The Princess Diaries Book Club 5: Project Princess and Princess in Pink

11:39 Cilla 2 Comments

Title: Project Princess (Volume IV and a half)
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: HarperTeen//Gramedia Pustaka Utama for my Indonesian copy
Source: Bought from a Gramedia bookstore a couple of years ago.
Synopsis: What on earth is that princess up to now?

Most princesses would prefer to spend their spring breaks in Gstaad, or some other equally unpronounceable European hot spot.

Not this one, though. Hammer in hand, Princess Mia embarks on an epic adventure for one so admittedly unhandy: along with her cohorts from school, she's off to build houses for the less fortunate. It doesn't take Mia long to realize that helping others—while an unimpeachably noble pastime—is very hard work. Will her giving spirit prevail? Will the house collapse due to royally clumsy construction? And most importantly, will Michael stop working long enough to kiss her


Review: ⋆⋆

(I actually found a decent image of the copy I have this time - yay!)

The most important thing to know about this book is the reason for its existence, as quoted from Meg Cabot's website: 'Meg's proceeds from the sale of this book go to help build the first ever permanent home of The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York City. This non—profit community organization provides a range of innovative programming for girls and their families living in downtown Manhattan.'

So by buying this book you could do a bit of good, and you'd get about half an hour entertainment. There's not much to this novella though. It was a quick and faintly amusing read, but there wasn't much of a point to it in terms of character- and story-building. Only read this if you're a die-hard Princess Diaries fan.


Title: Princess in Pink (Volume 5)
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: HarperTeen//Gramedia Pustaka Utama for my Indonesian copy
Source: Bought from a Gramedia bookstore a couple of years ago.
Synopsis: In her heart of hearts, Mia has but one wish: an evening spent with Michael in a tux and a corsage on her wrist in other words, the prom. Michael, however, does not seem to share the dream that is the prom. Worse still, a service workers' strike (with Grandmere and Lilly at the heart of it and on opposite sides) threatens the very existence of this year's prom.

Will the strike end in time? Can Mia talk Michael out of his anti-prom views? Most importantly, will Mia get to wear her pink prom dress?



Review: ⋆⋆

I've said before that I can relate to Mia's tendency to obsess over details, but goodness if it wasn't a struggle to relate to this particular obsession over prom. That might be because proms aren't ever a thing where I grew up, or because I don't understand her reluctance to just be straight with Michael. Mia seems to view him as the most amazing guy who has ever lived, and we see him demonstrating his affection and understanding to her often. Yet she assumes he's going to ditch her at the smallest hint of trouble. It's unsurprising given Mia's low self-esteem, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating to read, especially on the heel of Princess in Waiting.

Lilly, on the other hand, is one character I've quit trying to understand by now. Whereas before I've regarded her as a bad best friend and rather a hypocrite, now I just think she's actually cruel at heart. I mean, I don't care that she's a genius feminist and fourteen year old, nothing justified what she did to Boris. I was so glad to see that Mia thought the same.

Continuity has been a niggling issue with this series, and I'm seeing it in this installment. I was disappointed that the plot point in which Lilly got producers to option her shows fizzled out and was dismissed within a sentence, especially since it was such a big deal when it was introduced. I suppose that's staying true to the entertainment industry, but still. Also, this is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail, but it irked me: Tina's brief love interest was named Peter Tsu in Project Princess and then Peter Hu in this one.

The further I am into this re-read, the more I wonder if all teenagers are this dramatic, and if I was the same way to have loved it so much.