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A review by gracealicia
Ten Out of Ten by Meg Cabot
5.0
What an amazing conclusion to a funny, charming, dramatic series.
Forever Princess by Meg Cabot is the tenth and final installation in this mega teen drama series. Following Mia over a four-year span as she finds out she is the heir to the Genovian throne and deals with the drama of high school life. In her final book, Mia is dealing with her upcoming Senior Prom, something she had always looked forward to. Throw in her (luke) warm feelings for boyfriend J.P. and the sudden resurgence of the love of her life after two long years, Mia is confused. With an election and her eighteenth birthday looming ever-closer Mia must decide where she is going from here.
All right this is going to be a big one, so sit down and buckle up.
Characters:
Mia: Mia has made both a large amount of mistakes and had quite a few victories as the series has played out. The significant time jump between the ninth and the tenth series made for a huge difference in her. While retaining many of the qualities that makes her unique, she managed to mature into an adult. It was so interesting to see her grown out of a lot of the childish ideas that had been so important to her before. With passion and drive, Mia seems to step forward to begin her life. I have personally loved Mia through so much of her journey. I found her easy to identify with, much of what she went through parallels issues I had as a teenager (minus the whole princess thing). I loved her journey and growth! 10/10
Michael: Look you all know how much I love him; he is honestly one of the best love interests aimed at teenage girls I have ever seen. Polite, romantic and realistic. This boy had flaws, and want and opinions. I have enjoyed this character from the moment I set eyes on him. I felt his journey in book ten solidified him as one of my all-time favorites. Despite two years apart and her relationship with another person, Michael still carries a torch for Mia. So much so that he is willing to do whatever he can to win her back. I recognize some of Michael’s behavior has been spotty. However, I feel that Cabot recognizes this installment and highlights how his directness was part of what made him right for Mia. He is dreamy 10/10.
Lilly: I have been a Lilly-hater through most of this series. I found her annoying, aggressive and arrogant. She never seemed to act with any sort of compassion towards the people around her, often withholding information just to see what would happen. She began to grow on me during the sixth and seventh book but I was far from her biggest fan. Her journey in the last three books is interesting. Mia does her dirty, Lilly is right I saying Mia should have never dated J.P. in the first place, he was her besties ex. And yet I struggled to sympathize with Lily – at least in book ten when this all came out – not only did she never attempt to convey the truth of what happened between her and her ex, she actively lied to her and then cut her out of her life before anything had ever begun between them. Can we discuss the website – I think that is unforgivable, I know Mia made mistakes but damn! Talk about being salty. Overall I like the description of her at the end, colorful hair, piercing, and success. I wish her all the best and think she needs legit therapy 5/5 because I can’t decide if I like her or not.
J.P. = I don’t have nearly as much to say about this guy, he is the master of manipulation. What a dick – I mean come on. Honestly, think Mia should have hated him way more than she did. He lied, and cheated, and was all-round horrible. 3/10
There are of course so many other characters in this series; I would be here all day if I took the time to list them all out. My final shout-out goes to Tina and Boris. These characters are so consistent and Tina especially is honestly BFF goals. I think they were well-written and great examples of teenagers growing to adult’s while still holding onto their passions.
What I liked: The drama, all of the never-ending drama. The comedy, for me this was most clearly seen in the subplots, hospitality strikes, government elections, the introduction of democracy to Genovia. These weirdly series subplots never failed to make me laugh at the absurdity. The character development, where we end in book ten we have seen these people grow from children to adults, we have seen them overcome so many hurdles. I love that about this series. The hilarious pop-culture references. Donald Trump is mentioned twice – he is now the President of the USA. Classic.
What I disliked: I felt sometimes that Cabot got to caught up on one idea – I will never forget the constant references to the virginity as their “precious gifts”. Themes like these were repeated every two lines for books at a time. Sometimes their characterization could be jumpy; Mia sometimes went from levelheaded and compassionate to immature and crazy in a moments notice.
Overall I love this series so much, it’s a fun light-hearted read. I cannot stress how much I would recommend reading it! Aimed at teens, appropriate for anyone after a good laugh!
Forever Princess by Meg Cabot is the tenth and final installation in this mega teen drama series. Following Mia over a four-year span as she finds out she is the heir to the Genovian throne and deals with the drama of high school life. In her final book, Mia is dealing with her upcoming Senior Prom, something she had always looked forward to. Throw in her (luke) warm feelings for boyfriend J.P. and the sudden resurgence of the love of her life after two long years, Mia is confused. With an election and her eighteenth birthday looming ever-closer Mia must decide where she is going from here.
All right this is going to be a big one, so sit down and buckle up.
Characters:
Mia: Mia has made both a large amount of mistakes and had quite a few victories as the series has played out. The significant time jump between the ninth and the tenth series made for a huge difference in her. While retaining many of the qualities that makes her unique, she managed to mature into an adult. It was so interesting to see her grown out of a lot of the childish ideas that had been so important to her before. With passion and drive, Mia seems to step forward to begin her life. I have personally loved Mia through so much of her journey. I found her easy to identify with, much of what she went through parallels issues I had as a teenager (minus the whole princess thing). I loved her journey and growth! 10/10
Michael: Look you all know how much I love him; he is honestly one of the best love interests aimed at teenage girls I have ever seen. Polite, romantic and realistic. This boy had flaws, and want and opinions. I have enjoyed this character from the moment I set eyes on him. I felt his journey in book ten solidified him as one of my all-time favorites. Despite two years apart and her relationship with another person, Michael still carries a torch for Mia. So much so that he is willing to do whatever he can to win her back. I recognize some of Michael’s behavior has been spotty. However, I feel that Cabot recognizes this installment and highlights how his directness was part of what made him right for Mia. He is dreamy 10/10.
Lilly: I have been a Lilly-hater through most of this series. I found her annoying, aggressive and arrogant. She never seemed to act with any sort of compassion towards the people around her, often withholding information just to see what would happen. She began to grow on me during the sixth and seventh book but I was far from her biggest fan. Her journey in the last three books is interesting. Mia does her dirty, Lilly is right I saying Mia should have never dated J.P. in the first place, he was her besties ex. And yet I struggled to sympathize with Lily – at least in book ten when this all came out – not only did she never attempt to convey the truth of what happened between her and her ex, she actively lied to her and then cut her out of her life before anything had ever begun between them. Can we discuss the website – I think that is unforgivable, I know Mia made mistakes but damn! Talk about being salty. Overall I like the description of her at the end, colorful hair, piercing, and success. I wish her all the best and think she needs legit therapy 5/5 because I can’t decide if I like her or not.
J.P. = I don’t have nearly as much to say about this guy, he is the master of manipulation. What a dick – I mean come on. Honestly, think Mia should have hated him way more than she did. He lied, and cheated, and was all-round horrible. 3/10
There are of course so many other characters in this series; I would be here all day if I took the time to list them all out. My final shout-out goes to Tina and Boris. These characters are so consistent and Tina especially is honestly BFF goals. I think they were well-written and great examples of teenagers growing to adult’s while still holding onto their passions.
What I liked: The drama, all of the never-ending drama. The comedy, for me this was most clearly seen in the subplots, hospitality strikes, government elections, the introduction of democracy to Genovia. These weirdly series subplots never failed to make me laugh at the absurdity. The character development, where we end in book ten we have seen these people grow from children to adults, we have seen them overcome so many hurdles. I love that about this series. The hilarious pop-culture references. Donald Trump is mentioned twice – he is now the President of the USA. Classic.
What I disliked: I felt sometimes that Cabot got to caught up on one idea – I will never forget the constant references to the virginity as their “precious gifts”. Themes like these were repeated every two lines for books at a time. Sometimes their characterization could be jumpy; Mia sometimes went from levelheaded and compassionate to immature and crazy in a moments notice.
Overall I love this series so much, it’s a fun light-hearted read. I cannot stress how much I would recommend reading it! Aimed at teens, appropriate for anyone after a good laugh!