Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I didn't love the way the conversation about sex was handled, but I did like the student council election plot. I wish we had more of it.
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one was pretty decent again, I somewhat enjoyed it, but I'm started to get a bit tired of this series. Either way I will continue, because I don't think I'll ever start to think differently about these books.
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
eh, not my favorite of the bunch. the school election was interesting, but i didn't like the whole "doing it" subplot with michael, and i didn't like how it got resolved. let's not turn michael into an f-boi now, pun intended.
that said, this book did make me think about characterization in a lengthy series. the thing about TPD is that, in every book, it does feel like mia learns an important lesson, but at the same time, she hadn't changed all that much. and things that i appreciated initially are now just getting very repetitive-- like, she doesn't have to LIKE being a princess (young royals, i'm looking at you), but she still doesn't seem to understand that her being born a princess is not the universe's way of reaffirming how much of a freak she is. she just seems completely oblivious to her own privilege, and six books down the road, that's starting to get a little grating. she's still got all the same neuroses she had at the beginning and more, she has brief bursts of self-confidence that seem to revert by the time the next book starts, and she's still as uncommunicative as ever, even though actually talking with others would make her life way less dramatic. it kind of underlines a couple of important writing questions for me: should there be a balance to which attributes are defining aspects of a character and which ones are vehicles for character development? and if there should, how do you determine which attributes fit either category?
and i know, i know, it's a series for teenage girls; it's not meant to be that serious, and teenagers hardly get over their issues in a single go, so that's probably more realistic than i remember. moreover, sometimes children's literature tends to be more episodic precisely to reinforce the lessons learned over and over again. but-- and maybe this is just me being unable to take my 2024 glasses off while reading a late-'90s serialized rom-com-- it just feels anachronistic. it reads precisely more like children's fiction than YA. i'm sure even in the '90s, we knew high-schoolers to have a bit more depth than this. and the jokes about the "movie adaptations" of mia's life are funny in a meta way, but to me they also reinforce the fact that the movie adaptations of TPD manage to do in two hours what this series hasn't done in six books: give mia some real development.
all of this is to say... i don't know. i'll keep reading, because there are still fun moments i enjoy. but i sure hope cabot is going somewhere with this.
that said, this book did make me think about characterization in a lengthy series. the thing about TPD is that, in every book, it does feel like mia learns an important lesson, but at the same time, she hadn't changed all that much. and things that i appreciated initially are now just getting very repetitive-- like, she doesn't have to LIKE being a princess (young royals, i'm looking at you), but she still doesn't seem to understand that her being born a princess is not the universe's way of reaffirming how much of a freak she is. she just seems completely oblivious to her own privilege, and six books down the road, that's starting to get a little grating. she's still got all the same neuroses she had at the beginning and more, she has brief bursts of self-confidence that seem to revert by the time the next book starts, and she's still as uncommunicative as ever, even though actually talking with others would make her life way less dramatic. it kind of underlines a couple of important writing questions for me: should there be a balance to which attributes are defining aspects of a character and which ones are vehicles for character development? and if there should, how do you determine which attributes fit either category?
and i know, i know, it's a series for teenage girls; it's not meant to be that serious, and teenagers hardly get over their issues in a single go, so that's probably more realistic than i remember. moreover, sometimes children's literature tends to be more episodic precisely to reinforce the lessons learned over and over again. but-- and maybe this is just me being unable to take my 2024 glasses off while reading a late-'90s serialized rom-com-- it just feels anachronistic. it reads precisely more like children's fiction than YA. i'm sure even in the '90s, we knew high-schoolers to have a bit more depth than this. and the jokes about the "movie adaptations" of mia's life are funny in a meta way, but to me they also reinforce the fact that the movie adaptations of TPD manage to do in two hours what this series hasn't done in six books: give mia some real development.
all of this is to say... i don't know. i'll keep reading, because there are still fun moments i enjoy. but i sure hope cabot is going somewhere with this.
A good one, not my favorite, but still overall well done and a fun quick read!
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
Lilly still sucks.
Sailor Moon reference! Again why the heck weren’t these books on my radar when I was younger?
Sailor Moon reference! Again why the heck weren’t these books on my radar when I was younger?
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Perfect companion to the movies series and a must read if you want to fully immerse yourself into the life of being a princess.