The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot Series: The Princess Diaries #1
Publisher: Listening Library (2000)
Audiobook
{5 hours and 46 minutes} (283 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Also by this author: Victoria and the Rogue, Princess in the Spotlight
Also in this series: Princess in the Spotlight
Reading Challenges: 2016 Backlist Books, 2016 Re-Reading, 2016 Royal Challenge, Read 2016
Synopsis
Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there's nothing worse than being a five-foot-nine, flat-chested freshman, who also happens to be flunking Algebra.
Is she ever in for a surprise.
First Mom announces that she's dating Mia's Algebra teacher. Then Dad has to go and reveal that he is the crown prince of Genovia. And guess who still doesn't have a date for the Cultural Diversity Dance?
Find the book: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository
My Review
I first read this book in grade school well before the movie was released. The book is so much better than the movie and quite a bit different.
The book takes place in New York City. This is quite a difference from San Francisco. Genovia is a principality, not a kingdom. Mia’s dad isn’t dead. He simply has cancer which has rendered him sterile. This makes Mia the heir, not his death.
Besides Mia’s dad being super-important in the book, Grandmere isn’t the super-nice Julie Andrews from the movie. She is a tough old lady but not evil or anything. She would do anything for Genovia and right now that means turning Mia into a proper princess.
Mia is a freshman in high school when her father informs her that he is the reigning Prince of Genovia. It takes Mia a bit to realize that makes her a princess. Then Mia’s grandmother, Grandmere, arrives in New York City to give Mia princess lessons.
Besides discovering she is the heir to a small European principality, Mia has to deal with her mother’s romantic life. Mia’s mother is dating Mia’s algebra teacher, Mr. Gianini. Mia, like most teenagers, can’t deal with her mother’s romantic relationships. That is what spurns her first diary entry just days before her father informs her she is a princess.
Mia is definitely an engaging narrator. She effortlessly pulls you into the story. She is just a fourteen-year-old girl dealing with normal life until suddenly it isn’t just normal life anymore. She has to figure out how the balance everything with school, friends, boys, and princess-y obligations.
If you have only seen the movie, you definitely need to read the book. Mia is different than the movie version and the books give so much depth to the characters. This is a great, light read that is highly enjoyable.
I didn’t realize the book was so different from the movie. Isn’t this series really long? Do you plan on reading the rest?
This is such a perfect royalty read 😀
The series is rather long. There were 10 books in the series (all of which I read) until the 11th was released last year. I’m slowly rereading the series so that I can then read the new Royal Wedding. Even though this seems like a massive series (and I supposed 11 books does make it rather massive), they are relatively fast, easy reads.
If you have never read The Princess Diaries, I recommend that you at least read this first one. The plus side is that, if you listen to the audiobook, Anne Hathaway is the narrator. 🙂
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