fits the book so well. I can't wait to read more by this author, she is a wonderful storyteller.

A toe dip into Russian folklore!

The Great War is still raging, it is 1919 and in Edenfall (Pennsylvania) a young girls father is missing in action – and assumed to be dead. But Vasilisa does not believe that to be the case and what follows is a quest (alongside a new friend, Ivan) to save her mother from marrying an ogre, her grandmother from a curse and to find out what exactly has happened to her father.

I picked up this book because I needed a bit of a palette cleanser, and something aimed at young adult/middle grade age seemed perfect. Not to mention that this story was based upon some of my favourite characters and stories in folklore. I’m no expert however and I was looking forward to perhaps learning more about these tales. This book took me much longer to get through than I had expected it to, and though it is a hearty story with lots of action, there were some issues that made it a bit less enjoyable than I had hoped it would be!

Our protagonist is of course young Vasilisa, a teenager who turns fourteen near the start of the story. She takes care of her mother, and somewhat nominates herself for a quest to save all those she loves and holds dear. The Old Tales she has been told by her Babka (grandmother) spur her on, and give her guidance during her adventure.

The book itself was a difficult one to get into – which surprised me given the intended audience. Whilst I think the content of this book is certainly suitable for middle grade/young adults, the writing style and the pacing of the plot, not to mention the quite information heavy chapters at times – makes this a book that was actually challenging for me to follow, as an adult and a voracious reader!

I found myself, at times, wondering what on earth was going on in this book, only for the information needed to understand to be dropped in later on. It made me feel like I had missed great big chunks of the plot and storyline, and I had to make a decision whether to re-read sections or continue on. I decided on the latter. I don’t want to have to re-read to understand something, I want to re-read because I have loved something so much I just *have* to cast my eyes over it once more.

Having some prior knowledge of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa definitely helped and I do worry about how much more difficult this would have been without it!

There is a big shift part way through this book from gentle, character and story building to a pacy adventure and lots happening. I found this transition a little abrupt, but I was very glad for more to be happening after a slow (but information heavy) start.

That said, the main ‘quest’ is intriguing, packed with action and comes to a resolution that makes sense. The ending for me, felt a little rushed and I do wonder if this is in order to pave the way for the next book in the series.

The other thing that I found a little unsettling was the way in which Vasilisa and Ivan seemed so much older than their years. Given what they have experienced, you might expect some maturity from them and a sense of them having to have grown up too soon perhaps. However, their language, behaviours and thoughts at times seemed like those of someone far older than a teenager. The blossoming romance makes sense, given all they have experienced together, but given their ages, it seemed a little inappropriate. I think this book could have been based on older characters (late teens/early 20’s) and still appealed to a younger audience.

Despite the mismatch between the way the characters think/behave and their ages, the characters themselves are well developed, rich and full of personality. You can just imagine Babka sitting across from you and telling you the Old Tales, you can get a sense of both Vasilisa and Ivan when you experience their inner thoughts and outer behaviours. This story has a message and it has heart, much like most folklore tales. If you allow yourself to reflect and think about the story, you’ll no doubt learn something about yourself and your own approach to life.

Ultimately, this story is one in which love rules over hate. Where compassion and kindness fare much better than anger and violence. These are messages that we can all do with learning, or being reminded of, from time to time.

This is a nice addition to the crop of Russian fantasies for middle grade readers. Vasilisa is a heroine who grows in confidence throughout her adventures to save her family. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Whenever I can find anything to do with Slavic folklore or history, I must tread it! My great grandparemts immigrant from what was Czechoslovakia, so I have stories and influence from my family. There isn’t much of a market for Slavic folklore, so I cherish anything I can find. I liked this adaptation since it is also historical. Baba Yaga and Vasilisa were always my favorite stories, so I want to pass this to my kids one day when I have them.

I found the book most enjoyable with great characters and story line. It was beautifully written with each chapter holding my attention right up to the very last page. I would certainly be reading more stories by this writer.
I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book which I am sure both middle grades and young adults will love it.

It was a magical journay across the early 20th century US and world history with Bolshevik revolution and World War I.

We are going through old Russian fairytales which come to life in the small town in US. We meet mythical Slavic creatures, especially Baba Yaga and Old Koschei.

Main character, Vasilisa, at the beginning annoyied me a little, but after few chapters I understand her more and more. Ivan has his plan and go straight to that. Both of them behave more like adult people, not children, but it some way it reflects the early 20th century society, where after War children very often have been resposible for the whole families becasue fathers have been killed during the War, but the life went.

I really like Baba Yagas. Each of them is different and shows another aspect of Baba Yaga which we know from the tales.

One thing could be more visible for me - Old Koschei involevemnt when Vasilia and Ivan came to the Old Rus. He disapeared and shows at the vary end and it was weird because around him the majority of plot has been built.

For sure I recommend this book for children, but adults also can find here something important and useful.

I love retellings of fairy tales and folklore. I don't know much about Russian folklore, but after reading Vasilisa I will have to change that. I really enjoyed Vasilisa's story, her character had a lot of growth over the course of the book which isn't something I've seen very often in middle grade books. Ivan's arc didn't hold my attention as much, but there is potential there. I think fans of the the Bear and the Nightingale would really enjoy this book.

I thought this was book had a lot of elements of fantasy that are aimed towards a younger audience. I wish I enjoyed this book more but it read pretty young. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is in their early teens.

I really enjoyed this story! It was interesting to learn more about Russian folklore, as up until now all I'd really heard of was a bit about Baba Yaga. On top of that, though, I really got attached to the characters and could appreciate their growth throughout the story. The only minor negative about the book, I'd say, was how quickly the end seemed to wrap up. That could just be a personal preference, though.

Thanks to NetGalley for the electronic copy of the book!

The time is 1919, and Vasilisa is living in Pennsylvania with her Russian family. Her mother is grieving over Vasilisa’s father who’s still missing from the war. Now someone new wants to marry her mother, and Vasilisa has to fight to get things back to normal again. With the help of a boy named Ivan, who has his own ambitions, they go on a magical adventure to resolve their problems. Vasilisa’s hope is to save her family once and for all.

Reading fairy tales is one of my favorite things to do, and I just love retellings, so I couldn’t wait to read Vasilisa the moment I saw it. Having Russian roots, I’m always drawn into Russian folklore. I found Vasilisa fresh, unique, and interesting. Loved the writing, loved the story and characters, and especially the themes of courage, family, and friendship. There’s so much going on in this story with a setting in the real world and Old Rus. In addition, some of the character names are identical to members of my own family which was another fun element.

With that said, I’m not positive that this will be a captivating story for all younger middle-grade readers. I can only go by how my two middle-grade readers felt about this book, and it wasn’t a story that kept their full interest to the end. The narrative does get complex at times, and how I wish there was a glossary of terms like the one that was included in The Bear and the Nightingale. It’s really necessary for those who don’t know Russian or the pronunciations because it becomes tedious to have to repeatedly stop to Google terms. Maybe other middle-grade readers will enjoy this more than mine did, but some parts of the writing and the romance between Ivan and Vasilisa made the book feel more like YA to me. This is just my opinion. Other than that, Vasilisa is excellent.

4-stars

I loved this book. The characters are just wonderful and it’s so well written and interesting. Such a great story line and like I said the characters were just so real. I felt like I knew them by the end of the book. The folklore aspect seemed to be quite well done I’m not overly familiar with the source material but it seemed spot on

A nice re-telling of a Russian classic fable. I liked the story a lot. I hope the books continue. Great new author for me

Vasilisa by Julie Mathison is one of the most authentic Russian fairy tale/folklore retellings I've read. Vasilisa and her family have settled down in Edenfall, PA after fleeing the revolution, and her papa has gone away to the war and is presumed dead. Meanwhile a local rich Russian has is trying to win her mother's affections and strange things are happening in Edenfall and all is not as it seems. Vasilisa must be brave to save her family and those she loves from ancient legends and stories.

I never thought I'd be saying this, but this book felt like a mix of a small town cozy mystery meets fairy tale portal fantasy. I was unsure of the setting intially, but both Edenfall and Old Rus won me over. I really liked the folklore and fairy tale elements, and I thought they were pretty well done - not something I can say for every Russian retelling I've read. It felt like reading the actual fairy tales in a lot of ways, but with a new spin on the tale of Koschei the Deathless and Vasilisa the Brave. I also liked that Mathison did not pit folklore and religion against each other the way some other Russian-inspired stories have. I liked our characters - I felt that Evelyn was slightly unnecessary, but she was fun. I also really liked the ending and how things were resolved but left open for more in the future.

Things I didn't love: It's a little slower paced - which may be your cup of tea or not. I would sort of liken this to Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik perhaps. Lots of interesting things happen but the pacing felt a bit slow at times. I don't mind that, I just was wanting it to be a little more gripping when I was reading. I felt confused by the age of the characters. Our main characters are all in the 14-ish age range, so it's a little unsure if this is a middle grade or a YA. I think this would have been stronger for just committing to being YA and allowing the children to be older. I think the characters' actions and love interests would have been more believable. I think it works because in a real fairy tale you know to suspend disbelief and you know that certain characters inevitable love each other. But I think if you go in ready to suspend your disbelief just a little and embrace the fairy-tale atmosphere it won't bother you. Last thing: at least in my ARC, there was no glossary. Mathison drops a good amount of Russian and fairy tale lingo into the story. For me this made it so much more vivid, familiar, and real, but if I didn't know Russian I think it would frustrate me that there was no glossary.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I loved how Mathison really captured the Russian fairy tale feel for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and to Starr Creek Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a delightful, quick read! The Russian folklore elements are what initially drew me to this book, but Vasilisa's story is the heart of the book. Her character is well developed, and the reader is invested in her journey throughout the entirety of the novel. Setting plays a huge role, too. We go between Early 20th Century Pennsylvania and the land of Russian folklore, Old Rus -- both are richly described and feel as much of characters as Vasilisa or Ivan. The writing is lyrical and fits for a fairytale/folklore story. All in all, a very enjoyable read!

This is such a different story than BELIEVE, Mathison’s debut, which I loved that I was scared I wouldn’t be able to get into this one. However– I had zero trouble. Right from the first pages, Vasilisa and her grandmother had my heart, and I was desperate to follow their story to the very end.

So many of the relationships in the story were really believable and complex. I especially loved the friendship between Vasilisa and Evelyn and Vasilisa’s relationship with Meredith, the local herbalist.

One of the things I liked also about VASILISA is that it makes a really nice bridge between middle grade and young adult books. Vasilisa turns fourteen in the story, and she has a love interest, but it’s not at all the focus of the book. The family relationships and adventure make it a great fit for upper middle grade readers (5th and 6th graders), and the more mature elements, like the romance, open the door for lower young adult readers (7th and 8th graders). It’s often difficult to find books that hit that age group, so I love that this one does.

I think readers who enjoyed tales about Russian folklore, like NEVERTELL by Katharine Orton and THE DOOR IN THE STAIRCASE by Katherine Marsh will love the folklore and adventure of VASILISA.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It’s time for my last book review until the end of March. This time, I wanted something a little fantasy meets folklore, but something I’m not very familiar with (Russian folklore seemed like a good choice), so I decided to request Julie Mathison’s Vasilisa. It was released yesterday (February 23rd) from Mathison’s own imprint, Starr Creek Press. As usual, I must thank her and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it!

Vasilisa begins in 1919 in Edenfall, PA and follows our heroine (Vasilisa) as she struggles to come to terms with her father going missing in Flanders, a creepy suitor sniffing around her mother, her babka’s waning health, and learning who she can trust. Unfortunately, the answers to all of her troubles lie in Old Rus with the witch Baba Yaga. But Vasilisa doesn’t have to go alone when young Ivan appears by her side. Together, they set off on the adventure of a lifetime.

Plotwise, this one is a standard fairytale. There’s a maiden, a prince, some witches, a fairy godmother type character who happens to be Vasilisa’s grandmother, an ogre, a forest sprite, and even a dragon thrown in there for good measure. And that’s not even all of the fairytale stuff, just what I remember off the top of my head. Despite all of this, the story doesn’t feel cluttered or convoluted. It’s actually pretty impressive how much is crammed into this fairly short book (less than 250 pages) without making it a slog.

The pacing is quick. Sometimes a little too quick. Especially in the romantic development. It’s for younger readers, so I understand glancing over boring things, but it’s really weird how Vasilisa goes from not being sure she can trust Ivan to loving him in the span of a couple of pages without any real internal struggle. I think that’s due to the fact that a lot of this story is telling instead of showing. I’m not against that, but while it makes the story flow faster, it also makes it more difficult to express emotional growth within the characters. The POV probably also contributes to that.

As far as the characters go, they were a little flat, but still enjoyable. Vasilisa is basically the personification of kindness, which is a little boring if I’m being honest. She has zero flaws. She never does anything wrong except that one time she skips school to steal something from the bad dude in order to save her babka. It gets old fast. Ivan and Evelyn are better in that department. They at least have motivations that force them to straddle the line between right and wrong. Everyone else is pretty much a cardboard cutout of their fairytale roles.

The writing is clean and makes for a quick read. Sometimes I wanted more description, but it’s not bad. There’s nothing really special about it. No lines really jump out at me as quotable or memorable. But it’s smooth and works well for this story.

Ultimately, Vasilisa is not bad, but not great. The epilogue sets us up for book two, which I’m not opposed to reading, but I’ll probably forget this series even exists before it comes out. I’m not upset I read it. I don’t want those hours back or anything. It’s just kind of blah.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy fairytales and want something quick and cute to read, go for it. If you have a youngster who’s into this type of stuff, I can definitely see kids enjoying it. The story’s fun, it just fell short for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Starr Creek Press for access to this arc.

It took me a while to settle into the story as there are many characters to be introduced and the entire backstory to fill in. It’s not done in an info dump, thank goodness, but there are situations that take some time to be completely understood. I do think it helped me to have a little bit of knowledge of Slavic folk/fairy tales some of which I got from other books I’ve read (The Bear and the Nightingale) and some from lavishly made movies which I watched being savaged on MST3K.

One thing that induces twinges of disquiet throughout the story is how much of the time Vasilisa and Ivan seem to be much older than their stated ages (13/14 [Vasilisa has a birthday over the course of the story] and 15) while they are often referred to as “the children.” I guess “teens” wouldn’t have sounded quite right for the period. But there are other bits of dialog that even if they are not anachronistic, they sound that way so why not use “teens.”

Once the background and characters are in place, the tale begins to make more sense. Then as the scene changes from 1919 Pennsylvania to “below” in Old Rus, it really takes off. Characters change – both Ivan and Vasilisa grow up and into their roles of saving themselves, their loved ones, and seeking revenge. But at the same time Vasilisa goes from somewhat of a prickly loner to something of a Disney Princess who charms wolves, dragons, and – in a scene that might induce heebie jeebies – some creepy crawly creatures. Then to have these teens profess undying love at their ages (though there is nothing more than kisses here) is a little bit disturbing to say the least.

But, but … I love the sections of the book set in Russia. I could see the silent, snow covered birch forests. The traditional Russian hospitality to strangers is heartwarming. The household domovy can be impish yet also tetchy. Leshy can help but at a price. Be careful feeding the lock of the bone fence around Baba Yaga’s izba but if you ask it nicely, the house on chicken legs will often turn around and settle down so you may enter it. Dragons sometimes don’t act as you’d expect but rusalkas always do. Baba Yaga must be pinned down with oaths and watch out for her “children.”

The messages that are delivered through the goals and actions of Vasilisa and Ivan – that love is stronger than hate, that to give into anger and revenge will scar the one who does it, that force will be heeded but acts of kindness are never forgotten – are powerful and something we should all remember. I found the Old Rus ending a bit rushed and uncertain though this might be setting up what’s to come in the next book. The outcome of the story is never much in doubt which does lessen the tension but it’s fun to see the plot linked to the fairy tales and to read a story that’s a little bit out of the ordinary. B-