Vasilisa by Julie Mathison

Vasilisa the Brave and Matriochka.

 

Vasilisa by Julie Mathison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

That was a wonderful Slavic Folktale inspired story. Imagine the tales that your grandmother used to tell you as a kid becoming true and in order to save your family you must face all the fantatic creatures and characters good or evil that until now they were only part of an imaginary world.

I love everything related to the old Rus as it is said in the book, Baba Yaga is one of the most famous and enigmatic characters of the Russian tales that has always fascinated me with her hut standing on chicken legs. I have read a number of Russian Fairy Tales and this book was such a delight to discover and read with Vasilisa's adventures in the Old Rus.

This book is a world in a world kind of story, the main characters live in our reality but then they have to go to another mysterious odd world in order to defeat the villains and where the main adventures with all the tests and dangers that they must go through are waiting for them. The safety of their true reality depends on their success in this other world. Here, It's 1919, we have Vasilisa a 14 years old girls who lives in Edenfall, Pennsylvania, with her mother and grandmother of Russian origines, her father is a soldier on the fields of Flanders and is presumed to be dead, but strangely the loved grandma is suddenly sick when an ogre disguised as a gentleman starts to visit their house and to court her mother. Vasilisa with the help of her new friend Ivan decide to go to the Old Rus in order to save everyone.

I loved this story so much and reading it during the winter season was the best. I found it pretty amazing how the author wrote the dialogues with the riddles, also, the ending was so wonderful. There are so many things to discuss about this story and everything that inspired the author in writing it which made me enjoy it so much.
I haven't read any of Julie Mathison's other books but if they are as amazing as Vasilisa, I want to read everything she wrote. I was happy to hear that Vasilisa is the number one of 4 other books in The Old Rus series.

 

The author of this fantastic story, Julie Mathison, was doing a drawing for a signed, hardcover copy of Vasilisa for everyone who "attended" her event which I did attend and I WON!! I got my copy the last week and I was so happy. She sent it to me knowing that live very far.

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