The Princess Diaries (Princess Diaries, #1)

by Meg Cabot

'You're not Mia Thermopolis any more, honey,' Dad said. 'You're Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo. Princess of Genovia.'

A PRINCESS?? ME??? Yeah. Right.

One minute Mia's a totally normal Manhattan 14-year-old. Next minute she's heir to the throne of Genovia, being trailed by a trigger-happy bodyguard, taking princess lessons with her bonkers old grandmere, and having a makeover with someone called Paolo. Well, her dad can lecture her till he's royal-blue in the face, but no way is Mia going to turn herself into a style-queen. And they think she's moving to Genovia? Er, hello?

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot has been a phenomenal global success. This ever-popular series continues in the second book, A Royal Disaster.

• ISBN10: 0613371658
• ISBN13: 9780613371650
• Publish Date: 26 June 2001 (first published 19 September 2000)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 17 March 2021
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 283
• Language: English

Reviews

"Lilly says I have an overactive imagination and a pathological need to invent drama in my life." 

This series makes me so nostalgic! 

The Princess Diaries was my first Meg Cabot novel and is one of my favourite contemporary series. I'm rereading The Princess Diaries series because my reading tastes have changed and I want to see whether I still love this series and also because I need to read Royal Wedding.

In The Princess Diaries, Mia Thermopolis is flunking algebra, her algebra teacher is dating her mother and to make matters worse, Mia finds out from her father that she is a princess and the sole heir of the kingdom of Genovia.

When I read The Princess Diaries years ago, I loved Mia's voice and personality. She's dramatic, funny, insightful, intuitive - with the exception of Mia not realising that Michael likes her. He even wrote a song called "Tall Drink of Water" about a tall, pretty girl (i.e. Mia) who doesn't know that a boy (i.e. Michael) is in love with her -, annoying at times, but overall delightful.

The secondary characters are quite stereotypical. Lilly is the outspoken best friend, Lana is the popular mean girl, Josh is the popular jock who is dating the popular mean girl and Mia's grandmother, Grandmère is the scary grandmother who has problematic ideas and a sympathetic side. However, although the characters are stereotypical, I still enjoy reading about them because there's some small aspect that makes them unstereotypical. Also, it's interesting to see what the characters started off as, because knowing what I know now after reading 10 books in The Princess Diaries series, the characters experience a lot of change and growth. Lily goes from being Mia's best friend to Mia's enemy. Lana goes from being Mia's enemy to Mia's friend. Michael ends up becoming Mia's primary love interest. 

The Princess Diaries purpose isn't to make one think about the world or challenge one's ideals. It's lighthearted, hilarious and entertaining. The Princess Diaries makes me happy!

"Friday is my favorite day, besides Saturday and Sunday." 

[ellieroth]

[20-Nov-2016] #01 Relectura: purrfect

[Chelsea]

Initial Thoughts

I was fully expecting something young and fun for this book. I’d seen the movies but heard that they were quite different from the books.

My New BFF

I liked Mia a lot in this book. I think it’s funny that she was told she’s a princess and she doesn’t want that life. Most teenagers would be thrilled I think. She’s a lot younger than I thought she’d be though and it shows in her personality. I’m hoping she grows up pretty quick or else she’s going to get a little annoying. I do love how dramatic she can be sometimes. It can be pretty funny.

My Crush

There wasn’t many guys in this book so I didn’t have time to crush on anyone. I’m hoping for more boys later on because I can only imagine how Mia will interact with them.

Writing Style

I think the characters are the strong point in this book. The plot was a little predictable (could be from seeing the movie though) and it could be a little boring sometimes. It was really funny though so that seemed to have made up for it. The characters all have really big personalities which I think will be great in the future books.

Closing Thoughts

I was expecting a much more serious book but instead it turned out to be pretty fun. I thought the diary format worked well in this situation because Mia is a hilarious narrator and seems to elaborate on the funniest things. I’m hoping the series does get a little more serious though because I’m really excited for what happens when she becomes queen. I can’t wait for that book!

[sarahjay]

I still love it as much as I did when I first read it.

[girlinthepages]

This book simply must be read. It is the perfect blend of the innocence of the nerdiness of childhood and the overcharged maturely and sense of sexuality that confronts one in high school. Honestly the best YA series I have ever read, though it does decline in quality a little towards the end. There are so many pop culture references that I am constantly gaining new insight every time I reread. My first time reading this I was in fourth grade- I am still loving it over a decade later. You'll get something new out of it after every reading, yet it holds the comfort of a candid childhood friend.

At first it took me a while to get used to the writing style of diary entries but once I did I quite enjoyed this book. It was light and the ending felt a little abrupt but it was entertaining and cute. Even though I've seen this movie I didn't get bored, mainly because this differed a bit from the movie. I liked that it was different but I could also see why, since I have no read the next books I am assuming the movie mashed a few books together.