Princess lessons, algebra problems, catastrophic teen embarrassment, and one of the most iconic surprise royal reveals in YA history - now in graphic novel form.
📚 Pre-Reading Thoughts
Honestly, it’s almost impossible at this point to separate The Princess Diaries from The Princess Diaries Movie in my brain. The film versions of the characters have become so culturally embedded that I was really curious to see how the graphic adaptation would handle that balance: familiar enough to trigger nostalgia, but distinct enough to feel like its own interpretation.
And honestly? Princess Week demanded this.
📖 Post-Reading
As I thought…
- This is a genuinely fun adaptation. It keeps all the awkwardness, humour, and chaotic teenage energy that made the original story work so well.
- Bethany Crandail’s art does a great job of making the characters recognisable without simply copying the film actors outright. They feel inspired by the movie versions while still existing comfortably in their own visual style.
- The format really suits Mia’s internal chaos. The diary-style narration, exaggerated reactions, and social disasters all translate beautifully into graphic storytelling.
It surprised me by…
- How strongly the original novel’s structure came back to me. I’d completely forgotten that the first book doesn’t tie things up in the neat, emotionally satisfying way the film does. The adaptation keeps that more open-ended, “life keeps going” feeling.
- How visually expressive everything is. The humour lands especially well because the art fully commits to Mia’s mortification at all times.
- How much affection the adaptation clearly has for the source material. It never feels cynical or overly modernised; it just leans into what made the books beloved in the first place.
And honestly, revisiting Mia as a character is delightful because she remains so spectacularly teenager-shaped. Dramatic, earnest, self-conscious, funny, and convinced every social interaction is potentially fatal.
🎧 Music Pairing
🎵 Featured Song:
Miracles Happen — because legally, spiritually, and emotionally it belongs here.
🎶 Vibe Album:
A Walk to Remember — peak early-2000s teen movie emotional atmosphere.
🎧 Artist Recommendation:
Hilary Duff — unapologetic teen nostalgia energy.
🌈 Vibe Check
- Colour Palette: baby pink, sky blue, silver glitter, notebook paper white
- Soundtrack: locker doors slamming, frantic diary scribbling, makeover montage music
- Season: early autumn at the start of the school year
- Mood: nostalgic, chaotic, heartfelt, delightfully awkward
- Scent: lip gloss, school notebooks, expensive perfume in royal limousines
🃏 Tarot Pull
Page of Cups
Teenage emotional chaos, unexpected opportunities, awkward sincerity, and stumbling into a bigger world before you feel remotely prepared for it. Mia is Page of Cups energy.
👀 For fans of
- The Princess Diaries
- Heartstopper for expressive graphic adaptation energy
- chaotic coming-of-age stories where the protagonist would really just like one normal day
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