About this deal
Really, if you're a fan of this series I don't know if I can really recommend it to you. I thought Royal Wedding ended on such a strong note-there was an actual plot there and character development. This book is just about Mia being a lush, over eating, needing to get some Lady Clairol, and needing to put Grandmere in a home. My teenage years were spent with Princess Diaries books. I kid you not - I can chart my progress through puberty with them. I desperately wanted combat boots (I owe my love for boots to Mia, really), wanted a Michael, wanted a Fat Louie, but most importantly just related so much to Mia (though I'd rather not be a princess!). While I've had my problems with the series (see: the seventh through ninth books), it's still one of my favourite guilty pleasures ever. Way too many exclamation points and too much use of all-caps. Also it's not funny at all (except when there's typos) even though it's supposed to be humorous. It's just dumb. She did warn me about the ending. She said this book has a crappy ending. I listened to her anyway. When she hung up, I really wanted to read the story by myself (even though I know the whole thing already. I JUST HAD TO READ IT MYSELF.) So I did. And I stopped right at chapter 11. I could sense this is where things start to go downward. I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Avon Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.
If you are totally left-wing, you will love this book-if you are very strongly right-wing, you may hate it. Hopefully, you are somewhere in the middle and will find you enjoy the messages you will receive from this novel.
Publication Order of Princess Diaries Books
OH. MY. GOD. It's like she's reviving all my favourite childhood series: first the Mediator, then this!!! Cabot, Meg (2006). The Princess Diaries, Volume VII: Party Princess. New York, New York. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-072453-6.
The writing and plot were my favourite bits of this book though! Cabot's signature sarcastic humour and lively storytelling were the main reason I finished reading this book. There were several moments when I was giggling at hilarious dialogue and the nasty mishaps these characters kept falling into. I read this book years and years and years ago. I remember thinking I'd start it as a silly read and ... being pleasantly surprised. I had fond memories of this book so when it showed up on my library's app feed as an available audiobook... and I saw that it was narrated by Anne Hathaway, I was feeling nostalgic. I borrowed it. Life is already a bit of a strain and when her dad tells her he's the crown prince of Genovia and, since his testicular cancer has left him unable to have more children, Mia is now the heir to the throne, it becomes even more unbearable.But no - we have instead a goofy resolution in which Michael swoops in to save Mia as she’s trying to persuade an antivaxxer relative to see the light. The thing is, Mia’s idea was good! She brings a former antivaxxer relative, a peer of this one, to explain why Covid is a genuine threat. We all know that quoting scientific facts like Michael often doesn’t convince antivaxxers, so would it not have been more effective to both make Mia’s strategy work AND reinforce how socially and verbally intelligent she is???? I guess the goopy love declaration and the kiss at the end are supposed to do that for us! The outdated pop culture references are still hilarious. Though some of them are sot of sad/cringe worthy if you think about what has happened to some of the celebrities since the publication of this book. Also, I still need to watch some of those Lifetime movies that Mia mentioned like Why Me? I still haven’t been able to find that one yet. I'll be blunt about it I was already kind grimacy about this one before I read it. I read the blog entries and they were entertaining enough, but to make a book about COVID in general is just a little eye roll worthy. I am still detoxing from those we're all in this together commercials that blared the first half of 2020 before the PPP loans dried up and greed went out the wazoo and inflation occurred as a result. Inevitably, things begin to heat up as Finn uses herself as bait to lure Hugo. Her hostage is all too happy to find himself the center of attention of such a determined huntress.