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The Princess Diaries #5

Princess in Pink

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Princess Mia is dreaming about the prom - and contending with a hotel workers' strike - in the fifth, supremely hilarious episode of Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries. This time, Mia's in the pink about the upcoming Albert Einstein H.S. prom, and she's crossing her fingers that Michael will ask her to go. (They're in love, so why wouldn't he ask her, right?) But during Seven Minutes in Heaven at her b-day party, Mia learns that Michael is not the prom-going type. Good grief, what's a princess to do?

To make matters worse, Grandmere has gotten a busboy fired due to a mishap with her pooch, Rommel, at a swanky restaurant, so when all of the city's busboys go on strike, it causes a chain of events that result in Grandmere crashing at Mia's mom's place, her pal Lilly Moscovitz picking up a picket sign, and the prom being brought to a screeching halt.

Thankfully, staunch yet boy-wise Grandmere has a plan to change Michael's mind and put everything back on track, making Mia the happiest "prom princess" on this side of the Atlantic - and readers more starry-eyed than Molly Ringwald in her prettiest pink frock.

Following up the brief Volume IV and a Half and introducing a new addition to Mia's family, this knee-slapping fifth volume makes the series glitter brighter than ever, placing yet another jewel in Cabot's crown.

275 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Meg Cabot

239 books34.8k followers
Librarian note: AKA Jenny Carroll (1-800-Where-R-You series), AKA Patricia Cabot (historical romance novels).

Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse -- at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flunked freshman Algebra twice, then decided to cut her own bangs. After six years as an undergrad at Indiana University, Meg moved to New York City (in the middle of a sanitation worker strike) to pursue a career as an illustrator, at which she failed miserably, forcing her to turn to her favorite hobby--writing novels--for emotional succor. She worked various jobs to pay the rent, including a decade-long stint as the assistant manager of a 700 bed freshmen dormitory at NYU, a position she still occasionally misses.

She is now the author of nearly fifty books for both adults and teens, selling fifteen million copies worldwide, many of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, most notably The Princess Diaries series, which is currently being published in over 38 countries, and was made into two hit movies by Disney. In addition, Meg wrote the Mediator and 1-800-Where-R-You? series (on which the television series, Missing, was based), two All-American Girl books, Teen Idol, Avalon High, How to Be Popular, Pants on Fire, Jinx, a series of novels written entirely in email format (Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, and Every Boy's Got One), a mystery series (Size 12 Is Not Fat/ Size 14 Is Not Fat Either/Big Boned), and a chick-lit series called Queen of Babble.

Meg is now writing a new children's series called Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls. Her new paranormal series, Abandon, debuts in Summer of 2011.

Meg currently divides her time between Key West, Indiana, and New York City with a primary cat (one-eyed Henrietta), various back-up cats, and her husband, who doesn't know he married a fire horse. Please don't tell him.


Series:
* Airhead
* The Princess Diaries
* Mediator

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5 stars
9,646 (24%)
4 stars
12,474 (32%)
3 stars
13,065 (33%)
2 stars
3,081 (7%)
1 star
526 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,128 reviews
Profile Image for Norah Una Sumner.
869 reviews511 followers
January 3, 2016
"Instead of being wakened to the sound of birdsong, like princesses in books, I was wakened to the sound of Rommel shrieking as Fat Louie beat him senseless for getting into his bowl of Fancy Feast."

Fun as always.The Princess Diaries always make me feel better so I'm usually reading them when I'm kind of sad or depressed.Like this whole week.Today was my first day of senior year of high school and it was awful.The new school principal changed most of my professors.She also made a new behavior/dressing codex & stuff like that.Ugh,can this week get any worse?

description

Thankfully,this book lightened my mood.However,both Mia and Lilly were a bit annoying sometimes so I'm giving this book 4 stars.Can't wait to read the next one.

Favourite quotes:

"I only invited Michael to both the dinner and the party.Everyone else,including Lilly, is just invited to the party. Hello, how unromantic would that be, to have your birthday dinner with your mom, your stepdad, your real dad, your grandma,your bodyguard, your boyfriend and his sister. At least I was able to narrow it down a little."

“I can command the Royal Genovian Air Force," Grandmère supposedly replied. "As well as the Royal Genovian Navy. But the one thing in the world I have no control over, Helen, is your womb. Now come along.”
Profile Image for Shannon A.
686 reviews529 followers
August 9, 2015
This one was cute. Mia was a bit melodramatic about the prom but that's Mia. lol If it weren't for Michael, I might not be as patient with her but I have to remember she's still a freshman even though we are 5 books in. These books are so cute and adorable, can't wait to read the next one :)
Profile Image for Ardent Reader.
221 reviews262 followers
November 1, 2018
I quite enjoyed the drama of Mia and her Grandmere.
The fact that I dislike in the story is that Mia had taken a big deal in attending to the prom.
Other than that I enjoyed the book as usual.
Profile Image for Mayra Sigwalt.
Author 2 books2,264 followers
March 2, 2016
Estou em dúvida ainda se 3.5 ou 4.

Nesse livro a Mia está menos pentelha que no último e ADOREI ver ela batendo de frente com a Lilly, que convenhamos é a pior amiga da face da Terra.
MAS acho q esse livro é bem uma transição do posicionamento infantil e inseguro dela, para algo mais adulta. O problema é q mais uma vez a gente passou um bom tempo com a Mia achando isso e aquilo e surtando, ao invés de se posicionar. A gente pensa q dps do q ela aprendeu no último livro isso não ia acontecer tanto mais. Gostaria tanto de ver ela amadurecendo como pessoa e no relacionamento tbm...
Profile Image for Nev.
1,259 reviews180 followers
May 28, 2020
Another very fun installment in the series. I'm excited to continue on because I think this might have been the last Princess Diaries book that I read back in the day.
Profile Image for ✶Rachelle✶ .
266 reviews138 followers
June 21, 2018
3 stars

Mia's neurosis, while entertaining, is starting to rub me the wrong way (). Also, 5 books to get through one year in the story is a bit much. I'm glad the others coming up are a bit more spread out.

But honestly, when it comes down to it, the real reason I'm here for this is to read Royal Wedding =D
Profile Image for Bruna Miranda.
Author 13 books786 followers
August 23, 2017
Eu não sei o que acontece: eu gosto da série, mas a Mia é tão imatura, tão problemática. Tem muitas frases e atitudes dela que me incomodaram nesse livro e eu ainda tenho esperanças dela amadurecer e crescer como personagem.
Profile Image for Kasia, co z tymi książkami?.
267 reviews1,193 followers
February 19, 2024
Kiedyś nie zwracałam na to uwagi, ale podoba mi się, że tyle jest wątków odnośnie walki o prawa człowieka, pracownicze, tematów klasowości, praw kobiet w tej serii. Nadal zdarzają się okropne fragmenty, ale ogólnie ten vibe się utrzymuje.

/ re-read po angielsku

And, of course, a Tiffany’s charm bracelet with a charm that says Property of Michael Moscovitz on it that I could wear everywhere I go and so the next time some European prince asks me to dance at a ball I can hold up the bracelet and be all, ‘Sorry, can’t you read? I belong to Michael Moscovitz.
- serio, Mia??
Profile Image for Alaina.
6,682 reviews213 followers
January 6, 2018
Now I can see why they didn't make anymore movies from this series. Also helps that when Anne Hathaway played Mia she wasn't fucking whiny all the god damn time.

I have no idea how I even got through this book but I'm having a feeling that I will need a bottle of wine while I read every other book in this series.

I liked Mia in the first book but now she's just so annoying. So, Mia whines a lot about going to prom in Princess in Pink and I don't understand why! I only went to my senior prom and trust me it was boring af. I don't get the whole school dance thing because you only really have fun at the after parties. Meh, maybe it's just me?

Besides Mia being annoying, her friends are annoying too. This whole book was annoying. I don't even know how many times I wanted to throw this book or I rolled my eyes. Even though I know there are more books in this series that I want to read just so I can say I read this entire series - I also really want this to be the last book. Please pray for me.

Profile Image for Lauryn.
61 reviews70 followers
April 29, 2019
O.W.L.S MAGICAL READATHON 2019 | BOOK #10| HISTORY OF MAGIC (Published at least 10 years ago)

This was just what I needed to get out of my book slump
Profile Image for Sara Saif.
545 reviews214 followers
May 1, 2016

So this one was all about Mia’s heartfelt desire to go to prom with Michael which, in her opinion, would bring her one step closer to achieving self-actualization. (*insert scoffing sound*) Every book in a series has its protagonist facing great adversities. The enemy gets bigger and badder with each installment. In the Princess Diaries series, however, the “difficulties” Mia faces are:


1-Who is going to take me to the Cultural Diversity Dance?
2-Ditto Nondenominational Winter Dance.
3-Will I ever get a boyfriend?
4-Will I be able to have my first date with Michael?
And now Ladies and Gentleman, this:
5-WILL MICHAEL ASK ME TO GO TO PROM WITH HIM? WELL? WILL HE? WILL HE?
LOL. This stuff is so dumb, I love it.

All it took was the mere mentioning of prom by Shameeka, Mia’s friend, and that did it. Boy did she make use of EVERY WAKING MOMENT to obsess over it! She had this really really REALLY satisfying (for me) conversation with Lily about it in which Lily said everything I wanted to hear. She told Mia that her vegetarian diet was messing with her brain and she was going nuts and when Mia ranted about her life’s problems Lily said LIKE A BOSS,” You forgot to complain about your grandmother.”



I think at this point it is totally useless to repeat what I have already said about a thousand times already. I remember saying that I would “patiently” wait for Mia’s character growth. Scratch that. Scratch it real hard. Scratch it over and over again. All my patience has been flushed down the drain. I am past the point where I would actually care what she thinks or what she does. I have been pushed past my limits for her idiocy so many times that I have become immune to it. Like I said, the dumber it gets the more determined I become to finish this series.



The whole Boris/Lily thing was actually interesting. Lily was such a jerk-ass in this one. Mia’s writing got no further than the school menu, Rocky Thermopolis-Gianini was born, Tina and Boris got together and of course, Mia got to go to prom. The pattern of these books has become quite clear now. Obviously the writer knew she was going to write a lot of books so she made sure that as little as possible happens in each one. Aside from people getting together or people breaking up, what essentially happens is that Mia finds a new thing in each book to whine about, she whines about it while disregarding every good thing that has happened to her then she gets what she wants in the end. Rinse repeat.






Despite hating Mia’s guts, I kept reading and that is why it gets 3 stars. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go read the next book.


Profile Image for Nasty Lady MJ.
1,090 reviews16 followers
February 1, 2015
To see full binge for books 4, 41/3, 4 1/2, and 5 click here.

What I Remembered:

Really hating Lilly in this installment and not really feeling Toris.

What I Got:

Really hating Lilly. Finding Toris a lot more tolerable and believable. And finding Mia almost as intolerable as Lilly in this installment.

In fact, if I wanted to, I could have a drinking game every time Lilly or Mia annoyed me. I get that they’re fourteen/fifteen year old girls, but both of them need a good swift kick in the pants to reality.

To be fair though, I did enjoy Princess in Pink a lot more than I remembered.

I had some nice things going for it.

For one, it had an actual plot (unlike Princess in Waiting) and their was some slight character development in this book.

I think the best thing about this one was Michael. Sometimes I really wonder how he tolerates Mia so much though, because her neurosis is full blown in this one.

He really must be the master of zen.

The supporting characters though really carried this novel, save for Grandmere. I think this is the point where she starts developing into almost a caricature of sorts. But you could argue that about all the characters to a certain degree. Especially Lilly and Mia.

I keep complaining about them…I guess I should discuss them.

Lilly is just a horrible person. It’s a conclusion I came to a long time ago with these books, though she does have an entertaining moment or two when she’s not stuffing her tongue down some random guy’s throat. In this book, we don’t see those entertaining quirks since she’s mostly sticking her throat down some guy’s throat.

Add to it, that Mia is sort of slut slamming her friend at the end with this little gem:

Tina just called. She is kvelling over getting to go to the prom. It is, she says, like a dream come true. I told her I couldn’t agree more. She asked me how I thought we’d come to be so lucky.

I told her: Because we are both kind and pure of heart (237).


Look, I get Lilly was really stupid in this installment. But as her best friend Mia shouldn’t quasi dis her to Tina with that stupid pure of heart trash. Then again, this is the girl that obsesses about her virginity to the point where she calls it her precious gift.

And plus, it’s just prom.

I think this is me being no longer fifteen. Maybe I could’ve agreed with Mia back then-maybe not.

Despite my grievances with two of the characters, I did find this installment to be a huge improvement over Princess in Waiting. It’s fun and light, and actually has a plot.
Profile Image for Claire - The Coffeeholic Bookworm.
1,255 reviews113 followers
August 25, 2015
This time around, Princess Mia looks forward to having the best dance of her life. By going to the prom. With her boyfriend, Michael. But the big problem is: Michael doesn’t want anything to do with prom.

Then there’s Grandmere who fires a busboy after something happens to her pet pooch. A strike among busboys ensue and soon Grandmere finds herself lodging in with Mia’s mom under one roof. Sounds exciting, eh? Oh but there’s more! Wait till you hear Mia’s moms exciting baby news!

After a while, you’d think I’ll get tired of reading Princess Diaries. But no. As long as I have this series in my shelf, I intend to finish them. My own sons even commented about my passion for reading this series. They thought I’m already too old for fairytales. Ouch, that quite stings!

But then, I realized, kids are being kids and they already have a lot of opinions when it comes to the books they read. As young as they are (my sons are 10 and 8, respectively), they already know which books make them happy and which ones would make them roll their eyes. In this case, when they see me gawking and controlling my laughter, they retort, “Mom’s being childish again,” and then they will tell me, “It’s okay Mom, if that makes you happy, go on…”

So there, Princess Amelia Migonette Thermopolis Renaldo, aka Mia, makes me happy. I don’t care much anymore if she’s too smitten with her boyfriend or too absorbed in her royal duties. Others might say, she’s too good to be true. But that’s exactly what I want in a princess. Not perfect, not too aristocratic, not too shabby either. Mia and her cohorts make the Princess Diaries more exciting and exhilarating to read!
Profile Image for kari.
851 reviews
February 10, 2015
I'm reading this series in preparation for the Royal Wedding, the first adult novel about Mia, which is coming soon. I didn't start this series as an adolescent so my take on it is different then teen readers, but I think Cabot does have the emotions and hopes and dreams just right, or as I remember them anyway. The Prom is a big deal when you are in high school. And Mia wants to go.
Even though she sees that she's lucky and most of her life is, at least for a moment, going well, she is pining for a chance to go to the Prom with her boyfriend. She says she has dreamed of it her whole life. And while this may seem silly, I think it also rings true.
Mia's grandmother, as usual, causes problems for her, unintentionally perhaps in this case, but still, the repercussions, while funny, also move the story along.
I do have some trouble wondering why Mia continues to be friends with Lilly, who has in general been a bad friend, but in this book, takes that to a whole new level. Didn't much care for how she behaved, but hopefully in future books, she will do better toward Mia. Or Mia finds a new a better friend. Your friend should never put you down or humiliate you.
Great, fun read.
Profile Image for Sammy .
175 reviews19 followers
April 26, 2020
I'm going to end this series right here for myself for now. It was a nice ending, however I struggled reading this as the author kept preaching about how Mia wanted to be Michael's 'property'.

I mean I know it was a different mindset 15 years ago but never once have I at any age wanted to be a man's property, its so objectifying and really put me off this series!
Profile Image for Ryanne.
19 reviews
July 24, 2008
just read the other reviews. i'm tired of typing. and trying to spell things correctly.
Profile Image for Lena.
421 reviews389 followers
September 3, 2023
Thank God that prom isn't a thing where I come from.
I mean, we kind of had a prom, but that was also the day we got our diplomas, so everybody was just waiting for that.

It was in the town hall, which really isn't anything special either. Of course, we still dressed up fancy, because who doesn't love to dress fancy? But that's about it.

Tragic, I know. I don't think I missed out on much, though, like all the drama, which seems totally insane, or maybe that’s just Mia Thermopolis, who, to be fair, creates drama from anything.

But it wouldn’t be the Princess Diary’s series if there wasn’t a ridiculous amount of totally unnecessary drama going on.

However, compared to the other books, Princess in Pink is pretty tame.

Mia’s relationship with Michael is going great, her friends are amazing, except Lily of course, but what's new and the best thing is that Mia finally stands up for herself.

Really, everything was going so well that it was almost too good. I was glad when Mia started acting stupid again. Or I was glad for about 5 seconds and then I wanted to slap some sense into her so that she would finally talk to Michael.

Princess in Pink is definitely my favorite book in the series so far.

I haven’t read anything as addicting as this in a while (which is probably saying more about my questionable reading taste than this book, but oh well) and I can't wait to read more.
Profile Image for Ruby Rose.
269 reviews75 followers
May 14, 2020
Clean again! Thank you Meg Cabot! I read this one mostly this morning, because I really like this one. I mean who wouldn't, Mia is obsessed about prom, and Michael is not. So she has to figure that out, then the whole birthday incident with Grandmère! Lily and Boris. I mean are you kidding me. GREATEST BOOK EVER! I think this book would be appropriate for 13 and up because of some concepts, but not many.
Profile Image for Darla.
4,095 reviews954 followers
July 28, 2018
With each installment, Mia has had an obsession. This time is was going to prom with Michael. Once again her self-actualization depends on getting this one thing. Since I am no longer fifteen, I have a hard time going to that place. I do have memories of my own teen years and I'm sure fifteen-year-old me had her own similar musings and fixations. Entertaining twists.
Profile Image for Hannah.
14 reviews1 follower
January 15, 2008
Ack, this was dreadful. I don't suppose it helps that I read it right after Pride and Prejudice, but even so. I know it's meant for children, but the previous four weren't this bad.
Profile Image for Dayla.
2,593 reviews212 followers
April 14, 2023
The more I read this series, the more I realize how awful Mia's best friend is. I think that's one of the main things I remember about this book (since I'm writing this review a month later and I barely remember what it was about.)

I do remember being a little frustrated, not just with Mia and Michael, but also with the idea that so many people call her annoying and whiny and completely forgetting that she is...fifteen. She is literally a child who can't help but think that she wants this magical night at prom with her older boyfriend before he heads off to college. (Let's not comment on the creepy age gap, again, because Michael actually comments on how he knew the age gap would present issues down the line.)

I totally forgot to mention this because these books are kind of forgettable: There was a completely horrible conversation about Autism in this book. It both really dated this series and gave me such a sour taste of the ignorance surrounding Autism. It shows how much more has come to light in the years since this series came out.

I'm going to continue reading this series, but I also have to occasionally remind myself that Mia is fifteen, going through a tumultuous high school experience, and is constantly trying to navigate the tricky world of relationships (both with her older boyfriend and her bitch of a best friend.)

Happy reading!
Profile Image for Audrey.
110 reviews
August 4, 2009
Mia really, really, really, REALLY wants to go to prom with Michael. But Michael thinks prom is beyond idiotic. So she's upset. Essentially, this book is about Mia wanting to go to prom with Michael, and Lilly cheating on her boyfriend initially with a busboy that Grandmere got fired, creating a city-wide strike, and eventually breaking up with Boris, who ends up dumping a globe on his head to try to get her back, but then he ends up with Tina, so that's okay. But Lilly gets really mad, which is kinda funny. I think that Lilly needs to realize that the world doesn't revolve around her. I mean, she just takes everything for granted. Like her friendship with Mia, I mean, seriously? Mia does everything that Lilly wants her to do. It's kinda annoying. Now, I'm not saying that the rest of us don't do that sometimes but still. So, Lilly has a new boyfriend. And since she created the strike, the prom is cancelled, making everyone even more upset. But then Grandmere pulls through and Mia is able to book Skinner Box, Michael's band, to play at the prom, so they get a gig and Mia gets to go to prom, even if she doesn't get to dance with Michael because he's playing, which I think is really stupid, and why would she even bother to go to prom? Like honestly, if you can't even dance with your boyfriend, then why bother??? Oh, and also in the middle of prom her mom has a baby, so then Mia has a little baby brother named Rocky, which is just adorable. And she essentially wants to raise him to be Michael, except prom loving.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sheida.
607 reviews109 followers
November 8, 2015
Next to Harry Potter, Princess Mia Thermopolis was probably the most formative literary character of my childhood. I remember being 13 and relating to every single word that was written in these books and feeling as though they were /my/ diaries and not Mia's. However, not surprisingly, reading them at 25 does not have quite the same impact. I no longer relate to Mia's self-centered obsessions about prom and I certainly no longer find Boris' manipulative self-destructive declaration of love even remotely romantic, but I do somewhat remember what it felt like to be 15 and oh so dramatic about /everything/. While the 10 year age difference between Mia and I does make me shake my head at quite a lot of the notions in the book, it doesn't make me dislike it. I view it as a window into the mind of the pretty oblivious and ignorant 15 year old that I used to be and it makes me all the more excited to continue with my re-read and to be reminded of how Mia grows up. Overall, if it wasn't for the sake of nostalgia, I would give this 3 stars but ... I just can't bring myself to do that tbh.

EDIT: However, these covers are UGLY AS HECK, I'm glad my books have the old cartoon drawing of Mia and Fat Louie on the cover.
Profile Image for Isa (Pages Full of Stars).
1,163 reviews111 followers
July 30, 2016
A re-read for the read-along with Alina :)

It's my first time re-reading these books since I read them as a teenager and it's interesting to see how differently I react to them. However, I have to say that I definitely don't like the series as much as I used to and this book has been the worst so far.

I don't like how Meg Cabot mentioned Asperger's syndrome here. Apart from that, Mia was even more irritating than before and I don't even know what to say about Lilly. The plot seems pointless too, since Mia is making such a huge deal of a prom which is not even hers in the first place.
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