The Observer, October 5, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 6
Meg Cabot rambles through Queen of Babble in the Big City
I'll be the first to admit that as a high school freshman, I was a huge fan of Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries. The story of an awkward San Francisco teenager who happens to be the princess of Genovia, the 2000 novel has since expanded into a nine-volume series and two major motion pictures.
In addition to The Princess Diaries and numerous other young adult series, Cabot is also the creator of several adult series. Queen of Babble in the Big City, which debuted on June 26 at No. 27 on the New York Times Bestseller List, is the second installment in the Queen of Babble series.
The series follows Lizzie Nichols, a recent University of Michigan graduate with a degree in fashion history. Lizzie, as one might suppose from the book's title, babbles. Incessantly. Contrary to what the Publishers Weekly Signature Review says, Lizzie is not "charming." In fact, reading this book is like watching a marathon of The Hills on MTV – borderline excruciating. Her generally pointless rambling induces severe cravings for thoughtful, intelligent, realistic literature. Give me Jane Austen! Please!
The book's plot centers around Lizzie's move to New York City with her best friend, Shari, and their boyfriends, Luke and Chaz. Lizzie is ecstatic when Luke asks her to move in with him, but is not as immediately successful in her search for employment. After several futile interviews, she ends up with two jobs: receptionist at an exclusive law firm, and unpaid help at a local wedding gown shop. Not surprisingly, her tendency to blather lands her in trouble at work and at home, and she soon finds herself back at square one, both unemployed and homeless.
Cabot has encountered great success with her uncomplicated, allegedly "fun" and "entertaining" writing. However, it seems that during the switch from writing novels for tweens to ones for adults, she forgot to change her formula. While the issues that Lizzie encounters – moving away from her family, finding her first job, living with her boyfriend – are ones that we can relate to, her personality is completely juvenile. She is obsessed with the idea of marriage to the point of convincing herself that her boyfriend of mere months is going to propose. What University of Michigan graduate is honestly that asinine? I can't imagine a mature college student that could ever relate to her character.
In the end, instead of maturing the main character at all, Cabot sticks to the much easier "happily ever after." Fairy tales might be appropriate for Disney, but Cabot should give it up when writing for our age group. Life isn't like this. The fact that the cover description discloses every ounce of the plot except the final conclusion indicates that there really isn't much of substance here.
If you need a night off from class, homework, and all thought in general, pick up this book. Then again, The Baby-Sitters Club would work, too.
