Book Review: The Princess Diaries XI, Royal Wedding
warning: This post may contain some spoilers.
Book Information
In ROYAL WEDDING (Princess Diaries XI), Princess Mia’s planned nuptials to longtime love Michael Moscovitz are in jeopardy when the paparazzi uncover a startling secret: Mia has a long lost younger sister.
Now a scheming politico is using the royal scandal to force Mia’s father from the throne, leaving Genovia without a monarch . . . unless Mia can prove to everyone—especially herself—that she’s finally fit to rule.
book cover & information from Cabot’s website, here.
Review
I read the first ten books in this series in my teens and really loved the last book, I thought it was fantastic. I’ve always been a fan of Meg Cabot’s, but this wasn’t my favorite series by her. But, when it’s been a few years since she’s come out with anything, I was excited for something new. Even if Princess Diaries wasn’t my favorite, I still really enjoyed it.
This book, marketed and labeled as an adult book, wasn’t that though. While reading, I never got a sense that Mia was actually twenty-six like I was being told. The first half of the book is spent with her complaining about not being able to do anything and she’s pretty much in her apartment and hiding. While I get that there’s people out there who are content to sit around and do nothing, they don’t work for books.
They just don’t.
I also found a lot of the subplots to be a little ridiculous. Based on the blurb above, you know that Mia has a little sister now, and I just….. I don’t know if I can buy it. Like, there’s a scene where Mia is with her little sister (named Olivia Grace – which is an adorable name), and it feels like Olivia has her crap together way more than Mia does (and Olivia is only twelve).
Warning, only click “more” if you’re ready for spoilers.
A few other subplots including some minor characters were…. interesting. And unbelievable. For instance Boris, the mouth-breathing violin player, is now a heartthrob pop star. Just no, no. It’s not believable.
AND J.P. I never liked him because he had a problem with corn. But, in the original books, where he was just kind of annoying, now he’s down right creepy. Seriously, the ex-boyfriend is the stalker and Mia never even thought of it? After the way he wrote A WHOLE PLAY ABOUT HER?
I will say, bravo to Cabot for the entertaining tabloid subplot. That was fun. First she was having Prince Harry’s twins and then Michael’s? The best part, hands down, in this whole story (at least for me), was when Michael and Mia were at the doctor’s and she’s totally stunned that she’s pregnant, and Michael is totally patting himself on the back for getting her pregnant while she’s on birth control.
And then she finds out she has twins?
I giggled for a few minutes at that one, I think Cabot weaved that very well in the story. And she gave just enough foreshadowing that at one point, I thought “is Mia pregnant?” but she never touched on it again, giving me the thrill of being like “YES, I FIGURED IT OUT.” Ten points for Laura for figuring it out the first time around.
So, here’s my final take. Mia needs to mature, a lot. If Cabot comes back for a twelfth book, I’d like to see Mia’s new role as the ruler (Her dad abdicates so he can live happily ever after with her mom) of Genovia and as a mother really make her grow.
Because that really lacked in this book. If there is another one, I’ll definitely read it, but I’ll be much more weary to open the book.
Three out of five stars.