Reviews - The Princess Diaries

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

2.71k reviews for:

The Princess Diaries

Meg Cabot

3.69 AVERAGE

bzoetbzoet's review against another edition

4.5

funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

zeydejd's review against another edition

3.0

I liked this insofar that it was a numbly entertaining goofy YA novel. It was fast to read and you can see some glimmers of Mia's character development despite the book taking place over about 1.5 months (wild!)

Some things that made it hard to get through...
-For more of the book than feels okay, Mia is not only an idiot, but also shallow and insensitive to no end, even for a 14-year-old. This characterization is only exacerbated by the comparison of her best friend being an insufferable leftist know-it-all (whose parents employ a maid in NYC lmao). Some of this is actively illustrated in some latent, unintended ableism and transphobia (which, to be fair, is probably accurate for a 2000's-era high school freshman but was a little cringe-y to read nonetheless).
-Mia's grandma! What the heck? Where is the Julie Andrews figure I was expecting to read about?? Mia's grandma is pretentious and more shallow and insensitive than Mia herself, with very little behavior I would attribute to a dowager princess.
-Senior + freshman romance... why is this a thing?? It is only once hinted at that it's more than a little creepy for a senior to be lusting over a freshman in high school, and that is when Helen objects to Mia going to the school dance with Josh. (But Michael having a thing for Mia, totally fine by Mia, by Michael, by Lilly (who I'm sure knows), by Lars, by...). Also, the fact that Michael, as a senior, seems to have no real friends, and prefers to hang out with his sister, his 14-year-old crush, and their 14-year-old friends is concerning, but never seems to be a problem for anyone else.

I was really hoping as I started off that Mia's sometimes horrendous attitude would develop into something a bit more mature by the end of the book. To be fair, I also started the book thinking it was going to take place over the course of the entire school year, and not 9 weeks of it. It was clear there was some development, but nothing monumental. The most prime example of this is when Mia is so concerned about the media printing pictures and stories of Josh kissing her at the school dance, but it doesn't pan out because Iran bombs Afghanistan (!!!) the same evening so that is the dominant news story the next day. Mia is relieved and ecstatic that her kiss isn't the center of media and gossip, but the fact that Iran bombs Afghanistan (which.. like... what a choice, Cabot), is a passing aside, a convenient distraction. There wasn't even a "I feel bad that I'm relieved that my love life took a backseat to this in the media, considering it cost people's lives," which is what I would have expected of a slowly developing self-centered white American character, especially one that has slowly accepted the fact that she will be in a political role for the rest of her life. I'm trying to remember this is pre-9/11/pre-"War on Terror"/pre-"Operation Enduring Freedom" but the choice to make this the device that saves Mia from embarrassment still just really ain't it.

I think for the first time I'm saying the movie is better than the book? I'll maybe read the next few in the series, but don't have particularly high hopes.