'Book of a Thousand Days'

Author: Shannon Hale
Genre: Fantasy/Fairytale
Publisher: Bloomsbury

Having read (and adored) Princess Academy, I was pretty excited to read this book after picking it up at the library.
Book of a Thousand Days is a thrilling re-telling of a little-known fairy tale, 'Maid Maleen' from the Grimm brothers. Having sword loyalty to her mistress, Lady Saren, the main character Dashti finds herself getting bricked up inside a windowless tower after Lady Saren refuses to accept the marriage her father has arranged for her. They're sentenced to stay there for seven years.
But with rats decimating their food supply and a war raging outside the tower, things might not work out exactly as planned.
I won't say more about the plot, lest I give something important away. What I will say is that I really, truly enjoyed this book. A colorful, vibrant fantasy culture combined with adventure and a remarkably sweet love story made it a joy to read.
I wouldn't recommend this book for young readers, for a couple of reasons. One, parts of the story definitely contained some dark elements, fine for mature readers but not so much for younger ones. Two, the polytheistic religion of the main character's culture might be a problem for some families.
But for my part, I found this to be yet another excellent contribution to fairytale fiction from an author who is quickly earning my respect.