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The Princess Diaries #6.5
The Princess Present
Mia would give all the jewels in Genovia for the perfect present
Every year, Princess Mia spends the holidays in Genovia with Grandmère. This year, she's looking forward to the most perfect Christmas ever: her boyfriend, Michael, and her best friend, Lilly, are coming to Genovia, too.
But even a princess's plans can go awry. Lilly has a lot to learn about palace protocol, and with all the state holiday functions Mia must attend, there's no time to linger under the mistletoe with Michael. Worst of all, Mia hasn't been able to find him the perfect gift.
Can Mia stop her (bah-hum)bugging long enough to see that the perfect present has nothing to do with international express courier -- and everything to do with real love? (Though some shiny silver ribbon never hurts ...)
Every year, Princess Mia spends the holidays in Genovia with Grandmère. This year, she's looking forward to the most perfect Christmas ever: her boyfriend, Michael, and her best friend, Lilly, are coming to Genovia, too.
But even a princess's plans can go awry. Lilly has a lot to learn about palace protocol, and with all the state holiday functions Mia must attend, there's no time to linger under the mistletoe with Michael. Worst of all, Mia hasn't been able to find him the perfect gift.
Can Mia stop her (bah-hum)bugging long enough to see that the perfect present has nothing to do with international express courier -- and everything to do with real love? (Though some shiny silver ribbon never hurts ...)
85 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
43 people are currently reading
7501 people want to read
About the author
Meg Cabot
184 books35.4k followersLibrarian 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
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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 379 reviews
May 29, 2015
Loved this! It was so much fun reading about all the crazy stuff that Mia and her friends got into in such a short period of time. Plus it was cool to read about Michael and Lilly in Genovia! I love any story about Christmas and I thought it was really cute how Mia and Michael got each other's gifts!
January 3, 2016
Probably my favourite Princess Diaries novella.
I actually love reading about Genovia and Mia spending time there with her Grandmère.And,even though I think that Lily is insufferable most of the time,I found her actions in this book extremely funny and entertaining.Michael is purr-fect,as always.Love the balcony scene and,of course,the gift exchange scene. ♥
I actually love reading about Genovia and Mia spending time there with her Grandmère.And,even though I think that Lily is insufferable most of the time,I found her actions in this book extremely funny and entertaining.Michael is purr-fect,as always.Love the balcony scene and,of course,the gift exchange scene. ♥
August 14, 2015
A fun quick read however the more I read this series I just don't understand why Mia is friends with Lilly.
February 20, 2023
Nie znoszę Lily, jest okropną przyjaciółką. Najgorszą wręcz.
March 8, 2015
See my entire binge read of this book and books 6-7 1/2 here.
Hmmm, probably my least favorite novella.
And you want to know why.
Lilly.
The phrase you want to tell Lilly throughout the entire book.
If I were Grandmere, I’d throw her in the dungeon. She basically caused an international incident. Mia should remember this for future reference (cough, wedding planning, cough).
If you could get pass the Lilly hate in this one, the plot was pretty simple. It was basically a redux of “The Gift of the Magi”. Which isn’t exactly my favorite story ever, but whatever. It was Michael and Mia playing the rolls in the story so it made it a little bit more tolerable.
I think this short story is probably one of the better representations of Genovia that the book gives. It is, admittedly, a little bit over the top. However, unlike Princess Diaries 2 it still resembles a country enough where you don’t want to call fail.
It probably helps that there are no singing maids in this book.
If you like your novellas being a little over the top, you might like The Princess Present. It’s pretty solid, despite the fact Lilly gets on my nerves and there’s some points Genovia goes borderline singing maid.
Hmmm, probably my least favorite novella.
And you want to know why.
Lilly.
The phrase you want to tell Lilly throughout the entire book.
If I were Grandmere, I’d throw her in the dungeon. She basically caused an international incident. Mia should remember this for future reference (cough, wedding planning, cough).
If you could get pass the Lilly hate in this one, the plot was pretty simple. It was basically a redux of “The Gift of the Magi”. Which isn’t exactly my favorite story ever, but whatever. It was Michael and Mia playing the rolls in the story so it made it a little bit more tolerable.
I think this short story is probably one of the better representations of Genovia that the book gives. It is, admittedly, a little bit over the top. However, unlike Princess Diaries 2 it still resembles a country enough where you don’t want to call fail.
It probably helps that there are no singing maids in this book.
If you like your novellas being a little over the top, you might like The Princess Present. It’s pretty solid, despite the fact Lilly gets on my nerves and there’s some points Genovia goes borderline singing maid.
January 29, 2016
LILLY IS THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD. Mia needs to dump her asap.
June 6, 2022
Reread on June 5, 2022: The royal name-dropping REALLY does not work here considering recent revelations, but oh well. As always, I remain Michael’s #1 fan.
January 27, 2018
Okay, so I finished this book around January 14th... AND I'm just now getting time to write the review. Talk about being super freaking busy. Stupid life and work getting in the way of reviews. Have no fear - Alaina is here and I am going to write reviews for all of the books that I've read and never got the chance to write a good/bad review for the entire month of January!
Okay, so The Princess Present was a very short novella and I loved every second of it because it was short . I'm trying really hard not to read anymore books from this series because I just cannot handle or deal with Mia being annoying allllllllll the god damn time. To top it all off, she was the only one annoying me in this book. Nope, there's freaking Lilly now. Can I just get one book out of this entire series where a character doesn't rub me the wrong way? PLEASE?
Then there's Michael, who I really don't care about. The whole gift exchange was meh and super predictable. I'm glad this book is over. I'm ecstatic that my last book in this series (that I'm going to read this month/year/decade/ever?) was a freaking novella.
Okay, so The Princess Present was a very short novella and I loved every second of it because it was short . I'm trying really hard not to read anymore books from this series because I just cannot handle or deal with Mia being annoying allllllllll the god damn time. To top it all off, she was the only one annoying me in this book. Nope, there's freaking Lilly now. Can I just get one book out of this entire series where a character doesn't rub me the wrong way? PLEASE?
Then there's Michael, who I really don't care about. The whole gift exchange was meh and super predictable. I'm glad this book is over. I'm ecstatic that my last book in this series (that I'm going to read this month/year/decade/ever?) was a freaking novella.
March 5, 2016
3.5 stars rounded to 4 because it made me laugh.
I read the 'Party Princess' before reading this and after reading this book, I don't see that it really fit in the order she put it. This book feels like it should have come after Party Princess instead of before.
That aside ^ I love Mia's love for Buffy and that she has the action figures. I never knew there were action figures, but I've always been a fan of Buffy.
Lilly is annoying and a pain in the ass like always. I don't understand why Mia is friends with her, I mean seriously. She's rude, bossy, whiny, bitchy and most of all ungrateful. She expects things handed to her or to go her way. She doesn't like sharing the spot light even though she isn't popular. She isn't worth the effort required. I mean who in their right mind playing f'n strip 'bowling' while there's a party for royals going on upstairs. WTF?
The present debacle gave me a good chuckle. Michael is adorable as always. Lilly needs to pull her head out of her ass and act as smart as she is supposed to be. Idiot.
I read the 'Party Princess' before reading this and after reading this book, I don't see that it really fit in the order she put it. This book feels like it should have come after Party Princess instead of before.
That aside ^ I love Mia's love for Buffy and that she has the action figures. I never knew there were action figures, but I've always been a fan of Buffy.
Lilly is annoying and a pain in the ass like always. I don't understand why Mia is friends with her, I mean seriously. She's rude, bossy, whiny, bitchy and most of all ungrateful. She expects things handed to her or to go her way. She doesn't like sharing the spot light even though she isn't popular. She isn't worth the effort required. I mean who in their right mind playing f'n strip 'bowling' while there's a party for royals going on upstairs. WTF?
The present debacle gave me a good chuckle. Michael is adorable as always. Lilly needs to pull her head out of her ass and act as smart as she is supposed to be. Idiot.
March 16, 2021
Absolutely hilarious, and a sheer joy to read!
ETA 10 years later: This book is a really cute Princess Diaries take on Gift of the Magi, and it’s a lot of fun seeing Mia princessing around with other young royals. In fact, I think the relationship with the other princes and princesses was really worth exploring more. Lilly remains an utterly reprehensible human being, but at least Mia is finally cottoning on to that fact and not putting up with her BS. The best part was the juxtaposition of American tourists with Grandmere.
ETA 10 years later: This book is a really cute Princess Diaries take on Gift of the Magi, and it’s a lot of fun seeing Mia princessing around with other young royals. In fact, I think the relationship with the other princes and princesses was really worth exploring more. Lilly remains an utterly reprehensible human being, but at least Mia is finally cottoning on to that fact and not putting up with her BS. The best part was the juxtaposition of American tourists with Grandmere.
June 21, 2011
What I Find Tiring:
*Lilly being awful in every way
*Mia being so clueless and stupid that she never realizes what is happening, even as she writes the obvious clues in her diary
*Meg Cabot thinking this technique is funny
*Lilly being awful in every way
*Mia being so clueless and stupid that she never realizes what is happening, even as she writes the obvious clues in her diary
*Meg Cabot thinking this technique is funny
July 28, 2018
I don’t like Lilly and I’m tired of her character...
March 21, 2019
This was cute. What the hell was up with Lily? So disrespectful. But yay cats =)
May 5, 2020
Lilly es de los personajes MÁS MOLESTOS que existen, no entiendo por qué Mia sigue siendo su amiga wtf.
June 25, 2020
LOL..
September 26, 2025
So fun and cutesy
August 10, 2020
Not one of my favorite of Mrs. Cabot's books. I mean this one is the cleanest one of the princess diaries I have encountered, but it was just too quick. It felt like just as I was getting into the story it stopped. If anyone know what that feels like it isn't the best. And I also felt like this one is in such a weird spot. 6 starts the beginning of the school year and then here is christmas. It was just weird. Anyways for the stuff you actually need to know.
PARENT NOTE: One punch thrown at a royal by one of the footman. Other than that only 2 spots that have some kissing in them. You have no need to have reservations about this book. The other princess diaries: Yes. This one: Nope!
CLEAN: Yes.
LANGUAGE: Very little if any.
VIOLENCE: 1 punch thrown, and nobody got hurt. Also the person who did got a consequence.
(When I say "Clean" I am talking about Romance.) Follow/Friend me for more like this!
PARENT NOTE: One punch thrown at a royal by one of the footman. Other than that only 2 spots that have some kissing in them. You have no need to have reservations about this book. The other princess diaries: Yes. This one: Nope!
CLEAN: Yes.
LANGUAGE: Very little if any.
VIOLENCE: 1 punch thrown, and nobody got hurt. Also the person who did got a consequence.
(When I say "Clean" I am talking about Romance.) Follow/Friend me for more like this!
July 7, 2010
I'm a huge Meg Cabot fan. As you all can tell, I'm currently reading all the Princess Diaries novels in order, and believe me, there's so many other books calling, but I'm staying true to Meg. But UGH, this one was not good. It's like the publisher came up to her on summer vacation and said, Meg, you need to do a little stocking stuffer book for your fans and get it to us soon so it'll be out by Christmas. So Meg drank a couple of Grandmere's sidecars and knocked this one out in a couple of days. And what's in it? Feral cats, a Faberge Advent Calendar, a complete assortment of royal families, comical stranded tourists, Mia's friends Michael and Lilly, a game of strip bowling, a nod to "The Gift of the Magi," AACK!!! I can suspend disbelief for some books, but this one, I disbelieved!!
August 19, 2015
I don’t understand what Lilly’s problem is. How can she be so negative?!
And that’s all I’m going to say about her because this novella isn’t about Lilly. It’s about Michael and Mia and their Christmas presents to each other. The Princess Present was basically a retelling of The Gift of the Magi, which is my favorite short story ever, so I really liked this one!
The main strengths of this novella were Michael and Mia’s gift exchange and the funny events at the ball organized by Clarisse. The big weakness: Lilly. This one was short and sweet but I really wanted more Michael and Mia (or you know, just Michael) but hopefully the next book will take care of that.
And that’s all I’m going to say about her because this novella isn’t about Lilly. It’s about Michael and Mia and their Christmas presents to each other. The Princess Present was basically a retelling of The Gift of the Magi, which is my favorite short story ever, so I really liked this one!
The main strengths of this novella were Michael and Mia’s gift exchange and the funny events at the ball organized by Clarisse. The big weakness: Lilly. This one was short and sweet but I really wanted more Michael and Mia (or you know, just Michael) but hopefully the next book will take care of that.
August 30, 2016
Short Review for a Short Review
The ending of this book was the biggest cliche of all time.
Mia bought a gift for Micheal for his favorite thing.
Micheal bought a gift for Mia for her favorite thing.
Give to each other...
Only to find out they both sold their favorite thing to buy the gifts....
LAME
Mia really bothers me in this book thou, you're a freaking princess lady, it's time to act like it. I get it, you're young and want to enjoy life, but you now have things you need to do, so stop thinking about running away from those things to kiss Micheal, and pay attention to what you're doing! ugh.
The ending of this book was the biggest cliche of all time.
Mia bought a gift for Micheal for his favorite thing.
Micheal bought a gift for Mia for her favorite thing.
Give to each other...
Only to find out they both sold their favorite thing to buy the gifts....
LAME
Mia really bothers me in this book thou, you're a freaking princess lady, it's time to act like it. I get it, you're young and want to enjoy life, but you now have things you need to do, so stop thinking about running away from those things to kiss Micheal, and pay attention to what you're doing! ugh.
May 3, 2016
I enjoyed it. I kid you not. I may be going bonkers by the amount of Chick-lit I'm ingesting these days but seriously! It is so tremendously pleasant when Mia's not suffering from CCD {Chronic Complaining Disorder}. Do you know how many times she wailed about life's unfairness in this one? ZERO!!! And compared to what a total lunatic Lily is turning out to be with each book, Mia seemed downright nice; calm and collected and focused on her princess-ly duties. Michael and Lily's stay at Genovia was pretty fun to read. This is how these books are supposed to be; SHORT and TO-THE-POINT.
November 28, 2014
This was a cute novella, the dilemma over the presents between Michael and Mia was very sitcom but cute. I find myself again asking why Lilly is such a jerk and why Mia continues to be friends with her. Surely she must see some redeeming qualities, but why does the reader never get to see them? I was surprised and delighted to see some more softening of Grandmere's character. Ready to move on to the next book!
November 7, 2016
I'm pretty sure it's been over 5 years since I last time read a book from The Princess Diaries series.
Even though I was crazy about it, the 6th sequel was the last one I read.
Not a long time ago I decided to change that, and not quite sure it was a good idea. It's definately not what I remembered.
Couldn't stop thinking for a second how badly I wanted to slap Lilly.
Oh well.
Off to the book 7.
Even though I was crazy about it, the 6th sequel was the last one I read.
Not a long time ago I decided to change that, and not quite sure it was a good idea. It's definately not what I remembered.
Couldn't stop thinking for a second how badly I wanted to slap Lilly.
Oh well.
Off to the book 7.
January 6, 2019
The book in which Michael and Lilly try to get back in my good graces and sort of succeed.
December 13, 2020
Bardzo fajna. Ocena: 10/10.
June 9, 2021
O que mais interessa aqui: a Lilly em cuecas enquanto um Windsor luta pela honra dela.
February 7, 2015
Quick little read that I feel bad about even including as a book. It's Christmas in Genovia, and Lilly and Michael are coming to join Mia. Best part of the book -- Mia telling Lilly to get over herself and behave after her antics get someone fired. Worst part of the book -- Meg Cabot's constant reminders that she hates the movies for Princess Diaries. We get it. You mention it in every. freaking book. Please let it go already.
December 13, 2017
This was a sweet holiday story. But Mia sells her 'Fiesta Giles' collectible action figure in order to buy her boyfriend Michael a Christmas present! And then he surprises her with the 'Military Xander' action figure, which was going to complete her collection! Except, of course, now she doesn't have Fiesta Giles anymore...
Pffft. Is Michael better than Giles? I think not.
Pffft. Is Michael better than Giles? I think not.
May 29, 2015
I think my opinion didn't really change on this one. It's pleasant enough, but I'm kind of tired of stories.
July 5, 2010
Another one of Cabot's mini-books.
Lilly needs to grow up. But it's obvious from the beginning that something is going to happen.
Lilly needs to grow up. But it's obvious from the beginning that something is going to happen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 379 reviews