The Princess Diaries (The Princess Diaries, #1) (2025)

If you've seen the movie version, this book takes up about the first third or maybe half of the movie (from what I remember), but don't let that fool you into thinking nothing much happens in this book.

Mia Thermopolis lives in Manhattan with her artist mother Helen, going to a private school called Albert Einstein High and spending the summers with her father and his mother at her chateau in France. She knows they're rich, but she thinks her dad is just a politician. At school she's unpopular and has "triangular" hair; her best friend Lilly has her own tv show and is trying to expose the racism of the Chinese owners of the deli across the road for discounting Asian students 5 cents; she's in love with the most popular boy at school, Josh, who doesn't even seem to know she's alive; she's failing Algebra; and her mum is going out with her teacher Mr Gianini.

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.

She's seriously not happy about the news, but makes a compromise with her Dad: that she'll keep going to school like normal, but would spend the summers in Genovia doing the princess thing. She wasn't expecting her formidable grandmother to come to New York to give her princess lessons, and she wasn't expecting the same grandmother to leak the story to the press. Now she's suddenly popular but it's the last thing she wants.

Mia is effortlessly engaging, her voice and personality coming through strongly in her diary entries. She's funny without meaning to be, insightful without realising it, reveals more than she intends, and so allows the reader to not only really get to know her but also see what's going on more clearly than she does, as she's blinded by her own interests, passions and opinions. It's actually very cleverly written, and very funny.

The grandmother is a scary character - Julie Andrews really toned the character down for the movie - she wears a purple turban, smokes a lot, drinks her favourite cocktail all the time, and comes across as somewhat harsh and even cruel. She certainly intimidates her son, Phillipe, and anyone else who crosses her path. She may have met her match with Mia - and I can see that as Mia slowly grows, matures and, yes, transforms, she'll probably have a softening effect on her grandmother as well. She's certainly got an interesting past, but we only get hints of it at this stage.

Essentially, what saves this book from being just another YA journal-style teenage girl gushathon is Mia's liveliness, her spirit, her humour and, well, her. She's a wonderful protagonist and a good role model - not that she doesn't make some pretty silly mistakes and choices along the way. She's also a familiar character, and reminds me that what's considered "ordinary" usually disguises something pretty extraordinary. Plus, I love her summing-up of Marx's contradictions of capitalism; despite the fluffy pink cover, this is no Gossip Girls kind of book - Mia's not into having the latest crap: she's a conscientious worrier, and wants to join Greenpeace to save the whales. She's a bit of a dag, really, and that makes her infinitely likeable, even loveable.

THIS BOOK IS A MODERN CLASSIC.

Honestly, I read this book in middle school and I still like it. Can you believe that? This book is so good that it makes current brilliant cool me agree with twelve-year-old me, who loved Justin Bieber and thought Aeropostale graphic tees were the height of fashion. It's miraculous. Also I'm amazing. (Just thought I'd clarify that in case my previous statement hadn't made it clear.)

Anyway this is so so so so fun and surprisingly woke for having been written 18 years ago. I truly enjoyed it and now have suckered myself into rereading this whole series, which is like seriously a thousand books long.

But wait I just realized Mia is 14 years old???? My god. WAIT A DRUNKEN EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD KISSED HER. I may have to deduct a half-star and/or take back that whole "woke" comment from a paragraph ago.

Whatever.

Bottom line: Is there anything better than rereading a dumb book you loved when you were dumb and being like "oh wow this is actually crazy fun"??????

This book was entirely a blast from the past, and reading it was like rewatching the movie because the two are so similar and nostalgic. Obviously, this book focuses on such melodramatic and cheesy plot points, but the reason it was so fun was because of Mia's sass and exasperation with her entire situation. I wish this book would have focused more on her transition to princess life rather than trying to continue on as normal and keeping it a secret, but I think that will be a lot more unpacked in the future books of the series, which I'm definitely interested in reading because they're so lighthearted and fun and it makes me feel 12 again when I read these. Obviously there are some lines that wouldn't fly if this book were published today, but overall this book held up over the decades and I think it was a ton of fun for young readers and as an adult.

The Princess Diaries (The Princess Diaries #1), Meg Cabot

Meggin Patricia Cabot is a prolific American novelist. She has written and published over fifty novels of young adult and adult fiction, and is best known for her young adult series Princess Diaries.

Mia Thermopolis is an average urban ninth grader living in Greenwich Village with her single, liberal mother and semi-famous painter, Helen Thermopolis. She begins keeping a journal after her mother begins dating her Algebra teacher, Mr. Gianni, whose subject Mia is currently failing. Mia has a crush on Josh Richter, the boyfriend of popular cheerleader Lana Weinberger, who often makes fun of her, though she also unknowingly harbors feelings for Michael, the brother of her best friend Lilly Moscovitz. ... 'You're not Mia Thermopolis any more, honey,' Dad said. 'You're Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo. Princess of Genovia.'

تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز بیست و یکم ماه مارس سال2014میلادی

عنوان: خ‍اطرات‌ یک پ‍رن‍سس؛ نویسنده: م‍ِگ‌ ک‍اب‍وت‌ (مگین پاتریشیا کابوت)؛ مترجم: ک‍ی‍م‍ی‍ا ک‍اظم‍ی‌؛ تهران، ورجاوند؛ سال1384؛ در248ص؛ شابک9647656920؛ شابک9789647656924؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده21م

در این داستان «میا ترموپولیس» دختری خجالتی و کم‌رو هست، که همسالانش او را کوچک می‌شمارند؛ زیرا او خواستار نجات محیط زیست و پشتیبانی از حیوانات است، او شخصیتی احساساتی، شوخ طبع، و خیرخواه به شمار می‌آید؛ همه چیز در زندگی «میا ترموپولیس» عادی است تا اینکه روزی درمی‌یابد او پرنسس «جنویا» است، بدین ترتیب، زندگی ایشان دگرگون می‌شود و.....؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 01/01/1401میلادی؛ ا. شربیانی

Dobra rozrywka, przyjemna, niezobowiązująca. Choć momentami przestarzała

Chwilami mocno niepoprawna i być może nie starzeje się najlepiej, ale to wciąż świetna rozrywka i ja śmiałam się w głos. Dzieciństwo! 🥺

I first read this series YEARS ago but thought it was time for a reread with A Royal Wedding coming out this summer! I simply loved it! I thought maybe since I'm so much older I wouldn't like it as much, and that maybe I'd get annoyed even.. (Freshman Mia can be a little dramatic) but I didn't! It was perfect! Excited to continue reading on until the new book comes out! In some ways, I actually feel like I connect better with Mia now then I did before, not because I'm a princess secretly or because I'm having boy problems.. But I never realized before how much Mia talks about being a vegetarian and animal rights and stuff! It was pretty awesome! I also love her mom and Fat Louie :D I forgot that Michael was into Mia so early on.. Isn't a bit odd that a senior likes a Freshman? Idk.. Maybe it's just me!

I never got around to reading this when I was the protagonist Mia's age, and since the book and movie series became so popular, I recently decided to take a trip back to childhood and finally read this book. It was a quick read, thankfully, but I didn't find it nearly as endearing as the movie version (which is substantially different from the novel). The book seemed awfully light on plot and substance. Character development was minimal, and as a result, most of the characters (including Mia) weren't as likable or relatable as they could have been. Mia's melodrama became tiresome, as did her best friend's ego.

The story continues with the rest of the series, so it probably improves, but the first book didn't make me eager to read the second. This may be my age talking, but I suspect I wouldn't have been interested as a young teen either. Overall, I was underwhelmed. The movie was touching, but the book...not as much.

4 stars

This was way funnier than I thought it would be. Mia is hysterical, and Meg Cabot's writing style is right up my alley. I'm looking forward to reading the gazillion other books that are in this series!

Honestly, this book was a complete surprise for me! I had never read it (I know, I know) and I loved it!! So smart and clever and totally kick butt feminist. This book was so ahead of its time when it was first published. I don't know but I would guess there was backlash lol - I can't wait to pick up the next one and I definitely recommend the audiobooks as well. Anne Hathaway narrates the first three and she does an amazing job! :) I could try and nitpick and find something to critique but I honestly don't want to - this was a great book.

THIS WAS SO ADORABLE AND HILARIOUS AND NOW I NEED THE REST OF THE BOOKS RIGHT NOW PLZ THX

Pluszowy, zabawny comfort read. Jakbym znowu miała 12 lat.

Unfortunately, I couldn't finish this. I got ten pages in and I could not handle Mia's obsession with kissing and the size of her chest and half a dozen other disgusting things. I'll stick to the movies, thank you very much.

(2.5/5)

If I'm being perfectly honest here, I only really decided to listen to this because I was:
a.) bored doing math homework
b.) looking for something light and fun
c.) told that this was narrated by Anne Hathaway.
And if we're going by those standards, then this book did not disappoint at all.

Going into this, I wasn't expecting much. Almost everyone knows the plot of The Princess Diaries, especially considering that it was turned into a pair of movies a while ago. When Mia learns that she's the heir to a small European nation, she's not looking forward to everything that entails.

The book follows Mia as she learns to navigate friendships, royalty, first crushes, and just about every other formulaic plotline you can imagine for a coming-of-age novel targeted at teenage girls, post-2000.

There's a fair amount of drama, and Mia is basically your average not-like-other-grills protagonist. There were definitely some passages that made me look twice (and would totally not fly if this book were published today), but overall, it was quick and enjoyable, and I can definitely see why people consider this a guilty pleasure.

Lets take a moment to appreciate Mia and Michael in this movie... How adorable!!

But lets not mention Michael in the sequel (you know...how he CEASED to EXIST)

very fun! i loved the differences from the movie it made it so much more fun since i had no clue what to expect. i thought mia was very funny, she was just a normal dramatic teenage girl to me. team michael and mia always!

3.5 stars. Loved the movie, finally got to read the book.

Review to come.

Audiobook Comments
Read by Anne Hathaway - which it was too cool! Unsurprisingly, she rocked it!

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Reliving my teenage years and remembering just how many times I read this cover to cover.

(January 6th-10th 2021)
So I think it is clear that I love this book. I am obsessed with the main character and the story that unfolds. I love the movie and I adore the audio book. This is such a great royal contemporary series and it is my comfort book. I don't review this book because it would detract from my experience but I have listened to the audiobook a total of 4 times in less than a year.

(September 9th 2020)
Yes I’ve read this 3 times on audiobook.
Yes I just bought the box set so I can read them all at once.
No I don’t regret it.
Yes I’m reading them starting NOW!

(July 24th and 22nd 2020) The audiobook is narrated by Anne Hathaway so I really enjoyed it. (which is why I listened to it twice)

This one has been on my TBR for a LOOOOONG time. I finally got to experience it with Anne Hathaway reading it to me.

I enjoyed a lot of the character growth, even if many things are changed from the movie. I actually like most of the movie better, other than the fact that we miss out on more of the friendship with Tina Hakim Baba and Mia's dad as well as getting to know her mom better.

3.5-4 Stars! A great easy and fun read.

Twenty years down the road, and my first foray into the world of YA Lit via Meg Cabot’s spectacularly fun series still has my heart. Staying home, trying to stay safe amidst a pandemic while stressing incessantly demanded a return to happier times.
And Mia Thermapolis’ shenanigans seemed ideal.
So here’s my old review (tweaked a bit after my 2020 reading):

Say hello to fourteen-year old Mia Thermopolis and her innumerable teenage woes:
1)She is the tallest girl in her class, has feet like skis, mouse-brown/dishwater blonde hair that is triangular in shape and a chest line that is flatter than a surfboard.
2)She is a child of wedlock, the result of a short-lived college romance between the dapper Phillipe Renaldo of Genovia (a fictional country in Europe located between France and Italy) and the avant-garde, free-spirited artist Helen Thermapolis of Greenwich village.
3)Her mother is currently dating her algebra teacher.
4)She gets bullied and ridiculed on a regular basis by her high-school nemesis, Lana Weinberger.
5)She has an unrequited crush on the most popular senior in school, Josh Richter who just happens to be Lana’s boyfriend.
6)Her best friend, Lilly Moscovitz is an intelligent, opinionated, radical thinker who analyses Mia at every given opportunity.
7)Lilly’s brother, Michael would make a lovely boyfriend if only he would see Mia as someone more than just his kid sister’s best friend.

And adding to her regular list of woes, she suddenly finds out that she isn’t just plain old anonymous Mia Thermapolis. She is in fact *Her Royal Highness, Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldi, Crown Princess of Genovia*.
AND she is the solo heir to the throne of Genovia.

While finding out that you are a princess might be every young girl’s Disney dream come to life, for Mia….it’s an onerous burden. Drastic makeovers, pushy paparazzi and gold diggers waiting to ride piggyback on her newly exalted status will now become a way of life. And guiding her through this training process will be her grandmother from refined-hell, Clarisse Marie Grimaldi Renaldo, the Dowager Princess of Genovia.

Written as the journal entries in Mia’s diary, the first book in The Princess Diaries is hilarious and entertaining. It is a fun, frothy, whiny talisman for every self-doubting teenage girl. In her own way, Meg Cabot also inspires young readers to grab life by it’s lapels and face it with courage, humour and infinite sass.

Light and fluffy, but oh so so so enjoyable and with also some pretty well spot-on analyses and descriptions of modern American/Canadian middle and high school school culture and equally of the snobby and arrogant attitudes and philosophies that are unfortunately still rather prevalent and proliferating regarding the nobility, regarding the aristocracy in much of Western and Central Europe (and yes, even though the principality of Genovia has been invented by author Meg Cabot and thus does of course not exist), I have certainly and truly found Cabot’s The Princess Diaries (which is book one in a rather lengthy series) a delightful and wonderful reading break.

For yes indeed, Cabot’s presented text in

Now as an adult reader, I do find it kind of interesting and fun that with regard to Mia’s issues throughout

Four stars for

Still my ultimate comfort read. I am probably going to ping pong back to this series and other Meg Cabot books during quarantine. Her work has helped me get through some real shitty moments in my life so I'm glad it can still work its magic.

Although, I can really tell I have aged since first reading this series at the very ripe age of 13.

Also, if you are a fan of this series Meg currently is posting Mia entries about Genovia dealing with the crisis free on her blog. You can thank me later.

To see full binge review of books 1-3 click here.

First things, first.

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.

Oh, well.

It was also hilarious to look at some of these characters due to spoiler purposes, and sobering too (especially if you read about a certain character’s death from the excerpt posted from Royal Wedding).

The writing is really simplistic. Being a grown woman, versus a gawky thirteen-year-old, it’s a lot more obvious now then it was then. And it really does read like a young girl wrote it, as the series progresses Mia’s voice in turn seems to progress as well. And I have to give Cabot props for that.

The plot overall was really simplistic. And simple succeeds here. It’s odd seeing it succeed, when I have seen several YA books fail with the same plot: The geeky girl falls is head over heals with the popular jock, only to not notice the gorgeous nerd next door.

I think one of the reasons why it worked in Diaries and not so many other books is because Mia and Michael don’t get together at the end of this book. The progression of the relationship isn’t rushed. And besides, the Josh plot isn’t really the sole focus of the book.

*Read for day 7: pink of The Rainbow Readathon*
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Genre: YA humor (I guess?)
Short Summary: Mia, a freshman girl, has to deal with the fact she is a princess of a fictional country and the fact her mom is dating her algebra teacher.
My rating: 1.5 stars

My thoughts:
Plot: 1.5 stars
There isn't much of a plot at all, and the ending really fizzled out.

Characters: 1.5 stars
Mia is the whiniest, most selfish character I've read about in ages. She literally thinks it's good that Iran bombed Afghanistan so war carnage can be in the news instead of the fact a guy kissed her. The only thing good about her is that she's vegetarian. The other characters are all very bland.

Writing: 2 stars
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.

Other: -1 star
Racist (a dance celebrating cultural and racial diversity is described as "stupid", and a whole subplot is devoted to how racist Asian people supposedly are), sexist (sexual harrassment and groping are portrayed as things girls want), transphobic (one of my status updates had a charming quote illustrating this), and very, very heteronormative.

Do I recommend it? Definitely not.

Review to come....

This is one of those rare instances where the movie is so much better than the book.

(Este es un libro que objetivamente es de tres estrellas pero FUCK THAT, le voy a poner cuatro).

Creo que la mayoría conocemos de qué van estos libros, fueron la inspiración para una película súper icónica de los dosmiles. La adaptación es distinta a los libros, sí, PERO la esencia es la misma:

Una adolescente inadaptada es sorprendida con la noticia de que es la princesa de un diminuto pero rico país Europeo. Y en medio de todo el cambio que esto amerita en la vida de una niña de prepa, no Mia Thermopolis no pierde su autenticidad, y la tenemos bien clara desde las primeras páginas: es una chica insegura pero muy inteligente, con ideales liberales feministas y ecologistas, y a pesar de que de repente puede parecer algo patética en su inocencia, es imposible no identificarse con un personaje así de humano.

El estilo en el que esto está escrito hace de toda la serie una JOYA. Meg Cabot sabe lo que está haciendo, capaz de hablar desde la voz de una chica de 14 años sin que se perciba como forzado o antinatural... y de paso, entre tiaras y exámenes reprobados, podemos encontrar críticas hacia los republicanos, el capitalismo y la misoginia. Todo con un sentido del humor increíble (me reí en voz alta MUCHAS veces).

Qué bueno que releí este libro, ahora voy por los que siguen...

4.5
Absolutely LOVED this! Okay, so I wasn't really planing to read this ever, because I was quite satisfied with the movie and I've heard that the books were really different. But then, Shannon from Leaning Lights (booktuber) how cute, fun they were and I find it really cheap on Thrift Books and they gave me a 20% discount because of my birthday, and I had to buy it, OK? xD But it was such a good decision. I'm still surprised that about how much I enjoy this story. I laugh out loud multiple times and I like Mia a lot. She is a little clueless but, c'mon, who wasn't at age 14? In general I love how seeing her grow through the story and agree with her point of views about a lot of things.

There are a lot of differences between the book and the movie, so if you already watched it (and who hasn't, let's be honest) and want to read the book, it's better if you think of this stories as completely different ones -because they are. The movie have maybe a 10% of the content of the book, to be honest.

This book was so much fun! ^^

I love the series because it transports me back in time when I was a lot younger! 😄

If you are looking for something light and fun, then give it a go!

Krisi

This was definitely a case of the movie being better than the book. I was expecting something fun, not an oversexed mal-adjusted drama with a tiara.