Customer Reviews
It's Just Good. Period.
Well, to begin, though there are a few reviews on here saying that the book is stereotypical and prejudice, I don't see it. The book deals with daily life in Greenwich Village, New York and follows the life of fourteen-year-old Amelia Thermopoils. "Mia," as she likes to be called has a very eccentric and quirky personality, the more you read, the more you love her. From her vegetarianism to her devotion to Greenpeace, Mia never fails to surprise with her fast-paced, directly contradictory thoughts.
Mia's life is filled with several twists and turns, such as her mother (famous contemporary painter Helen Thermopolis) dating Mia's Algebra teacher, "Mr. G." Algebra, the subject Mia is flunking.
Mia's father has been struggling with cancer, and after much chemotherapy, it's discovered that he can't have any more children. And Mia is therefore told she is the heir to the throne of Genovia.
After much resistance, Mia must go through with "princess lessons" with her French grandmother who treats Mia with little respect and still less appreciation.
There are the typical day to day teenage happenings; dates, new friends, first kisses, friendships in trouble, the reformation of paradigms about everyone and everything around her- all leading through several plot twists and eventually coming to a very happy resoltion.
I recommend this book to anyone with a sense of humor. If you can't take a joke or can't remember what being fourteen was all about, it probably isn't for you. If you do like this book, be sure to read the (much better) "Princess Diaries Volume II: Princess in the Spotlight," "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" and "On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God."
Sarah, a California reader
When I heard about the movie, I wasn't too anxious to see it, but the book intrigued me. I read this book and was astounded at how much I enjoyed it. Although you probably already know a vague outline of the plot, Mia Thermolpolis is a younger New Yorker who lives with her single-parent mother in Greenwich Village. She and her father are not close, and she finds out he is diagnosed with a type of cancer that will not let him have any more children. She later learns that she is heir to the Genovian throne, and her grandmother wants to mold her into a princess. Genovia is supposedly an incredibily small European country. She is desperate to hide the secret and tell no one about her new discovery. But the news does get out, and she become vey popular. Lots more happens, and I absolutely loved this book. Read it. It's worth it. I wouldn't bother seeing the movie because it's dissappointing after the book, but if you have seen the movie, read the book. It's a lot different.
~Sarah
This book is a gem
I have all the princess diary books! They are great! Mia has to deal with stuff everyone goes through like: being picked on by the cheer leaders, having no breasts a parents divorce and being pushed to hard. At first when I saw this book I doubted I would like it, I thought it might be a book about a perfect princess who I can not relate to in the least. But when I read a few pages I knew it was worth the money!
