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augie_'s review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Confinement, and Violence
mysimas's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
A cozy fantasy adventure most of the time, but at some points it gets distinctly unpleasant with its fatphobia and general disrespect for women. In a scene towards the end where a man demands a princess’s hand in marriage in exchange for doing the right thing and helping her, the princess is bloody grateful because she thinks she is too ugly for any man to be interested in her. What the actual hell?? (The whole scene was actually terrible, the princesses treated like cattle.) And the way the fat nieces of Abdullah’s relatives were treated was simply disgusting. Also the main romance was a bit flimsy too, Abdullah barely interacted with his love interest and seemed more infatuated with his idea of her rather than with her as an actual person as he could hardly know her — but I’m willing to forgive this as it is a common set-up in fairy-tales, and this story after-all builds on fairy-tales.
I guess I’m still willing to give this three stars because the whole concept of a cloud castle was beautiful, the writing was good, I did enjoy the slight similarities to Bartimaeus with the djinn themes, and most of the story was nice and feel-good, though never as inspired as the first book. But I really am disappointed that a woman author would ever write women like this…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Confinement, and Misogyny
nonnayurbiz's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Xenophobia and Racism
Minor: Confinement
pocketspoon's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
The author clearly had fun turning arabian-nights-like tales on their heads a bit, and it is definitely fun and clever in some ways. However, there is a lot here that is really problematic, not least of all the general and persistent misogyny of the main character. I'm afraid that learning to love one smart, capable woman doesn't make him not sexist. In the very last pages he is giving away his (previously extensively fat-shamed) relatives as chattel to the villain. But it's okay, because he's handsome and actually wants them because they're not uncooperative like the kidnapped princesses, so they're into it?!
I also find it annoying that the Howl's Moving Castle characters all have babies in this book, as if that's the only possible progression of a young woman's life/story. You could explain some of this away as "satire, not endorsement" but this is a kids' book, and kids don't get sattire; they're going to see women being constantly compared to each other (and generally criticized and found wanting) by the male protagonist, who is pretty unlikeable and shitty, but is still somehow the hero of the story. He rides in and attaches himself to the escape plan the princesses were already working on, and then one of them has to agree to marry a slimeball just so he won't eat them out, and the men get all the credit for the rescue. And a bunch of other toxic stuff.
I also find it annoying that the Howl's Moving Castle characters all have babies in this book, as if that's the only possible progression of a young woman's life/story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Confinement, Sexism, Kidnapping, and Misogyny
Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Minor: Animal cruelty, Slavery, and War
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I wasn’t impressed with this book as a teen who just wanted more adventures with Howl and Sophie, but I enjoyed this reread. It was so fun waiting for my husband to discover the connection with Howl and Sophie, and I was not disappointed by his reaction! I also liked how this started out as an Aladin retelling, but then went off on its own adventure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming
Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexism, and Confinement
Minor: Classism and Murder
Toxic familybexi's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Disappointing. Not nearly as good as Howl's Moving Castle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexism, Confinement, and Fatphobia
Minor: Blood
natrossi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Kidnapping, and Confinement
Minor: Sexism
pennym_'s review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexism and Confinement
nandakandabooks's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Confinement
Minor: Rape
littlecat's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
< spoiler> I really liked Howls Moving Castle and wished to have the sequel for my birthday blindly, now I regret it a bit.
The first thing that irked me was the sterotpyical orientalism at the beginning I though something would happen and invert it somehow, the first book does some clever things with fairytale tropes but there is none of that here.
And then the whole lot of fatphobia happens, there is love at first sight a trope i always disliked, and the sexism of the main character makes it really hard to root for him and his "romance", and the tone of the book for 2/3 of the run also felt like ... a downgrade, like it was writen for a much younger audience
the last 112 pages are better in terms of writing and now Sophie is there, and we do meet the princess and Flower-in-the-night gets to be a character (though main character does his best to ignore that) and I wish it had been there book instead, what a nice turn of fairytale tropes would it be to be about kidnapped princess from their viewpoint?
The first thing that irked me was the sterotpyical orientalism at the beginning I though something would happen and invert it somehow, the first book does some clever things with fairytale tropes but there is none of that here.
And then the whole lot of fatphobia happens, there is love at first sight a trope i always disliked, and the sexism of the main character makes it really hard to root for him and his "romance", and the tone of the book for 2/3 of the run also felt like ... a downgrade, like it was writen for a much younger audience
the last 112 pages are better in terms of writing and now Sophie is there, and we do meet the princess and Flower-in-the-night gets to be a character (though main character does his best to ignore that) and I wish it had been there book instead, what a nice turn of fairytale tropes would it be to be about kidnapped princess from their viewpoint?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Fatphobia, Racism, and Sexism
It is very orientalism, very ninthteenhundered idea of "arabian nights".