The Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale

The Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale

Pages: 306
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: 2nd March 2009

Other Titles by This Author: Princess Academy, Enna Burning, The Goose Girl, River Secrets, Austenland, The Actor and the Housewife

This is no ordinary fairytale.

The hero isn’t charming, the heroine is a brat.

And you certainly won’t guess the ending.

When a beautiful Lady refuses to marry the Lord her father has chosen, her father is furious. So furious he locks her in a tower with her maid.

But the maid realises there is something deeply sinister behind her Lady’s fear of the Lord, something which means they could be in more danger beyond the walls of the tower than imprisoned within them…

A spellbinding story of love, fear, courage, and one true heroine.

The Book of a Thousand Days wasn’t nearly as good as I wanted it to be. It wasn’t a hard book to read, but I was reluctant to pick it up.

Dashti was a charming narrator whose soft, old-fashioned tone was a pleasure to read. She was a true heroine; loyal, honest, brave and strong. Lady Saren was weak, irritating and a general pain in the butt that she loved and cared for anyway. I also loved how she overcame the social divides and learned how little they actually mattered.

I thought that Tegus was a realistic hero. He was very human in his fear and regret but also a strong and fair Khan. His sense of humour and belief in and appreciation of the Mucker’s songs made him Dashti’s perfect match. I liked that Tegus wasn’t a traditional fairytale hero because Dashti definitely isn’t a typical heroine.

The happy fairytale ending was everything that I wanted and expected. I do like a happily ever after! However, I don’t think that the ending was as exciting as it could be because I guessed what the secret was surrounding Lord Khasar that Lady Saren hid from Dashti very early on. I thought it was kind of obvious!

The Book of a Thousand Days is a good fairytale retelling with a very beautiful cover that left me with a smile on my face.

Sophie