Recommendation!
In the first Princess Diaries novel by Meg Cabot, Mia Thermopolis finds out that her father is the prince of Genovia, a small european country that nobody has ever heard of. And because her father can't have kids anymore, this in turn makes her the only heir to the throne of Genovia. You might imagine what a shock that is for a 14-year-old girl.
It was just a matter of time until I decided to write a review of this novel. It's probably my most re-read novel of all time and it's been one of my favourites for going on five years now, which is INSANE, given the fact that it's somewhere between a MG and a YA read. Of course everyone has probably watched the movie starring Anne Hathaway, but I dearly, dearly recommend reading the novel, because they changed so much about what makes the story so interesting and the series so successful.
No matter what age you are, I guarantee you, you will suffer with Mia. Mia is your typical teenager with typical teenage problems - unrequited crushes, terrible self-image and a family that's kind of messed up, The way Cabot portrays her had me back when I was the same age as Mia and I could identify with her character a lot. Cabot is just great at writing teenagers and the character voice is insanely unique. While we do have a lot of cliché characters, Cabot somehow gives the whole thing a twist: the mean cheerleader Lana and her hot boyfriend that Mia is crushing on could be such shallow characters, but they are not cardboard cutouts. Every character in the novel just feels real and you can tell that a lot of character building went into this. I especially loved Mia's best friend Lily with her nerdiness and her therapist parents. Their relationship is the base of this novel to be honest and Cabot cleverly uses Lily as a possibility to give Mia (and the audience) advice without pushing it.
Another gem in this novel is Mia's grandmother - in the movie she's a sweetheart but in the novel she's basically ... well yeah I don't want to say it, but it rhymes with witch. Mia goes through so much character development by trying to defy her grandmother and learning to do whatever she wants instead of trying to please everyone. I think that's the main reason why I have and still love this novel so much - because throughout the course of the novel she grows so much in character. She teaches young kids that your life may seem terrible whenever something is happening that makes your world come crashing down, but in the end it's going to be fine. When I was her age, I worried about the same things, I identified with basically all of her problems and the way she deals with them helped me a lot and I can imagine that it's the same for other teenagers out there.
I rooted for Mia to get with Josh and the resolution made my heart ache while still being happy that she made the right choice. Of course it's a cliché storyline, of course it's your typical high school novel and yeah I'm being subjective and a little big nostalgic when I wholeheartedly recommend this to you guys. It's easy to get lost in this novel, even when you're not fourteen anymore, because the writing is just on point. This book has everything: great characters, an actual lesson (which in my humble opinion, YA literature should ALWAYS ALWAYS have), superb writing and an easy plot that isn't too complicated. Did I mention massive character growth? If you haven't read it yet or simply seen the movie, you should try it. You're not going to regret it, trust me.
Rating: ★★★★★