Review: Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot

Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot 

Release Date: June 2^nd, 2015 

Publisher: William Morrow and Company 

Age Group: Adult 

Pages: 435 

Source: Bought at BookCon 2015 

Series: Princess Diaries #11 

Summary (goodreads.com): For Princess Mia, the past five years since college graduation have been a whirlwind of activity, what with living in New York City, running her new teen community center, being madly in love, and attending royal engagements. And speaking of engagements: Mia's gorgeous longtime boyfriend Michael managed to clear both their schedules just long enough for an exotic (and very private) Caribbean island interlude where he popped the question! Of course Mia didn't need to consult her diary to know that her answer was a royal oui.

But now Mia has a scandal of majestic proportions to contend with: Her grandmother's leaked "fake" wedding plans to the press that could cause even normally calm Michael to become a runaway groom. Worse, a scheming politico is trying to force Mia's father from the throne, all because of a royal secret that could leave Genovia without a monarch. Can Mia prove to everyone— especially herself—that she's not only ready to wed, but ready to rule as well?

My Review:

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

When Meg Cabot announced her first adult Princess Diaries book I was so excited. I grew up reading these books and honestly the Princess Diaries was the first YA book that I had ever read so without this series I wouldn’t be who I am today. While I think that the first ten young adult installments ended well, it was interesting to read about adult Mia especially now that I am also an adult.

I loved reading about what Mia’s friends and family had been up to since she last had a diary. It was comforting to know that Fat Louie and Rommel were still alive, as well as Grandmere who is still just as horrible. I love that Lilly is just as fierce and Tina just as lovely. I was a little weirded out as well as amused with Boris as a pop star, I never saw that one coming! I have always had a soft spot for Mia’s body guard Lars and was pleased to learn he still protects her. Most of all I love Mia and Michael. I was overjoyed to learn they are still going strong after all this time!

It was fascinating to learn that Mia hasn’t really changed all that much. She can still be very internal about her perceived problems. She makes a big deal about literally everything and after being away from her voice for so long it became very obnoxious very quickly but after a few diary entries I learned to ignore it again. But I am not saying this to discourage you from reading it or even saying that this is a point against Royal Wedding, on the contrary, it is this voice of Mia’s, this truthful, obnoxious at times, voice is real to life. I go back and read some of the things I wrote too and I am just as annoying. I think it’s a testament to Meg Cabot that her writing conveys such traits honestly.

However, here come the really big spoilers that I just can’t avoid, the plot of Royal Wedding was so crowded! So much happened in this book when compared to the other books in the series. One small thing could last an entire course of the novel, but this one has a quite a few distinct and huge plot points. It makes me think that Cabot wanted to get everything into one book to show that there won’t be anymore. From the title one would infer that the Wedding would be the biggest part of this story, but no. It starts with Mia’s dad being arrested, then finding out that he might not be Prime Minister if he loses the election. That could fuel a whole diary, but no there’s the proposal then the wedding plans being leaked by Grandmere. Then there’s the set up of Cabot’s new series From the Notebook of a Middle School Princess with the discovery of Mia’s half sister, Olivia. And as if that STILL wasn’t enough drama, Mia finds out that she’s pregnant with twins AND that her father has decided to abdicate and she’s officially queen. No, I’m sorry that is just too much for one book! This was more like five full novels mashed into one!

Despite the extremely quick pace of the book I really did enjoyed it. I loved the harebrained schemes that Mia comes up with that Lilly goes along with and adds upon. I love that Mia is using her power as Princess to try to bring some good to the world and that Michael is right by her side doing his own thing to help people. I love that Mia is slightly calmer now. She still sweats the small stuff, but seems to just accept the huge things she cannot change, which is to say basically anything that Grandmere does she just goes with it instead of fighting it, which I think is better for her mental health. Cabot brings her humor in full force and it is really like getting back in touch with an old friend. I am so glad to come back to this world that I didn’t realize I missed until I went back.

~Laura!