Forever Princess

And my reread-first-listen-thing is complete... :( (Minus 2 and 3 and 11 because 11 doesn't count and 2 still isn't available at the library. But.)

Wow. Mia and Michael, man, they're my favourite fictional relationship. I think. So. Many. Butterflies. And Mia! She's grown up so much and I think being an old lady myself now makes me appreciate that more. All her decisiveness and boldness and understanding consequences--it's really cool how Meg Cabot made her legitimately evolve while feeling very real and true to herself.

Ugh. I just love this so much. This one might be my favourite of all ten. (No, eleven still doesn't count.)

Ah the end, kind of... I know Meg Cabot has another book in this series but this was the original end of the series and it only kind of felt like it. BUT I LOVED IT.
Mia finally gets it together and does things for herself. She determines what she wants after high school and goes for it and I am so proud of her - is that weird to say about a character? oh well I am.

In this final (kind of) installment, we catch up with Mia in her senior year of high school, so a few years were skipped but in the book the reasoning is good - she hasn't been keeping a journal so thus no Diary entries for us to read. Instead she has been working on her senior project and just handling life. Mia decides that she is going to become a writer no matter what show more and so her project is a romance novel and under a pen name she sends it out to be published. Then there is her own romance with J.P., he seems like a great choice, well until Michael comes back and pretty much sweeps her off her feet. So she has to make a few life decisions and pick a college too. Even through all of her stress Mia handles everything pretty well and it all falls into place as it should for a princess. This was a wonderful end to Mia's high school diaries and I am very curious how the next book will pick up. show less

SPOILERS BELOW
Pre-Review Warning: This review is not intended to be any sort of formal review. It is a reflection of my thoughts immediately after reading this book, and therefore, there will be caps-locking and excessive exclamation marks. Adjust your mood accordingly.

Oh, I went into reading this with cynicism. Grandmere or Louie were going to die. There was no WAY Mia would come out of this with a boyfriend (I was highly supporting the idea that she'd end up "self-actualized", realizing she didn't need a guy to be awesome). I...did not see this ending well. But, as has happened quite a bit lately, I fell in love. Maybe it's because of personal issues. I'm going through senior year, the same crazy college rush Mia's going through, with show more some similar personal problems as well. I really don't know. But this book reminded me once and for all why I read YA, and why I am proud to call myself a Princess Diaries fan--why I am proud to scoff at those who laugh and say it's all cliche. Screw them. They don't know a good book, obviously. They don't know a book that relates to the readers, that attracts millions of girls and tells them "hey, go out there and do your OWN thing". They'd rather be reading 'the classics', the ones that will have no immediate impact on their lives. Hm. Sucks to be them.
The book started out slow. Mia was with J.P. and the person she had become was not a very great one. Slowly but surely as Michael re-enters the picture, the book picks up the momentum found way back in the very first volume that launched this epic story, and Meg Cabot does not lose momentum. Everything ends...perfectly. It's not a "perfect" happily ever after (J.P. is probably not too happy at that moment), but...well, yeah, it really is. It's the most genuine, realistic happily ever after Meg Cabot could give her characters, and boy did she deliver. Did the woman channel Barack Obama on that last page or what?
Give her a hand. Good luck, Mia, we'll see you another day.

Rating: I only wish I could go higher than a 5/5. show less

Ah the end, kind of... I know Meg Cabot has another book in this series but this was the original end of the series and it only kind of felt like it. BUT I LOVED IT.
Mia finally gets it together and does things for herself. She determines what she wants after high school and goes for it and I am so proud of her - is that weird to say about a character? oh well I am.

In this final (kind of) installment, we catch up with Mia in her senior year of high school, so a few years were skipped but in the book the reasoning is good - she hasn't been keeping a journal so thus no Diary entries for us to read. Instead she has been working on her senior project and just handling life. Mia decides that she is going to become a writer no matter what show more and so her project is a romance novel and under a pen name she sends it out to be published. Then there is her own romance with J.P., he seems like a great choice, well until Michael comes back and pretty much sweeps her off her feet. So she has to make a few life decisions and pick a college too. Even through all of her stress Mia handles everything pretty well and it all falls into place as it should for a princess. This was a wonderful end to Mia's high school diaries and I am very curious how the next book will pick up. show less

First criticisms first. One of the things that I really wasn’t a fan of in this is the huge derailing of JP. Again, he really only exists to set up a LOVE TRIANGLE!!!! that ultimately doesn’t lead anywhere. This is the one problem I have with Meg Cabot’s YA books; she makes it so obvious who the main character will end up with. (Surprisingly subverted in some of her adult books, as we will see.)

My one big complaint about the series as whole—the fact that almost all of the books occur too closely with one another—is actually fixed in this book, taking place a year and a half after book nine. Except now, I want to know what happened in the year and a half! I wanted to see Mia and JP’s relationship grow, how the Genovian show more public reacted to the revelation of a constitutional monarchy, how Mia finally starts maturing. It’s handwaved as that Mia was so busy writing her own book that she didn’t have time or feel like writing, which okay, I can see, but we couldn’t have one or two little updates in the time between? No? (We had to have separate books detailing Valentine’s Day, Christmas and Mia’s charity trip, but not for the important shit? Really?)

I did like the slightly more mature and jaded tone of the book. Having slammed my head against the last three books, it was refreshing to see Mia look and evaluate her mistakes and accept them as her flaws. Michael’s returning was great, even if it was to fulfill the Triumphant Childhood Friend trope. The whole book is a big grand finale and it revels in it. Much like book three, it’s one where I can’t help but cheer on Mia as she earns her ending.

It was a little sad when I finally picked this up for the first time and read it. I mentioned in the review for Book One that it’s one of those books that, surprisingly, ended up affecting me so much. And as I read through the series, between pumping my fist with fangirlish joy or tearing my hair out at the different plot twists, I still think that this one of those series where a young reader can pick it up and see a little bit of themselves in the characters. Personally, I noticed that a lot of my frustration came from the fact that I was already way beyond Mia emotionally, but the fact that I can still pick up the early books and still enjoy them on the same level as I did when I was fifteen has to say something. show less

As Mia's senior year draws to a close, Genovia's princess has a number of things on her mind, and a number of lies on her conscience: she needs to pick which college she's going to (she was accepted everywhere she applied, but told everyone she was rejected everywhere), find a publisher for her senior project (not the 400-page book on the history of olive exporting in Genovia as she's told everyone, but a lengthy historical romance novel), and find a way to be head-over-heels in love with JP, her boyfriend of almost 2 years, because they really ought to be perfect together. Meanwhile her dad is running for Prime Minister of Genovia (and trailing in the polls to his own cousin), Lilly is still not speaking to her for reasons unknown, and show more a certain ex-boyfriend is back in Manhattan and making Ma as weak-kneed as ever, despite the presence of her boyfriend, whom she loves... doesn't she?

This last installment of The Princes Diaries is very much more of the same--Mia's angsting over boys, friends, school, and her dream of being a writer. Her voice is clear and consistent, but shallow--surprisingly so for someone so concerned with environmental and social issues. There's a bit of name-dropping (high-end brand names of clothing and accessories, mainly) to keep the reader from ever forgetting that this is a group of ridiculously privileged teenagers. Mia is stronger than she's been in previous books, but she's still not a strong female character--not someone I'd hold up as a role model for what a girl should aspire to, anyway. There is an implication here that the only way to be truly happy is to have a romantic partner--even while Mia is lamenting her lack of spark with JP, never once does she think "I should go it alone for a while"--instead it's always "this was so easy with Michael." For someone constantly seeking self-actualization, Mia is remarkably dependent on her friends and boyfriend to do the heavy lifting on her psyche. Naturally everything works out perfectly in the end, but this owes more to Mia's friends' machinations than any deliberate actions on her own part. A breezy end to a fluffy series (I'm ashamed to admit I've read them all); recommended only where interest in the series remains high. show less

In the two years since she last wrote in her journal, seventeen-year-old Mia Thermopolis has been pretty busy: trying to mend the broken heart left in the wake of Michael's departure for Japan; getting heavy with J.P., her new boyfriend and fellow "artist"; writing a 400-page romance novel, Ransom My Heart, and trying to find a publisher for her masterpiece; becoming closer with Tina Hakim Baba following a fall-out with Lilly Moscovitz, her long-time best friend. Since the ninth installment of The Princess Diaries, this final chapter in Mia Thermopolis's life is just about as picture-perfect an ending as I could have anticipated.

Rather than divulge any secrets, I'll just say I was absolutely thrilled with the resolution of Cabot's show more fantastic YA series. I devoured the entire book in two nights, unable to stop reading. As readers and devoted followers of the series, Mia's growth over the past four years was amazing. What's been so awesome about catching up with the characters is watching as we all grew up together, in a way. Though I'm 23 to Mia's 18, her plights and decisions -- regarding family, college, love -- still resonated with me. It's hard to forget those pinnacle moments in your life, and Cabot does a great job of exploring the implications and complications of those big decisions we make -- some of the first as young adults.

In Forever Princess, Mia is able to mend some fences, forge ahead with new plans and ideas and make smart decisions regarding her future -- as both a young woman and future ruler of a European nation! Everything that has made The Princess Diaries fun and exciting was here -- romance, friendship, family, love, responsibility. While the ending might seem a bit "tidy" to some, I thought it was perfect -- a fabulous end to a wonderful ride. I'll miss riding along on all of Mia's adventures -- especially with her bodyguard, Lars -- but will always remember this series for its fresh voice, unique and memorable characters and compulsive "readability." Highly recommended! show less