ARC Review: Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries #11) by Meg Cabot
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Series: The Princess Diaries #11
Author: Meg Cabot
Published July 2nd 2015 by Macmillan
Goodreads Synopsis
A brand-new new adult instalment of the most popular YA series in all the land! Princess Mia is engaged to be married, but since when in Mia's life did anything go to plan?! Fall back in love with Mia in this new book for older readers.
From Meg Cabot, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Diaries series, comes the very first new adult instalment, featuring the now grown-up Princess Mia!
Royal Wedding follows Princess Mia and her Prince Charming as they plan their fairy tale wedding - but a few poisoned apples could turn this happily-ever-after into a royal nightmare.
For Princess Mia, the past five years since college graduation have been a whirlwind of activity, what with living in New York City, running her new teen community centre, being madly in love, and attending royal engagements. And speaking of engagements, Mia's gorgeous longtime boyfriend Michael managed to clear both their schedules just long enough for an exotic (and very private) Caribbean island interlude where he popped the question! Of course Mia didn't need to consult her diary to know that her answer was a royal oui.
But now Mia has a scandal of majestic proportions to contend with: Her grandmother's leaked "fake" wedding plans to the press that could cause even normally calm Michael to become a runaway groom. Worse, a scheming politico is trying to force Mia's father from the throne, all because of a royal secret that could leave Genovia without a monarch. Can Mia prove to everyone - especially herself - that she's not only ready to wed, but ready to rule as well?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
When I first heard that Meg Cabot would be returning to the Princess Diaries' world in a new, adult book, I was so excited. As I'd grown up with Mia, I could wait to see how she was handling adulthood, and Royal Wedding was absolutely wonderful!
In Royal Wedding, we return to the life of a 26 year old Princess Mia, who is in a wonderful relationship with Michael, who later becomes her fiancé (as the title suggests), is dealing with helping her father rule Genovia, and overcoming some quite major issues - namely discovering that she has a long lost 12 year old half sister, Olivia. The past few years have been really good for Mia. She's secure in her relationship with Michael, even with the paparazzi questioning why they aren't engaged, and is running a community centre for teens in honour of her late stepfather. However, problems start coming thick and fast. Her father, Philippe, has been arrested for speeding, and is facing harsh political opposition, the paparazzi are hounding her about everything from her relationship to her political views, she has a stalker who seems quite crazy, and then there's the unbelievable announcement that she has a half sister, living only 50 miles away in New Jersey. Oh, and also something else, but that's quite spoilery - I can safely say it's something worth waiting to read for.
Considering I only read book 1 last week, it was very weird to jump between the events of them both. However, I'm really pleased with how things have transpired in the meantime, and even though I know what will happen in the future, I'm still looking forward to reading books 2-10. Both this book and From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess cover the same time period, so there is some overlap. It was nice to see both Mia's and Olivia's thoughts on discovering they were sisters, and I'm not actually sure who's voice I preferred. As said earlier, this book is classified as adult, as Mia is now 26, in a committed relationship, etc. However, there were no explicit scenes as such, just allusions to sexual themes, so I think older teenagers would have no problem reading it.
Mia and Michael have always been one of my all time OTPs, and to see them so happy in this book was a dream come true. Because of the events of this book, I'm actually desperate for book 12, even though I finished Royal Wedding less than an hour ago. The romance was exactly as I'd imagined it would be between Mia and Michael as adults, and I'm so happy with where they are in their lives. We also saw many old faces from the original series, including Lilly, Tina, Lana, Lars, etc., all of whom were perfect companions for Mia.
Her family was just as wacky as always. Clarisse will always have a soft spot in my heart, and quotes of hers such as 'But I don't have my eyebrows on! I can't meet my only other grand-children with no eyebrows.' (p323) endeared her even more. Developments between Mia's parents ensured they'd both be in her life in further books. Knowing that Mia will have a full family unit of parents, grandmother, half-siblings, and a new husband to help her with her future in Genovia makes me sure she'll be perfectly fine!
Overall, I could not have asked for a more wonderful return to Mia's life. Being the 15th anniversary year of The Princess Diaries release, Royal Wedding has come at the perfect time, and Cabot should be very proud of her work over the years. I know I was overwhelmed by this story throughout every book, and Royal Wedding was no exception. I honestly could not recommend this enough.
Dates Read:
June 21 to 23 2015
Rating
5 Stars
June 21 to 23 2015
Rating
5 Stars
4 comments
I loved this novel so much!
ReplyDeleteMe too! I was perfect :)
DeleteGreat review. I never read any of the Princess Diaries books as a kid, but now I really want to. Could you jump straight in to this? Or would you recommend starting from book one? :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Charnell! I'd recommend you start from book 1, but I didn't have much of a problem reading this after so many years. Whatever you decide will still be enjoyable.
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