Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city seems a thrill beyond imagining. When Miri and her friends from Mount Eskel set off to help the future princess Britta prepare for her royal wedding, she is happy about her chance to attend school in the capital city. There, Miri befriends students who seem so sophisticated and exciting… until she learns that they have some frightening plans. They think that Miri will help them, that she “should “help them. Soon Miri finds herself torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends’ ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city. Picking up where “Princess Academy “left off, this incredible stand-alone story celebrates the joys of friendship, the delight of romance, and the fate of a beloved fairy tale kingdom.

Jillian’s Review:

I really enjoyed the first Princess Academy and was super excited to find out that there was another one. Although it's been over two years since I read the first, Hale does a great job of bringing us up to speed.

I love Hale's writing style: “Hunger ran through her childhood like a string through a bead necklace,” such beautiful imagery. Her characters are intelligent, insightful, and funny. Miri is a great, strong character who hasn't regressed in her attributes just so she has room to grow in this second book, like I've read in many other Middle Grade and Young Adult novels. And even though she's stronger from her experiences in book one, she still grows, develops, and learns a whole lot about herself in book two.

There was a sense of doom just waiting to descend, which made this a bit darker than I would have liked, but everything is thankfully resolved well and makes the world of the lowlands feel brighter once the doom is lifted.

I’m happy to say there was more romance in this one, but clean enough that a MD reader wouldn't be uncomfortable reading it. And I'm SO glad Miri chooses the best guy in the end. Yay for happy endings!

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren's refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.
As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren's two suitors--one welcome, and the other decidedly less so--brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.
With Shannon Hale's lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.

Jillian’s Review:

I know many people thought this book to be a really slow read, but I loved it from beginning to end—both times through. I love—LOVE—Dashti. I love that she’s strong, sensible, and positive. Even when locked in a tower with the sulky and unstable Lady Saren, Dashti manages to look on the bright side of things. “And here’s the bit that makes me tremble with delight—in our cellar there is a mountain of food! … Seven years’ worth. Such a thing I never imagined. Even though I can’t see the sky, it’s hard not to want to dance about, knowing that for seven years at least I won’t starve.”

After a couple of years and the loss of an enormous amount of food because of a rat infestation and a Lady who won’t stop gorging herself, Dashti is a little less lighthearted and somewhat bitter. However, she never lets it get the better of her. She pushes forward, believing it an honor or at least somewhere close to an honor to serve a Lady.

And then enters the dashing Khan Tegus. Ooh, I liked him from the start. He’s kind and thoughtful and appreciates Dashti for who she is. It probably helps that their first couple of encounters they don’t see more than each others' ankles (thanks to the fact that Dashti is still locked in a tower with a slightly insane Saren). I love how the story progresses and ends. Yay, a happy ending.

Hale has a great talent for describing every detail so that it’s vivid and bringing each character to life, with just the right twist of humor thrown in. I had the perfect quote from the book as an example, but I can’t find it now. I guess you’re just going to have to read it and find out for yourself how great this book is.