Where Were These Fairy Tales When I Was Growing Up?

 Another gift from my Barnes and Nobles book soulmates.  I don’t know how I lived without this book.  I started reading it while killing time after work one day and then suddenly it was 3am and I was crying and I knew something amazing had happened to me.

Agnieska has lived in the valley all her life.  She, and everyone else that lives int he valley, owes their existence to the Dragon that lives in the tower and keeps the evil and corrupt Woods at bay.  In exchange, every ten years, he takes the best and brightest 17 year old girl in the valley.  Everyone knows he’ll pick Agnieska’s best friend, Kasia.  She pretty much has traditional fairy tale heroine written all over her face.  But then the Dragon (who is not a real Dragon, by the way) takes Agnieska, abet begrudgingly.  The Dragon must train anyone showing magical potential in the valley.

Instead of being a magical Mary Sue prodigy, Agnieska actually really sucks at magic.  Except sometimes, she over excels at it.  It seems her whole existence is to make the Dragon’s life difficult.  Then she almost beats the king’s son to death after he makes some unwanted advances to her.  Then the Dragon has pretty much decided she’s a curse for him.

I LOVED this book.  A simply plot summary can’t really do it justice.  Agnieska is the type of fairy tale woman protagonist that the world needs more of – she does things her own way, she’s hella loyal to her best friend, she passes the Bechdel test all the time, she is just amazing.

My only gripe (and I hate to call it a gripe because that sex scene was HOT) is the relationship between the Dragon and Agnieska.  On her first night in the tower, he man handles her.  Even at this early in the book, you know that this guy is going to be the love interest, so can we not with the dragging a young girl down the stairs?  Also, he’s a thousand years old.  Granted, Agnieska is the one that chases him, which is a nice change of pace, but he’s still got at least 983 years on her and it makes a weird power imbalance in their relationship.  However, Agnieska seems to know what she wants, so I really shouldn’t second guess her.  She can take care of herself.