Review - The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Published by Macmillan Childrens Books
Published 8 June 2001

Summary from Goodreads - 'You're not Mia Thermopolis any more, honey,' Dad said. 'You're Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo. Princess of Genovia.' A Princess?? Me??? Yeah. Right. One minute Mia's a totally normal Manhattan 14-year-old. Next minute she's heir to the throne of Genovia, being trailed by a trigger-happy bodyguard, taking princess lessons with her bonkers old grandmere, and having a makeover with someone called Paolo. Well, her dad can lecture her till he's royal-blue in the face, but no way is Mia going to turn herself into a style-queen. And they think she's moving to Genovia? Er, hello

Okay, so this is another one of those times that I wonder what I could've possibly been doing in 2001 expect reading this book right away.  True 9 years ago I was more interested in blond boys, getting good grades in school *cough* and maybe participating in underage drinking (I said maybe because this is not cool, kids, stay clean!).  Nevertheless, I still like to do some of these things and it's only now that i've been introduced to the wonder that is Meg Cabot.

Mia Thermopolis is your average teenage girl, or well, so she thinks she is.  See the thing is, her dad isn't really just a politician in Genovia, he's the Prince, which kind of makes Mia a Princess.  Thats cool right? erm nope, not as far as Mia is concerned.  First up, she has no boobs to speak of, she's as flat as a pancake and that doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon - Mia, I feel your pain, I didn't get a rack until I was like 17, hang in there.  Secondly, she can't even get a boyfriend and she has this crazy traingular hair style that doesn't want to be tamed, kind of like a wild animal.  Thirdly, her mom is dating her Algebra teacher, which she is also failing.  Imagine walking into your kitchen to find your teacher sat at your breakfast table eating pancakes in his boxer shorts.  I'm kind of surprised Mia's eyes didn't burn right out of their sockets.  

She has this kick ass best friend called Lily Moscovitz who is kind of anal but also rocks her socks off.  It helps that her brother Michael is hot in a nerdy kind of way and seems to have a bit of a spark thing going on with Mia.  So when Mia finds out she's a Princess she *freaks* out.  She doesn't want to go and live in Genovia because she'll miss all her friends and family, and how the frack is she supposed to run a country when she can't even pass Algebra. Then her dad makes her have princess lessons with her super insane Grandmere, who by the way, is nothing like she was in the films.  She's mean and has tattooed on eyeliner and drawn on eyebrows and is a teeny bit of a drunk.  

To say that I loved this book is an understatement.  I'm like ridiculously happy that I made the decision to buy book one and book two at the same time, because I could just not wait.  The writing is snappy and funny and Mia's dialogue just zaps right of the page.  I was laughing hysterically at some of her observations.  Plus, a girl with no rack and a crazy triangle hair style is a girl after my own heart, because hello!!! that was me in high school, expect y'know, I didn't get the added bonus of being a Princess.  And I had a crush on my friends brother too! It's like fate that I read these books, because Mia is just like me (side note, this is wishful thinking, if I was as awesome as Mia my head would fall off from awesomeness).  She just so relatable its not even funny, okay, well it is funny, but it's like you could actually know someone like Mia, she's just a normal teenager, she has insecurities, she doubts herself and she has problems.  

This book was hysterical, Mia's personality is so strong even if she could be a pushover at times.  She's insightful and witty and her diary entries reveal a lot about her as a character.  You get to know her a lot through her entries, and the fact that she can be so blind sometimes about whats going on around her was so endearing.  Fabulous start to a series, cleverly written with oodles of funny times, I think this book would appeal to girls of all ages.  Cracking.