Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Princess Diaries

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

8 reviews

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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

3.5

This had a particular charm and enduring quality. Was a good amount of it because my queen Anne Hathaway was narrating the audiobook? Quite possibly. I picked this up partially because of that fact, partly because I love the movies, and partly because Gavin Reads It All is reading all of these books this month for a video (the fact that Anne Hathaway narrated the audiobook definitely pushed my decision to read this over the edge, though). This was lighthearted, with a good amount of humor, however, the fact that this was released in the early 2000s is quite clear. I enjoyed a majority of this, but there were a good amount of throwaway lines that were either insensitive or borderline offensive (or outright offensive), which made me uncomfortable. Mia is 14, so of course she is not the most self-aware or empathetic person in the entire world. All in all, she is relatively open-minded, but there are definitely some blindspots. Just like with the movie, I am not a fan of Lilly. She is rude and mean, and, in the book, sometimes encourages Mia to be so as well. She also often gives off the vibe of a typical white person enraged at the injustices of the world, while also lacking the understanding of them (she's, again, is 14, so there is some leeway, but it still annoyed me). Mia's grandmother is quite rude and has some problematic views that I wasn't a fan of, though this is kind of made fun of and pointed out to be outrageous and wrong, so at least there was that (this type of thing happens a good deal, and I'm not the biggest fan of it, but it doesn't completely ruin the book for me). The fact that Mia somewhat has to parent her mom in terms of responsibilities (i.e.: making sure to pay bills on time) made me a bit sad. Her dad (who was alive in this one) was unobtrusive in regards to my enjoyment. Mia's bodyguard (due to his name) reminded me of Rhys Larsen. Mia is delightfully (and a bit exasperatingly) naive and clueless in regards to Michael's crush on her. Mia's random opinions are usually humorous and interesting, though sometimes includes the problematic throwaway lines. Why is there so much sexual harassment in this? There's literally so much for a story about a 14 year old. It matches the vibe of the time period, but it's really strange how much is included. Overall, this was a relatively enjoyable read (though I suspect a good amount of my enjoyment is because of Anne Hathaway's delivery), but the problematic aspects definitely tampered down my enjoyment. I'm not entirely sure whether I'll continue the series. I might just leave it off here.

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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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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.

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nglidk's review against another edition

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3.0

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surefinewhatever_'s review against another edition

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funny

3.0

There were certainly parts where this book has aged poorly, mostly, I was just surprised by how FUNNY Mia is! But dare I say, the movie is better!? (The movie IS better!!)

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izypup's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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cate_with_a_c's review against another edition

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Very dated and really brain candy. These books are repeatedly transphobic in how they have to bring up the neighbor Ronny being a trans woman and don’t really try to add to her character even as a side character. They bring up she’s trans every time they mention her. Later in The series there’s a uncomfortable scenario where they keep thinking it’s funny to chant pull down your pants. When they can’t figure out if a classmate is a girl or a boy.

Throughout the series there’s also an uncomfortable dating age difference between Mia and her best friend’s brother who is a senior. It feels gross. I always felt that was weird and really wrong even when I was in high school, yeah it’s not a real story but still. Lily the best friend is racist against Asians and there is fatphobic comments throughout the series.

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jasmineehare's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

I loved these books when I was younger, and while rereading it, I was pretty surprised to see the casual racism, ableism, transphobia etc. throughout. I guess it’s very indicative of the time that they were written, but I wouldn’t want to put it in the hands of a young person today. I still liked the plot and characters, but it was disappointing.

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emmahe's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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