TESSA TALKS BOOKS

Mia Thermopolis knows just what to do in a crisis: Rule.

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?

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What’s it about (in a nutshell):

The Quarantine Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot is the twelfth book in the Princess Diaries series. Royal Wedding (#11) was published in 2015, so it has been eight years since the last book was published. In this new installment to Princess Mia’s story, she is going through the pandemic in Genovia, where she now rules. As a leader, she must make tough decisions to keep everyone in her small country safe and healthy.

My Reading Experience:

It’s been so long since I’ve been in Genovia with Princess Mia, and I enjoyed the nostalgia of visiting old friends. Princess Mia is as quirky as ever. She is now married to her longtime boyfriend, Michael (brother of her best friend Lily), and they have 2-year-old twins. Also living in the palace are Mia’s parents with their children Olivia (a teen) and Rocky. And, of course, Princess Dowager Clarisse Renaldi, who has stepped down for Mia to take charge and is as feisty as ever. These fun characters bring so much life to the story, and their laugh-out-loud antics make this a happy place to visit.

But reading the story was a bit of a mixed bag. I did enjoy all the personal antics, as always. Those antics are what I look for in every book in this series. But, when it came to the parts about the pandemic, those parts of the story fell flat for me. I would have expected to see Mia as a princess in turmoil over what to do at each juncture. Still, instead, she just followed the prescribed trail without question or doubt. This, in turn, made parts of the story a bit preachy, and we’ve already been there and done that. Also, Michael is developing a vaccine that’s 99.9% effective…mmm hmm…okay.

I did, however, love old friends and family popping in on them from the US and the discomfort when they came in without masks. It did make it seem like it was an American thing to do that (which it really wouldn’t have been – most of us did what we were told), which was both funny and called into question Mia’s (who was raised in American) ease at making divisive decisions. But even with all this push and pull, I still enjoyed being back in Genovia, where the sun always shines and the rich come to play.

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