Princess in the Spotlight

These books are so fun! So many parts make me smile or laugh while reading, which I almost never do. This book almost makes me want to try to keep a journal again. I love reading about Mia's weird life and her weird friends. Like I said in my review of book one, this really feels like a journal written by a 14 year old and I find that so fun. I'll definitely keep reading this series.

Mia Thermopolis, the Princess of Genovia, continues her cutesy adventures in this second book in the Princess Diaires series. Book 2 finds Mia in the midst of a whole lot of drama: Mia's mom, Helen, announces she is pregnant with Mia's math teacher's baby and Grandmere tries to plan an elaborate wedding for Helen despite Mia's protests. While trying to mediate between her parents and grandmother, Mia is also trying to uncover the identity of her secret admirer: jocrox.
Mia's voice is loud and clear in this book. She is hilarious, self-depricating, and extremely loveable. I found myself hoping all the way through that Michael was her jocrox.

It's been a while since I read the first book in this series, and I'd forgotten how funny Mia's accounts of her daily life are. I listened to the audiobook on the bus, and the poor man sitting next to me was quite started by my outbursts of laughter.
Yes, the story is silly and predictable, but Mia is charming and only self-absorbed enough to seem realistic.
Also, her homework is harder then I remember mine being.

One of the big problems I have with many long-running series—Princess Diaries in particular—is the point where some books start becoming filler as opposed to actual plot development. (Wait ‘til I get to book seven.) Technically, this should be one of the filler books, but it’s not. I tend to see the first three books as a mini-trilogy, and Princess in the Spotlight is a good bridge between books one and three. I like the further insight to Mia’s princess lessons, and how quickly she does have to adapt to the public eye, the romantic subplot is fairly engaging, not to mention the fact that she’s willing to try to be with Kenny. (Also, the continuing references to the “Corn-in-the-Chili" boy is even funnier after reading the show more whole series.) However, this also shows a lot of the weak points in the series. The constant pop culture references are jarring and shows how much the book is dated (again, reading an “updated” rerelease, the find & replace is really noticeable). This is also the first book where I really start to dislike Lilly as a friend—she’s exploitive of Mia, though not to the extent of Lana or Josh Richter, extremely dismissive, and is actually pretty rude to her friends. (In contrast, Tina Hakeem-Baba is my favorite character in the whole series. She is awesome, that is all.) My other big complaint, which is really going to show for the next few installments, is how fast the plot moves in the series’ timelines (again, we’ll touch on this a little later). Still, for all of the flaws, it’s still an enjoyable book, and I still had a ton of fun revisiting it. show less

Mia Thermopolis really just wants to be a normal NYC high school student. But as the crown princess of a small European country, she has to deal with primetime interviews and princess lessons instead. Then her mother drops a bombshell on her, and Mia begins receiving letters from a secret admirer. Will it all be too much to handle?

Boy, Mia sure does like to complain. I mean, I get that she has a lot going on, but it seems like every diary entry starts with her exclaiming about how something terrible has happened. And yet, I still enjoyed the book. It did get a little much when she made such a huge deal out a really low temperature when she got sick, and I couldn't tell if she was exaggerating or if she/the author really thinks that a show more 100-degree temperature is really a big deal.

I think what keeps all of this from making the story annoying is the writing style. Things move quickly, the writing is easy to read (or in my case, listen to), and Anne Hathaway does a great job with the narration (I mean, she basically is Mia anyway). I can't say I love the way Mia seems to treat her best friend, considering that she almost never shares any big news with Lily, leaving her to find out some other way. Lily gives as good as she gets, though; it's a wonder these two are friends. Lest this review sound like a negative one, though, the book is fun and feels like a real diary from a teenager around the beginning of the millennium. show less

I definitely liked this book better than its prequel. Character development kicks into high gear. Mia is progressing with her lessons, and her struggle with them is probably what prevents her from becoming completely self-absorbed. Lilly is... meh. She's got some serious exploitative flaws that make me dislike her as a friend. First and foremost, though, I will always love the romance with Michael. It has its issues and they're not perfect, but they find value in what they have anyway, and I really like that. Good job, Meg Cabot!

The second Princess Diaries book sees Mia dealing with her mother's pregnancy, her mother's forthcoming wedding to her algebra teacher (which might just be highjacked into a major royal event by grandmere), her continuing crush on Michael, and notes from a secret admirer.

Continues to be fun although again it shows its age in spots. Anne Hathaway's narration is perfection.