Book Review: Princess Diaries, Ten out of Ten (Forever Princess)

After nearly a decade of Princess Diaries books, Meg Cabot's final instalment of the series was released at the start of January this year.

Mia is about to turn eighteen and graduate at the start of the book, but she's putting off some pretty important decisions, like which college to go to. There's also the return of Michael, back from his success in Japan with the robotic surgery arm, and even though Mia has been with J.P since Michael left for Japan... it's Michael, isn't it!?

I'm not going to spoil this, but it was an enjoyable read, even though Mia and her friends at eighteen have become a teensy bit like the teens from shows like Gossip Girl/The Hills/Rich Girls, possibly because of Mia's friendship with previous enemy Lana. There's more brand mentions than before and Mia takes more pride in her appearance. As it is set two years after PD: IX, this transition is more noticeable as it is already established as a given.

But, the one thing that won me over with is that Mia has a big secret - she's actually written a book and is trying to get it published! I have to say, I could relate to her throughout because she keeps her book a secret and doesn't want people to know. I especially loved this bit:

I know it's bad to lie to your own mother. But if I told her what my book was *really* about, she'd want to read it. And there's *no way* I want Helen Thermopolis reading what I actually wrote. I mean, sex scenes and your mother? No thank you.

Despite her new-found clothing love (remember how she hated being dragged to Chanel in the earlier books?), the tone throughout is still Mia. She has grown-up, but she's not done a complete flip. I also love that Meg uses the book to highlight the brilliance of romantic fiction. Mia gets told she is wasting her time on writing romance fiction, even though she points out that 25% of novels published are romance novels (hurrah!). I also love this bit from one of her rejections:

Rejected again! Seriously, is the entire publishing world on crack? How can no one want to publish my novel? I mean, I know it's not War and Peace, but I've seen way worse out there. My book is better than that!

Obviously, in the end, she gets published though. You can even buy her book: Ransom My Heart.

All in all, it is a lovely end to the series and I'm sad that there will be no more Mia. All ten Princess Diaries books are light-hearted and enjoyable reads - if you're not already a fan, I thoroughly recommend that you get them read!