The Princess Diaries, Volume IX: Princess Mia [Format Kindle]

Mia Thermopolis - Princess of Genovia - may be sixteen, but her year has been anything but sweet. After two years of calling Michael Moscovitz her boyfriend, and spending countless hours smelling his neck; Mia made the mistake of calling of their courtship when she learned, on the night she was going to bestow Michael with "her Precious Gift," that he had lost his virginity to Judith Gershner - a girl who can clone fruit flies - years earlier. Devastated by this newfound revelation, Mia called it quits with Michael. But, after much thought, she realized that a mistake had been made; and strived to make it right with the love of her life. Unfortunately, he was already on a plane to Japan, where he will spend one very long year of his life constructing a robotic arm that is destined to change the medical world forever as we know it, leaving Mia on her own for the first time since their whirlwind romance began.

Flash forward a bit, and Mia finds herself devastated beyond belief. After countless e-mails, calls, voicemails, and text messages to Michael, she has heard nothing from her beloved. Sure, she enjoyed a fun night at the theatre with J.P., a boy who managed to sit through the entire "Beauty and the Beast" production without laughing and/or falling asleep, and actually managed to shed a tear or two; but it's not the same. Mia wants Michael, and only Michael, and finds herself throwing a pity party all her own. One that consists of watching TV, avoiding people at all costs, raiding the refrigerator at all times of the day and night, and living in her Hello Kitty pajamas. Until her father gets wind of her newfound personality. Whisking her away, Mia finds that she is now forced to endure therapy with a Psychologist cowboy on a weekly basis, and couldn't be more shell-shocked. Even worse, she's forced to go back to Albert Einstein, to finish out her high school education - much to her chagrin. Unfortunately, Lilly refuses to even look in Mia's direction, the whole school believes that Mia is dating J.P. - which she's so not - and, suddenly, for the first time ever, Mia finds that her school uniform - along with the rest of her clothes - have gotten a little snug...everywhere. With all of the drama surrounding her, Mia is convinced that she'll never make it through the next two years. Luckily, she has stumbled upon the diary of one of her long-lost relatives, who ruled Genovia for a total of twelve days; and has discovered a secret that will rock her future, and the entire country of Genovia, more than she ever thought possible.

I feel as if I have grown up with Princess Mia. From day one, I have devoured each and every one of her rants and raves, and have found myself drawn deeper and deeper into the world of Mia. PRINCESS MIA is no exception. The second to last installment of THE PRINCESS DIARIES series packs more punch in its 274 pages than any of the previous novels. Mia, as always, is her usual philosophical self - freaking out over mysterious illnesses, worrying about anything and everything in her life. Only this time, she has fallen into a deep depression that has truly changed her. Gone are the complaints about the lack of vegetarian items in Albert Einstein's cafeteria, and her musings about whether or not she will ever develop a chest; and in their place are insecurities about where she stands with Michael, wonderment over who has started a hateful website about her, and confusion over her feelings for Michael, J.P., and even her new psychologist. Lilly has been one of my favorite characters for years, but her new personality, and way of thinking, has truly made me dislike her. The mere presence of her character brings a sour taste to my mouth. On the other hand, Lana's character is presented in a new light that makes you see that she's simply misunderstood, and, possibly, not as mean as originally believed. The disappearance of Fat Louie was rather disheartening, as I always loved reading about his furry face. However, the inclusion of Dr. Knutz was humorous and rather delightful from the moment he was introduced to the story. Cabot has dropped many bombshells over the years, but none have rocked Mia's world as much as the ones found within the pages of PRINCESS MIA. It's obvious that Cabot is gearing up to end the series; and, at this rate, it will most certainly go out with a bang. The one book you can't miss this year!

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

Nine books into this series, you might expect that the story of Mia, Princess of Genovia, has grown stale and predictable, heading toward a pat ending soon. If so, you're in for a treat with Princess Mia; it's definitely the freshest, most absorbing entry in the series to date.

The book opens with Mia and Michael, her one true love, having broken up; Michael's gone to Japan for a year and through a series of misunderstandings, he feels it's best for them to just be friends for now. Mia is beyond devastated; she takes to her bed and refuses to leave or shower. We can feel Mia's pain with every word, and it's apparent that this is not something that's going to pass quickly. Indeed, her family becomes so worried for her that her father "kidnaps" her and forces her to go to a psychologist. No quick fix here; Mia begins therapy reluctantly but also sees the value in trying to pull herself out of the black hole of depression. Along the way, she makes friends with Lana (her archenemy), discovers that J.P. is in love with her, and finds a long-lost directive from an ancestress that declares Genovia should be a democracy. What she decides to do is both believable and mature.

One of the issues that forces Mia into depression is the fact that her friendship with Lilly seems to be over, and in a most vehement way: Lilly actively shuns Mia and seems to blame her for every ill effect that's ever happened to her. While my heart ached for Mia because she was so upset over the loss of such a close friend, I have to say that this is a turn of events that tickles me because I've felt for a very long time that Lilly has not been a friend to Mia at all. Mia's learning to deal with it, and also her loss of Michael, and I was behind her all the way.

This is indeed the best book in the series so far, and can be highly recommended for readers of all ages. Mia's coming into her own, and it couldn't have been harder or more hard won. Cheers to Mia and to Meg Cabot for keeping this series fresh and entertaining!

Being a 13 year old girl, I thought this book was great. Princess on the Brink (Volume 8), was a major disappointment to me, but in Princess Mia, all of the magic was recaptured.

This book starts off right where Princess on the Brink left off. After Mia and Michael's tragic break-up (To be honest with you, this sort of made me happy. I was never a big fan of Michael to begin with), Mia decides she wants to lay in bed all day and wallow in her grief over their break-up. Her week in bed gets a little old for me, because how many times can you say that you miss Michael? But it flows along fairly quickly. Against her will, her Dad takes her to a cowboy therapist in hopes of getting her out of her "black pit". Lars had to carry her into the building because she refused to go in herself, which was a laugh-out-loud moment for me.

Once she returns back to school, she finds that Lilly is giving her the silent treatment, and later finds out that Lilly was the one behind ihatemiathermopolis.com. Since both of the Moscovitz's turned their back on Mia, she turns to her other friends in her group. Tina, J.P., and Lana (Yes, LANA WEINBERGER), play bigger roles in this book, which made me very happy to see.
J.P. breaks up with Lilly early on in the book and suddenly is now interested in Mia. But the question is, does Mia feel the same way about J.P?

Also, Grandmere is up to her schemes again, and makes Mia speak for Domina Rei, a society of powerful businesswomen. Mia uncovers an old family secret...which might just be the thing that could help her write her speech for Domina Rei, but could also change her fate forever.

Overall, it was a great book. (Mrs. Martinez would hate my lack of descriptive adjectives.) For parents who were worried about Princess on the Brink, just know that there is nothing to really be concerned about in Princess Mia. Meg Cabot's fans will definitely be pleased with her newest edition to the Princess Diaries series.