The Princess Diaries, Volume II: Princess in the Spotlight (Princess Diaries, #2)

by Meg Cabot

• ISBN10: 0061479942
• ISBN13: 9780061479946
• Publish Date: 25 March 2008 (first published 26 June 2001)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

"I am beginning to realize that the only thing profound about my life so far is its complete and utter lack of profundity." (Mia Thermopolis)

In Take Two, A LOT is going on in Mia's life. Her mother is dating her algebra teacher, her grandmother is forcing her to do an interview on national television and she's receiving letters from a secret admirer who she hopes is her best friend's older brother, Michael Moscovitz.

♛ Mia is dramatic, painfully naive, relatable and likable.
♛ I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to Mia's best friend, Lily. How could Lily film Mia answering her questions while half-asleep and then air it on her TV show without Mia's permission?
♛ Tina Hakim Baba is such a sweetheart.
♛ Grandmère is such a scary and offensive woman and I love her.
♛ My favourite scene is at the pancake restaurant, Round the Clock. Mia's reaction when she realises that Kenny is her secret admirer and Michael's reaction when Kenny puts his arms around Mia's shoulder is hilarious.

"Seriously. I should go and live with the X-men. I am such a mutant." (Mia Thermopolis)

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Initial thoughts: It's interesting to see how far YA books have come in nearly twenty years. I read the first few book in The Princess Diaries series in the early 2000s and found them pretty entertaining. Writing-wise, I knew and didn't think they were particularly exemplary but it was hilarious reading a no-holds part account of Mia's life through her diaries.

Even today, I still think Princess in the Spotlight was a fun read, although there were parts that irritate me — for example, the constant repetition of her obsession with being flat-chested and wanting bigger breasts. It makes sense that there's not always going to be substance to diary ramblings but I got tired of that aspect pretty quickly.

Also, thanks to the movies, I couldn't knock Heather Matarazzo's voice as Lily out of my head, even though the book and film versions of Lily weren't entirely the same. The description of Lily and the appearance of her in the movie didn't even match up, so there's that. Not a critique of the book, of course, but it did impede a little on my reading experience, even though it's been years since I watched or read either of them.

[Chelsea]

Initial Thoughts

So clearly movie #2 is going to be nothing like this book since Mia hasn’t even gone to Genovia yet. No expectations then!

My New BFF

I’m liking Mia so far. She’s a pretty decent main character. I’m really not liking Lily. She annoys me and I hate it when characters are annoying. I’m looking forward to seeing Mia in a bigger role though. I can’t wait to see what it’s like when she starts acting more like a princess.

My Crush

I’m not liking any of the male characters yet in this book. Stay tuned!

Writing Style

I’m finding Meg Cabot’s writing is really fun and easy to read. Her characters are a little underdeveloped but I’m hoping she remedies that in the next book. The plot was pretty fun to read even though it could be slow at times. Either way I’m still looking forward to the next book.

Closing Thoughts

I can see potential in this series even though the start so far hasn’t been incredible. That’s ok. Some series need a slower start to make room for a great ending. I’ve heard good things about this series so I’m hoping it doesn’t let me down!

[sarahjay]

It's not as good as the first but it's okay because Mia is still the best. I highly recommend listening to Rooney as a soundtrack to these books to fully maximize the nostalgia of watching lead singer Robert Schwartzman be a very hot if somewhat inaccurate depiction of Michael Moscovitz in the movie.

This book was one again really cute. I enjoyed reading it. The only thing is that I hate that it's over a short amount of time so nothing much really happens. Or so much happens over such a short amount of time but there isn't enough time for Mia to grow. I don't really think I'm making sense haha.