"Book of A Thousand Days" by Shannon Hale

 Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Very clean book, suitable for all ages, intended for middle readers.

I read this for a book club this month, and it was the first Shannon Hale book I've read! Scratch that, a few weeks ago I read "The Princess in Black" to my cousin's kids, but this was my first full-length novel.

Dashti is a mucker maid who soon after arriving in a new city agrees to be lady's maid for Lady Saren, esssentially a princess for all intents and purposes, and finds herself locked into a windowless, doorless tower for an expected 7 years with Lady Saren, who has refused to marry Khasar, the suitor her abusive father has selected for her. Dashti decides to keep a journal of thoughts, chronicling their time in the tower, but she quickly discovers life in the tower is not the blessing she first thought it to be.

Spoilers Ahead!

I read this book in about 2 days, I was so eager to finish it! Though it was a delight to do so, it did not leave much time for rumination, so I will just jump into the discussion questions.

Discussion Questions:

1. We see Dashti grow into herself over the course of the book. For example, she allows Khasar to slap her hand and later remarks towards the end of the book that she would never allow that. Would you have been as submissive? Or as bold?

2. At what point did you suspect Khasar was a skinwalker?

3. What do you think of Saren's hidden illness? 

4. Did you suspect the city had been destroyed? What tipped you off?

5. Were you surprised Tegus didn't recognize Dashti sooner? Why or why not?

6. Where is the line between loyalty to your word and loyalty to yourself?

7. What thoughts do you have about Dashti giving Saren the cat?

8. Had she been alive, what advice do you think Dashti's mother would have given her?

9. "I think [Khasar] felt that something was wrong but he couldn't allow himself to be afraid, not of me, not of a naked girl singing. And because he did nothing to stop me, neither did his men," (pg. 253). What things in your life do you not embrace for the sake of appearances?

My parting thought: The live-action Cinderella (once again with Lilly James!) is one of my favorite films. I get so excited every time the prince reveals himself to have been travelling with the guard looking for Ella (I even took a break just to watch that part while writing this). When we realize the soldier that helped Dashti after her ordeal with Khasar is actually Khan Tegus, I swooned.