Reviews - The Princess Diaries

2.71k reviews for:

The Princess Diaries

Meg Cabot

3.69 AVERAGE

kricketa's review against another edition

4.0

cabot at her finest. anne hathaway, not surprisingly, is perfect at capturing mia in this audio version.

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

2.0

Finished reading: August 30th 2023

“Maybe nobody has a right to tell anybody to shut up. Maybe this is how wars get started, because someone tells someone else to shut up, and then no one will apologize.”

WARNING: it's unpopular opinion time yet again!!

It's true that I don't read a lot of YA anymore, but I needed a book for the lost royalty prompt for the Beat The Backlist Bingo challenge and there weren't many options. Add the fact that I really enjoyed the movie back when it came out, and I ended up actually being quite excited to revisit these characters and read the original story. I sure didn't expect to come very close to DNFing instead! Whatever The Princess Diaries is, it is nothing like the movie adaptation. I don't say this often, but the movie is in this case WAY better than the book. I'm actually glad I never read the book as a teenager, because I don't think I would have watched the adaptation otherwise... Mia is just SO incredibly unlikeable in the book, and I started to hate her more and more with each chapter. The constant repetition, the whining, the complaining... It was just all way too much to be entertaining. I wasn't a fan of the writing style either, with the constant interruptions, random notes and math. I get that this is supposed to be a diary, but it just really disrupted the flow of the story. Nothing much was happening either; the book only covers part of the first movie, and not the most interesting part at that. The characters in general were rather dull and unlikeable, and I confess I only made it to the end because I started skimreading. I guess that it won't come as a surprise that I won't be continuing this series... I'll stick with the movie instead.

Content Warnings

poppymopey's review against another edition

4.5

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A fun read! Helped me out with my slump.

It's very different from the movies, which i loved. Anne Hathaway is a great narrator.

It is written for teens, but unlike a lot of YA literature it doesn't feel melodramatic. At least not narratively, but rather Mia herself is melodramatic.

I admit at times, she felt a bit too much - she tended to cast herself as the victim but didn't do much to change how people treated her. But I guess that is the point of the series. lol.

I recommend for a light, short read, especially if you're a fan of the films.

eleninicolee's review against another edition

3.0

funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

aminami's review against another edition

2.5

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sarcastic_cat's review against another edition

3.75

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

neggativitea's review against another edition

4.0

Probablemente mi nueva saga favorita.

billie_visible's review against another edition

2.0

It didn't occur to me "I wonder if this book has aged well?" until I sat down to read it for the first time in 15 years.

The answer is yes, and no.

In truth Mia is such an insufferable character because Meg Cabot conveys the profound annoyance of the American teenage milennial so well. Mia is a fixture of the bygone early '00s era, and her endless angst no matter how eye rolling is familiar.

Given we are reading first hand in Mia's voice, it makes sense that the writing would be lacking. Still, there is not much intriguing to be found here, with some territories verging into disbelief (please tell me what straight guy knows the difference between tights and pantyhose?).

Side note: Lilly for the most part is truly the MVP of this world and went from my most reviled character as a teen to most loved as an adult. Where is her book???