The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Title : The Princess Diaries

Author : Meg Cabot

Genre : Young Adult / Chick-lit

Price : Rs 499

ISBN : 0061479934

Publisher : Harper Teen

Total no. of titles in the series : 17 (includes novels, novellas and companion books)

First Published : 2000

Summary : Mia Thermopolis has many things to worry about – a best friend who produces a TV show, and is stalked by a weird guy who has a fetish for shoes, the fact that her crush, the most popular boy in school, Josh Richter only has eyes for Lana Weinberger, her arch-enemy, and a mother who is dating her Algebra teacher – without having to find out that she is not Mia Thermopolis.

She is Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, the princess of Genovia. Her paternal grandmother, the Dowager Princess of Genovia arrives in New York to groom her into a proper princess who, Mia soon finds out, has to be everything that she is not.

Excerpt :

Lilly says Josh's synapses were probably misfiring that day, due to heatstroke or something. She said he probably thought I looked familiar but couldn't place my face without the cement block walls of Albert Einstein High behind me. Why else, she asked, would the most popular senior in high school say hey to me, Mia Thermopolis, a lowly freshman? But I know it wasn't heatstroke. The truth is, when he's away from Lana and all his jock friends, Josh is a totally different person. The kind of person who doesn't care if a girl is flat-chested or wears size-ten shoes. The kind of person who can see beyond all that into the depths of a girl's soul. I know because when I looked into his eyes that day at Bigelows, I saw the deeply sensitive person inside him, struggling to get out.

Lilly says I have an overactive imagination and a pathological need to invent drama in my life. She says the fact that I'm so upset about my mom and Mr. G is a classic example.

Sudeshna's take : The Princess Diaries is a humorous and engaging take on the life of a New York city high school student, but with a twist. While there are the regular challenges of school life that Mia has to deal with, the additional pressure of finding out that she is a princess plunges her into unknown territories, which becomes the life of the novel. The characters are well-built to add to a fast-paced plot, and there isn't a single dull page in the book. In fact, I finished it in one sitting.

The format makes the book easy to read, and teen-aged girls will adore this book once they get hold of it. Although the story may sound a bit off-landish at first, Ms Cabot has crafted the story so well that everything becomes more than believable.

It is one of those stories that you will want to read again and again. I'd say, do read it!

Rating : 4.5/5.0

Avalon High: The Merlin Prophecy (A Graphic Novel by Meg Cabot)

1st PUBLISHED: 2007

ISBN: 978-0-330-45316-5

BEST SELLERS: The Princess Diaries, the Mediator Series, Teen Idol, Tommy Sullivan is a Freak, the Airhead Trilogy

SYNOPSIS:

Life’s been pretty exciting for Ellie since she joined Avalon High. She is doing great at school, she’s a star of the track team- and, oh yeah, she’s dating the super hot class president, Will, who also happens to be the alleged reincarnation of King Arthur.

Ellie isn’t sure she really believes Will is a reincarnated king- and Will finds it a stretch too. But their doubts might prevent an age of enlightenment – and the Merlin Prophecy- from coming about. And whatever they believe, their lives are definitely in danger…


ARPITA SPEAKS:

Presenting, a graphic novel that is actually as ridiculous as it seems to be. (No offence intended.) After reading Avalon High as a novel, I had a few expectations from its sequel…Manga style (an apparent hybrid of American and Japanese comics). And believe you me each and every one of them was dashed. Divided into three sections, this book makes you wonder why you ever picked it up in the first place.

The first chapter takes you through the story of Avalon High, the novel, so that you have some clue as to what’s going on here; although, to be quite frank, there’s nothing really going on. Based on an Arthurian legend, Avalon High: the Merlin Prophecy introduces you to Will Wagner- the reincarnated King Arthur- and Ellie Harrison, the reincarnated Lady of the Lake, his supposed protector.

While Will’s best friend Lance takes on the role of the handsome knight Sir Lancelot, Will’s ex-girlfriend Jennifer is assumed to be King Arthur’s wife Guinevere (who had allegedly fallen in love with the knight). Come in Marco, Will’s step brother. Who, according to Merlin (read: Ellie’s history teacher Mr. Morton) “couldn’t help trying to kill his half brother, any more than Mordred couldn’t help killing King Arthur”. The second part reveals the whole point of writing this sequel: the Merlin Prophecy, which states that “in order for Camelot-like peacefulness to reign once again over the planet…the reincarnation of Arthur must believe he is truly a king.’’

There’s some babble about the homecoming, by when Will must accept his fate or the world will be plunged into darkness and evil will take over. The third section ends before the action has started and leaves you partly frustrated and partly relieved. (That it’s over.) Read it if you must. It’s something you can go through if you’re stuck in class and need to keep yourself from falling asleep. (Thank heavens I only borrowed it.)

RATING: 1.5

PRICE: Rs199/- (Narayan’s BNM, Dehradun)

Abandon - Meg Cabot

Abandon
(Book one of the Abandon trilogy)

ISBN 978-0-330-45386-8
First Printed - 2011

AUTHOR - Meg Cabot

BEST SELLERS - every boy's got one, when boy meets girl.

SYNOPSIS - Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera knows what happens to us when we die(ooo do tell). That’s how she met John Hayden, the mysterious stranger who’s made returning to normal life—or at least life as Pierce knew it before the accident—next to impossible. Though she thought she escaped him—starting a new school in a whole new place—it turns out she was wrong. He finds her. What does John want from her? Pierce thinks she knows… just like she knows he’s no guardian angel, and his dark world isn’t exactly heaven. But she can’t stay away from him, either, especially since he’s always there when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. But if she let’s herself fall any further, she might find herself back in the place she fears most. And when Pierce discovers the shocking truth, that’s exactly where John sweeps her: The Underworld.


EXCERPT - Anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Anything at all.
One.
Two.
Three.
Blink.
A girl is laughing with her friends.Suddenly, a crater splits apart the earth. Through it bursts
a man in an ink black chariot forged in the deepest pits of
hell, drawn by stallions with hooves of steel and eyes of
flame.Before anyone can shout a warning, before the girl can
turn and run, those thundering hooves are upon her.
The girl isn’t laughing anymore. Instead, she’s
screaming.

Ria Speaks - When i first read the blurb for this book i was so excited, in an era where vampires & werewolves are 75% of what is written today here came a book by one of my favourite authors (don't judge me) who was writing about something that has always fascinated the world, "The Greek Gods''. A modern day look at Persephone and Hades is what attracted me to this book (plus its cool goth cover ) but boy did i learn the truth of the saying ''never judge a book by its cover''.
The book which just released over a month or so ago starts off fine giving us a little information about Pierce and her family, but then suddenly she starts referring to the ''Bad Accident'' (i mean seriously how about a clue as to what happened) and is suddenly running out of her own party cycling down to the graveyard where she first met ''Him''. The worst part about the starting of the book is that she keeps on talking as if we know what exactly happened and who ''He'' is and why she is behaving in the strangest way possible.
However the book never picks up pace though the slowly unravel the mystery as to why she is always so edgy. Though things did look up for a bit when Prince charming arrives or as she says ''Prince Terrifying'', he is everything a girl REALLY wants- leather jacket, dark scowl, dark grey eyes i mean come on who cant help but fall in love? But sadly the arrival of John Hayden doesn't improve anything for the book though she does keep mentioning how she was flat lined for over an hour and how her mother and her share a love for birds nothing really comes out of the first 100 pages of the book and the book is only 300 pages long.
Pierce goes through her normal teenage problems of new school (she had to move after her ''accident'') meeting new people, etc. We finally get to the crux of the story where she explains how she drowned(phew now was that sooo hard to say?) and how she went to purogratory which is where she meets John( who BTW rides a dark black angry steed) and takes up his offer to dry her self off( she drowned remember, apparently you still stay wet in purogratory). So after drying herself does she find out that she has died and has to stay there forever which she obviously doesn't like so she runs away through a door which was left open( are you kidding me, is this the underworld or somebodies playhouse?). Which is how she came back to life.
Well the story progresses where she finds out that she actually is in love with John( surprise surprise) and that furies(evil spirits out to kill the god of death) are after her, and one of her own are out to kill her. So at the end John spirits her back to the underworld from where she starts to look for ways to get out only this time he had locked all the doors( smart boy that one).
This book had promised to be so much and more but turned out quite the bore. Maybe Meg Cabot should stick to what she's best at ''Rom-Com's'' or maybe the trilogy's will be better whose to know?

My Rating - 1.5 out of 5. Sad but true.

Price- 299/- at Landmark Chennai, or 179/- @ flipkart.com