Princess Mia is the ninth novel in Meg Cabot's best-selling Princess Diaries YA humor/romance/drama series.
If you haven't read The Princess Diaries from the beginning, or aren't at the ninth book yet, I strongly recommend that you avoid this review and all the spoilers that will inevitably come from it. I know the book has been out for a while, but I managed to avoid spoilers, and you can too!
All right - you've been warned - synopsis begins NOW:
Mia is in shock. Her relationship with Michael, the guy she has loved forever, is over. She threw her snowflake necklace at him. He left on a flight to Japan and won't be coming back for a long time. And their relationship is over.
Life has lost its purpose for Mia. Especially now that Lilly refuses to speak to her and seems to hate her. J. P. tries his best to cheer Mia up, taking her to see Beauty & the Beast - but nothing helps. How can it? Michael's gone.
So, when Mia gets home she curls up in bed with Fat Louie and refuses to get back out (other than sneak binge trips to the refrigerator and necessary bathroom stops). She just stays in bed sleeping in her Hello Kitty pajamas or watching mindless television in her Hello Kitty pajamas.
But her Mom can only take this so long, and soon Mia's dad (Prince Philippe of Genovia) shows up and forcefully takes her out of the loft and straight into the office of a therapist. A therapist! A therapist that talks about the horses he has back at his ranch way too much to be normal.
Yet as much as Mia tries to stop it, life must go on. Despite her heartache, Grandmere insists that Mia speak at the Domina Rei gala, a party for a bunch of powerful businesswoman for the society they are a part of: a society that Grandmere always wanted to be invited into to.
While trying to memorize the speech Grandmere wrote for her (to make it more spontaneous than reading it off the paper, because who wouldn't be spontaneous about the drainage systems of Genovia?), Mia discovers the journal of a teenage princess of Genovia from the days of the Plague.
It finally sparks an interest in Mia, the first since the loss of Michael. But what she finds in the journal might change everything...
You can imagine how I've felt, being stuck at Mia and Michael's breakup in book eight for years now! Finally, here I am continuing the series (yay!), and find poor Mia so very, understandably, sad over it. Of course, I didn't feel like Mia's reaction to Michael's revelation was that bad, except perhaps a bit dramatic. After all, how would Michael have reacted if Mia had had the same news for him?
Having Mia be an outsider in Princess Mia is so sad, especially to see her so depressed. Though her moping gets to be a bit much after a while. But then I was shocked at how poignant her wake-up call at the therapist ends up being, a surprising turn after how funny her forced removal from bed begins! You begin to feel that Mia is overdue for a bit of help. And there is something sweet and solemn about this particular foray into Mia's life - a character that I have felt has begun to mature over the course of the series but has retained a passionate personality, but who now is in a downward spiral.
Though there are still great funny moments, Princess Mia is a completely different direction for the series - and I absolutely adored it! I simply could not stop reading it, even when I was (*ahem*) supposed to. I could hardly believe that conclusion, which is incredible, nearly brought tears to my eyes!!! I was inspired and touched!
Princess Mia was a huge step in the series and in Mia's character's life. It made me all the more in desperate need of the final novel: Forever Princess. Here I come!!!
***BIBLIOPHILE ALERT! I have been reading like an even crazier book addict than usual this year, and apparently three reviews a week can't keep up pace with me! Because of this, for the entire month of July I will be having FIVE reviews a week! That's right! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! So, please remember to check back here more often during July - and come August I'm planning on returning to three reviews a week. Keep the schedule change in mind, and don't miss any reviews! :)
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