The Princess Diaries (The Princess Diaries #1)

Reader reviewed by trixie

The Princess Diaries is about Amilia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia, the only catch is that she doesn't know that yet. All her life, she's lived in the Village in New York City, with her mom and only visited her dad and grandmere during the summer. She's very unpopular, failing algebra, 5ft9in, and flat-chested, so the last thing she expects she'll ever be is a princess. When her dad finds out he can no longer bare children, him and amelia's mom are forced to tell Mia that's she's next in line for the thron of Genovia. Now, along with trying to deal with the fact that her mom is dating her algebra teacher, she has to go to princess lessons with her not-so-loving grandmere. Mia is not excited. When she thinks nothing else could go wrong, she wakes up one morning to find her picture on the cover of the Post. OH NO!

I enjoyed reading this book, but not as much as i thought i would. It just didn't attract me as much as the movie(which is completely different from the book). I would recommend it to all Meg Cabot fans and fans of the Princess Diary Movie.

Reader reviewed by blair

The princess Diaries is a good book but if you have seen the movie before you read the book you would not lie it. It is far too different from the movie, and I have to admit that I like the movie better. In the book Mia had something about her that made her less normal-seeming then she was in the movie, she seemed more rebelious. Her grandmother smoked and she was not nearly as kind-from-the-start as she was in the movie. Her grandmother told Mia to do a lot of the opposite things then she was instructed in the movie. For instance, Mia was told to paint her nails and not keep them clean. It was still a good book and I would decommend it to people, but It was too different for my taste.

Reader reviewed by Janet

I must contradict another reader's review. Yes, there is more to being a princess than that, and does'nt the book cover all of Mia's emomtional changes and resolutions? How being a princess made hardships between her and her best friend? How people's attitudes changed toward her, and no one was real anymore, how it became dramatically all about her? While i thought the book was cute, however, i must say that it was a little hard to relate to. But then, who can relate to being the princess of a foreign country as well as one might relate to some other teen romance? It's not as easy.

Reader reviewed by Saba

I have to admit that this book is slightly disapointing. Yes, yes, I know you all think it's great, but it's just not my style.

Well, for starters, the plot was good - and ordinary girl suddenly revealed as a princess - but there was just too much gushing and OMG-ing. I couldn't relate to it easy enough.

I liked the idea of an ordinary girl suddenly becoming a princess, but basically nothing happens, and the main climax of the book is when she gets kissed by a guy in front of the media - which is terrible, but surely there's more to being a princess than that?
Think about it.

Reader reviewed by artemis

The book is way better than the movie to be honest. The movie just leaves out her dad--saying he died when he's very much alive in the book. The journal entries are funny and the whole Genovia concept is cool. I wish I could rule a country! Mia is a school nerd who learns she is heir to a European throne. Her father breaks the news--not her grandmother. Don't watch the movie. It's so bad. But give the book a try. It's long, sometimes boring, predictable and a bit cheesy, but it's an okay start to the series.

Reader reviewed by Whitney Hwang

Originally, I read this book when it first came out in 2000. At that time, Ill admit, I was a bit crazy about it. I also read some of the later books in the series over the years, which were surprisingly as good as the first one. Recently, I reread The Princess Diaries, and rediscovered the joy if irony.

Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo is a freshman who, in fact, only referred to herself as Mia Thermopolis before, unknowing that she was a princess, and destined to rule a country one day. Shes feeling stressed. About many things, of course. Even for a princess, she worries a lot. Her algebra teacher is her mothers boyfriend, shes in a fight with her best friend, doesnt have a date to the Cultural Diversity Dance, is failing both in Algebra and her attempts to not be affected by her adversary, the most popular girl in school, and, worst of all, must have princess lessons with her grandmother (but of course, shes called Grandmere!). In this book of self-discovery, Miss Thermopolis is about to find out who she really is.

I enjoyed this book, although a bit bothered by the superficiality. Reality is what this book lacks, and humor is what it has plenty of, fortunately. Meg Cabot tries too hard in trying to think like a unheard teenage girl. She has almost satisfactorily portrayed how a freshman misfit might think. However, it was a bit over-exaggerated, which made it fun to read for its whims. This book needs less ranting and more description; it was hard for me to create an image in my mind of the setting. Put bluntly, there were no truly profound moments to be found in this book. All that there is to be read about is a teenager ranting about her life and then a wave of relief and exhalation as everything turns out alright at the end. Sappy and sweet, in other words. There were many funny moments, which I liked immensely, revenge-of-the-geeks moments. The irony of those incidents really helped me sympathize and yet rejoice with Mia. This whole book was greatly amusing and made me chuckle.

I recommend this book for upper-elementary and middle school girls or high-school girls who want to have a laugh.