The Princess Diaries

Re-reading this book as I'm trying to finish this series (only got through a few books the first time round), and remembered why I liked it the first time I read it.

Very much on par with my emotional maturity when I was younger. Now that I'm reading, Mia comes across so clueless on many things, but it can be humourous instead of annoying - which I remember, comes in later books.

Nice enough read, and quick to get through.

Enjoyed the movie, figured I'd read the book. This was a fun read. I think I'd have really loved it as a teen. Book's climax resolves in a much less cringey way than the movie (pre MeToo). Grandma in the book is WTH awful - her film version is much much much nicer.

The audiobook is an absolute GEM. Anne Hathaway was fantastic! This book was even funnier and more relatable than I remembered.

I never expected to like the book as much as the movie (a bit less, because the movies are literally one of my favourite movies ever). This one gets a well-deserved four star rating. I enjoyed it, there were some differences of course (for example Mia's dad is alive in this book, so that's weird for me).

Overall I loved the vibe of the book! :)

“It wasn't until everyone was gone that I realized how tired I was. It had been a really long day. I had broken up with a boy I had only been out on half a date with. That can be very emotionally wearing.”

ICONIC.

I realise that the start of the synopsis actually comes from the movie but I've watched the movie(s) and read the books a bunch of times, so I'm like 90% sure that it's only in the movies. It's such a fun quote nonetheless. I have't read this series in ages, I can't even remember if I've read the last book or two, but I distinctly remember reading the older books over and over again.

I loved all the nostalgia the book brought back. From Mia thinking the worst thing in the world was her mom dating her Algebra teacher (and me not really understanding what that was because stuff like Geometry and Algebra was all rolled into one class for us), to Mia writing down actual dialogue between characters. Even all her homework – though I barely understood most of it – I still loved the memories it brought back for me.

I definitely didn't feel this way back when I used to read it all the time, but Mia is so freaking dramatic. All. The. Time. Whether she's talking about how she looks at Josh Richter and suddenly she knows what he's having for supper because they're that connected, to her moaning about how much homework she has; she is so so dramatic.

While I love her being dramatic and all the references which date the book (which is something I actually really love), it also makes me realise how much YA has changed? Like Mia makes remarks about the popular guy (Josh) and how she thinks she's stupid in case Josh sexually harasses her and she doesn't notice – I didn't notice anything wrong with that before but now, of course, I'm like... what on earth.

And that isn't even like, a once-off creepy thing. She mentions a fan of Lily's radio talk show – how Lily hopes to enrage him (the fan) enough to go out and get a gun – which I think isn't a good thing to begin with and reading it in today's environment...

There's other moments as well and if I carry on with the series reread (which I will probably, since I haven't even finished the last two or so books), I'll probably pick them all up (the iffy moments), and it might deter me from reading, but I also think it's important? What do you think?

The book also brought back the memory of Lars, Mia's bodyguard – whom I loved, his funny expressions and Mia's almost friendship with him (pretty sure it's like that). And all her other friends we don't see at all in the movies – Tina Hakim Baba, even Boris Pelkowski. I'm glad Mia gets to make other friends.

I must say, I do prefer Lily and Clarisse's personalities in the movies over the books. Lily is more likable (for me) in the movies because Mia seems to talk less about her and more about their friendship (which is also because there's less of Mia's journaling, where she talks about Lily a lot). Clarisse, in the movies, is more warm of a character. She isn't as rude to Mia and other characters as she is in the books – which she is definitely rude.

liked it, didn't love it. Just okay i guess.

3.5 stars
the only thing that bothered me, a lot, that Mia was happy Iran bombed Afghanistan so her picture kissing that guy that she should have shoved and pushed away is not plastered on every newspaper's front page

[20-Nov-2016] #01 Relectura: purrfect

Book is much better than the movie: more
developed characters, more interesting subplots.
Recommended.