'Seriously, Lilly,' I said, 'I have to guard diligently against falling in love with somebody like your brother, because in the end I might have to marry Prince William.' Not that that would be such a great sacrifice.

Nothing's simple when you're the new Princess of Genovia. At least, that's what Mia reckons.

With her mother dating her Algebra teacher, a secret admirer sending her mysterious e-mails, and a bad case of the hots for her friend Lilly's brother Michael, Mia's discovering that life as Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo can feel like a right-royal muddle!

 

 
I set up the first book in this series, which I read due to it being part of the Big Read, as a book ring. Unfortunately a bit of a blip occurred and I decided to right that off, buy a new copy and send it on all over again rather than put pressure on a friend that she didn't need. It was a good excuse to get the other books in the series, and to see if the novels improved as Mia settled into her role. I'm curious, and so I'll probably whiz through these books when I get a little time free for a some light reading.

 

 
April 23rd 2004
The End

This was a speedy and pleasant read, but it didn't have a huge amount of depth. I did prefer it to the first book, as Mia has become a little less histrionic about her status as a princess, and didn't feel the need to punch home the point quite as frequently.

This books is set about a month after the original Princess Diaries (I can only imagine Meg Cabot has decided to jam as many books into a small timeframe to maximize her profits...or am I being too cynical?). It begins with Mia discovering that her mother is pregnant by her Algebra teacher. As well as the impending sibling Mia has to deal with her first brush with the entertainment media, her crush on her best friend's brother and her Grandmere planning the wedding of the century for her mother.

The book is fun to read, but I find myself disliking Mia rather too often. She hides, or lies, about everything and is so incredibly self-involved it's scary. On the other hand she is a teenager and I suppose you can excuse her behaviour because of all the hormones rushing around inside her. The one person I'm really coming to loath is best friend Lilly. She is a serious control freak (it takes one to know one) and turns on Mia at a moment's notice. I'm hoping she disappears up her own arse in the next few books, so I don't have to read about her.

As long as you read these books as a girlish fantasy they're great, but as soon as you start trying to use them to make statements about girls in the real world you're in trouble. None of the characters in this book live in the real world, and all are caricatures of real people. As a cute fiction I like it, and I'm going on to read the third instalment...and I'm starting to hope Mia finally gets it on with Michael...see I have romance in my soul after all!