Book Review: Forever Princess

Oh well, it's over. All good things come to an end. And so it goes with the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. But oh, what an ending! Princess Diaries X: Princess Forever is the 10th and final installment in Meg Cabot's endearing Princess Diaries series. It just came out last week, and I had pre-ordered it so I got in delivered right to my doorstep before it even officially hit the bookstores! And I read it in one day. :) If you are familiar with Disney's Princess Diaries movies then you may or may not like the books. The books actually make fun of the movies! In the books, Mia's grandmother is not the sweet character Julie Andrews portrays in the movies and Mia is a lot less "innocent." Plus her dad is alive! But even though I agree the movies are completely different (and possibly a little better?) than the books, I LOVED this series. Meg Cabot is an excellent writer, especially with character development and plot.
When we left Mia in volume 9, she had broken up with Michael, had a falling out with her best friend (and Michael's sister) Lily, and discovered that the country she is princess of is actually a democrocy, not a monarchy. She had new friends and even a new boyfriend. I have to say, I was ready to send a lot of not so friendly emails if Cabot had failed to give us our happy ending in Forever Princess. :) Not to worry, there are a lot of twists and turns on the way, but we get our happy ending!! Now, these books are aimed at young teen readers, and definitely capture the current trends and moods, but the final few do contain cursing and mentions of s*x. Just a little. I don't have girls, but I find myself wondering if indeed I would share the series with a daughter...yeah, I would. We'd be open about that stuff, just like I am with my boys, and discuss how reading does not equal condoning.
The only thing that grated on my nerves a bit with this final Princess book were the attempts to throw in current event references...some were appropriate and some just seemed out of left field and it felt like the editors inserted them in at the last minute with no thought to it. Otherwise, prime Cabot reading and a superb farewell to our Princess Mia. Need a quick read and little escape? The Princess Diaries series will fill the need!