Review: The Quarantine Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Thank you Avon Harper Voyager, Avon Impulse for my advanced copy! All thoughts are my own.
I was very very excited to visit Genovia in this book. But ultimately, I think this is one piece of nostalgia I should have left in the past. Or at least just watched the movie. This book is fine, but I really didn’t enjoy reading it. I wasn’t charmed by the characters and felt annoyed and outraged more often than joyful. It does focus on the early days of the pandemic, but instead of being funny or endearing, I just found the characters insufferable.
Ultimately, the book is short and fun but I don’t think it was necessary for Princess Mia’s legacy.
Synopsis:
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, a section of the diary of Princess Mia Thermopolis of Genovia fell into the hands of Meg Cabot, the Princess’s royal biographer.
As reported in media outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, The Mary Sue, Refinery 29, Bustle, and more, from March until June of 2020, sixteen entries of the princess’s diary were leaked onto Ms. Cabot’s blog, to the delight of over a million fans.
In these entries, titled The Coronavirus Princess Diaries, the princess recorded her most heartfelt emotions while dealing with her husband’s quarantine after exposure to the virus; her personal (and political) battles while imposing health restrictions on her small European nation; life during lockdown (even in as idyllic a location as a palace on the Riviera); and of course, dealing with her demanding royal family, especially her grandmother.
Since then, readers have been clamoring for more chapters of Mia’s coronavirus diary . . . and here they are at last: The Quarantine Princess Diaries include not only the previously released entries (now edited and updated with new content), but two hundred more pages of entirely original, never-before-seen entries, including the princess’s worries over a possible royal affair; a showdown between Mia and Grandmère over the latter’s intended nuptials; the eventual development and distribution of a groundbreaking intranasal vaccine for every citizen in Genovia; and, as always, a royally happy ending.
After all we’ve been through, what could be more comforting for any lover of royal romance than snuggling up with a brand new installment of the diary of Mia Thermopolis, the princess who started it all?” —NetGalley
What I Liked:
The Nostalgia—I loved Meg Cabot when I was younger. She was absolutely part of my foundation as a reader. I was really excited to revisit Mia and her friends and family for this reason. But I think I remembered the books wildly differently…
What Didn’t Work:
The Overall Tone—The tone is pretty irreverent, which I wasn’t expecting. I will admit I didn’t read the blog posts Meg Cabot released early on in 2020 when everyone was joking about how Mia would handle the Pandemic in Genovia, so maybe this is what they were like. But I found it pretty two dimensional and frankly, annoying. There were also some words and phrases that made me cringe.
Immature Characters—I read The Princess Diaries: The Royal Wedding when it came out and really enjoyed it! I guess I thought that this would feel more like that…but I don’t think it did. Mia felt like she hadn’t grown up at all.
Lack of Plot—It felt like there was no direction in this book. Maybe that was the point, since we were all a little directionless in 2020, but from a reading perspective, it didn’t work.
Character Authenticity: 1/5 Spice Rating: N/A Overall Rating: 2/5
Content Warnings:
excessive alcohol use, Covid-19 pandemic