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drearyletters's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
theraindiary's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
aarnireads's review against another edition
2.0
I feel like this works for children who like simple fairytales the most - because I found this supremely boring and skimmed through a lot. One bright spot was the dog, the appearance of magic cats and of course, Howl and Sophie.
Some parts of this just haven't aged well: the "exotic" stereotyping of villains as hooknosed, borderline fatphobic descriptions of two girls and the absolutely irritating main character. We get it, you find the girl beautiful, but at least stop associating pretty with thin. It's gross.
Some parts of this just haven't aged well: the "exotic" stereotyping of villains as hooknosed, borderline fatphobic descriptions of two girls and the absolutely irritating main character. We get it, you find the girl beautiful, but at least stop associating pretty with thin. It's gross.
cstina's review against another edition
2.5
Reading in another time, makes me not agree with all the choices the author chose.
Also I felt the book challenge my dyslexic, as I feel I read backwards at lot in the beginning when they speak.
Also I felt the book challenge my dyslexic, as I feel I read backwards at lot in the beginning when they speak.
kikiisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Spoiler alert!!
And again I come to learn that Jones had a great talent at writing.
At the very beginning and for a long time this story seemed to heavily inspired by Aladdin or well 1001 Nights. So if you love Aladding you will love this book as well, as many elements will remind you of that movie or it's original story.
Abdullah is a young man? Boy? I struggle with the ages of the people of these books. He has a carpet shop and daydreams about another life and when he gets a magic carpet, he gets that other life in one way or another. Instantly falling in love with the beautiful Flower (shortened her name here) and wanting to marry her just to get her kidnapped by a djinn in front of his eyes. After being imprisoned by the Sultan he gets on his journey to rescue his love on which he meets the soldier, a genie and two cats.
Somehow I knew Sophie would be one of the cats and that her kitten would be her and Howl's child was no surprise but colour me surprised when I found out that the magic carpet was Calcifer and the genie being Howl. Not to forget that the soldier was Prince Justin.
Well, the story was captivating and I had no problem in just continueing reading as much as I could. I especially loved to see our well known and loved characters again and all the kidnapped Princesses'(?) working up a plan to escape, all in the working even before the additional help was a cherry on top.
What I didn't like though were Ben and Lettie. No, I have to say it feels like all the characters changed from book one and Abdullah is not really one of my favourites.
Besides, I found it weird how much looks in this book were mentioned and how important they were in comparison to the first one. I blame it on Abdullah and that we have his point of view mostly, maybe it's Jones and I just try to see it all in a good light but this also makes the most sense for me. Looks seemed very important for him and I also feel like he didn’t really love Flower (I mean they don't really know each other) but loved her beauty and just wanted her because of that.
Also Howl is a... little vain, and they all have a temper but he seemed a little rude here?
Especially seeing how they all were at least a little better at the end of the last book and again, yes Howl is not the greates person to be alive but this seemed out of character. I have to add that I am referring to him being human again, I honestly can understand that being transformed into something else and being locked away don't make you the sunshine in the group.
Well Sophie was still herself, I just wished for her to be a little better with magic but hey that might come. Calcifer is still the same and well I can't say anything for Morgan or Prince Justin as they are a baby and a character we maybe saw for up to 10 pages before this book.
What irked me the wrong way with Lettie and Ben is the fact that she seemed to be less talented with magic than it was hinted in the first book and that he wants her to hide her abilities?? Not is it just weird but this also seems out of character and weird.
Anyways, apart from all that I enjoyed this book very much, yes even though I didn't come to really like Abdullah. He still had his good sides and all and I honestly just dislike how superficial he seems to be.
I am excited for the next book and honestly hope to see more of Sophie and co and also a little better characters again (personality wise).
And again I come to learn that Jones had a great talent at writing.
At the very beginning and for a long time this story seemed to heavily inspired by Aladdin or well 1001 Nights. So if you love Aladding you will love this book as well, as many elements will remind you of that movie or it's original story.
Abdullah is a young man? Boy? I struggle with the ages of the people of these books. He has a carpet shop and daydreams about another life and when he gets a magic carpet, he gets that other life in one way or another. Instantly falling in love with the beautiful Flower (shortened her name here) and wanting to marry her just to get her kidnapped by a djinn in front of his eyes. After being imprisoned by the Sultan he gets on his journey to rescue his love on which he meets the soldier, a genie and two cats.
Somehow I knew Sophie would be one of the cats and that her kitten would be her and Howl's child was no surprise but colour me surprised when I found out that the magic carpet was Calcifer and the genie being Howl. Not to forget that the soldier was Prince Justin.
Well, the story was captivating and I had no problem in just continueing reading as much as I could. I especially loved to see our well known and loved characters again and all the kidnapped Princesses'(?) working up a plan to escape, all in the working even before the additional help was a cherry on top.
What I didn't like though were Ben and Lettie. No, I have to say it feels like all the characters changed from book one and Abdullah is not really one of my favourites.
Besides, I found it weird how much looks in this book were mentioned and how important they were in comparison to the first one. I blame it on Abdullah and that we have his point of view mostly, maybe it's Jones and I just try to see it all in a good light but this also makes the most sense for me. Looks seemed very important for him and I also feel like he didn’t really love Flower (I mean they don't really know each other) but loved her beauty and just wanted her because of that.
Also Howl is a... little vain, and they all have a temper but he seemed a little rude here?
Especially seeing how they all were at least a little better at the end of the last book and again, yes Howl is not the greates person to be alive but this seemed out of character. I have to add that I am referring to him being human again, I honestly can understand that being transformed into something else and being locked away don't make you the sunshine in the group.
Well Sophie was still herself, I just wished for her to be a little better with magic but hey that might come. Calcifer is still the same and well I can't say anything for Morgan or Prince Justin as they are a baby and a character we maybe saw for up to 10 pages before this book.
What irked me the wrong way with Lettie and Ben is the fact that she seemed to be less talented with magic than it was hinted in the first book and that he wants her to hide her abilities?? Not is it just weird but this also seems out of character and weird.
Anyways, apart from all that I enjoyed this book very much, yes even though I didn't come to really like Abdullah. He still had his good sides and all and I honestly just dislike how superficial he seems to be.
I am excited for the next book and honestly hope to see more of Sophie and co and also a little better characters again (personality wise).
aunesofia1993's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
remilauren's review against another edition
2.0
Sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, I went in with the hopes of reading lots and lots of Sophie and Howl, alas, how disappointed I was.
Castle in the Air revolves around a young Carpet Merchant Abdullah, who's often found daydreaming of an extravagant life. What he does when the Princess he falls for gets kidnapped by a Djinn, forms the crux of the story.
This book might seem completely unrelated to Sophie and Howl but it does tell a lot about them though not obviously and definitely not from the start. If you keep at it though, you'd meet a lot of the characters from the first book and some of them were with us throughout the book!
The writing style was quite different here, Abdullah's flowery language gave a sense of foreignness to the book. It really felt like I was reading a Middle Eastern book albeit translated a bit oddly in English. But the plot failed to engage me, I couldn't care less about this version of Aladin and Jasmine, there just wasn't anything interesting to them. They simply fell in love and the body shaming attitude of the MC didn't sit well with me either.
What I did care about was revealed at the end and here we delve into spoilers. At the end when we've seen the issues sorted and there was still no sign of Howl, I thought he won't ever make an appearance, but he turned out to be the Genie!! He was with us throughout although in a different form. There were other such characters too under enchantments and they all got revealed one by one at the end.
Surely marketing this as Howl's sequel is unfair on the author's part. It had such little of Howl and Sophie that I spent most of my time waiting for them to appear and it was not the best reading experience. The plot was average, characters were boring and the only elements that could have elevated the story for me came in so late and so jarringly, I didn't quite like it..
Castle in the Air revolves around a young Carpet Merchant Abdullah, who's often found daydreaming of an extravagant life. What he does when the Princess he falls for gets kidnapped by a Djinn, forms the crux of the story.
This book might seem completely unrelated to Sophie and Howl but it does tell a lot about them though not obviously and definitely not from the start. If you keep at it though, you'd meet a lot of the characters from the first book and some of them were with us throughout the book!
The writing style was quite different here, Abdullah's flowery language gave a sense of foreignness to the book. It really felt like I was reading a Middle Eastern book albeit translated a bit oddly in English. But the plot failed to engage me, I couldn't care less about this version of Aladin and Jasmine, there just wasn't anything interesting to them. They simply fell in love and the body shaming attitude of the MC didn't sit well with me either.
******SPOILERS*******
What I did care about was revealed at the end and here we delve into spoilers. At the end when we've seen the issues sorted and there was still no sign of Howl, I thought he won't ever make an appearance, but he turned out to be the Genie!! He was with us throughout although in a different form. There were other such characters too under enchantments and they all got revealed one by one at the end.
Surely marketing this as Howl's sequel is unfair on the author's part. It had such little of Howl and Sophie that I spent most of my time waiting for them to appear and it was not the best reading experience. The plot was average, characters were boring and the only elements that could have elevated the story for me came in so late and so jarringly, I didn't quite like it..
aenne's review against another edition
3.0
http://www.marilynmuniz.com/2011/04/castel-in-the-air-book-review/
Summary
Because of his disappointment in Abdullah, his father only gave enough money to open a modest booth in the Bazaar after his death. Abdullah daydreams of being a son of a prince and betrothed to princess when he is not selling carpets. On an ordinary day, a stranger visits Abdullah’s booth to sell him a magic carpet. After some hesitation, Abdullah purchases the carpet from the stranger. The night Abdullah sleeps on the carpets changes his life completely.
Review
Structure of the Book
The book is a solid read. The pace is quick and the conflict escalates at the right moments. The world Jones’ created is expanded beautifully without repetition. The only drawback is the prophecies. They are written in way they don’t add anything to the story except to keep the main character alive. Everything is resolved by the end of the novel.
Characters
Abdullah is a very different lead than the last book. He is very humble and polite to everyone. Flower-in-the-Night is the princess with a ridiculous name but it fits with Abdullah’s daydreams of a princess. Many characters from the first book return. Some are in different shapes and forms, but do not take away from Abdullah’s story.
Final Thoughts
The tales of princesses, genies, djinn and magic carpet is done very well. Yet, I can’t bring myself to say I loved the book as much as Howl’s Moving Castle. I never connected to the lead character at all. But if you enjoyed the first book and reading stories with magic carpets, then this is the right book for you.
Summary
Because of his disappointment in Abdullah, his father only gave enough money to open a modest booth in the Bazaar after his death. Abdullah daydreams of being a son of a prince and betrothed to princess when he is not selling carpets. On an ordinary day, a stranger visits Abdullah’s booth to sell him a magic carpet. After some hesitation, Abdullah purchases the carpet from the stranger. The night Abdullah sleeps on the carpets changes his life completely.
Review
Structure of the Book
The book is a solid read. The pace is quick and the conflict escalates at the right moments. The world Jones’ created is expanded beautifully without repetition. The only drawback is the prophecies. They are written in way they don’t add anything to the story except to keep the main character alive. Everything is resolved by the end of the novel.
Characters
Abdullah is a very different lead than the last book. He is very humble and polite to everyone. Flower-in-the-Night is the princess with a ridiculous name but it fits with Abdullah’s daydreams of a princess. Many characters from the first book return. Some are in different shapes and forms, but do not take away from Abdullah’s story.
Final Thoughts
The tales of princesses, genies, djinn and magic carpet is done very well. Yet, I can’t bring myself to say I loved the book as much as Howl’s Moving Castle. I never connected to the lead character at all. But if you enjoyed the first book and reading stories with magic carpets, then this is the right book for you.
speedireads's review against another edition
Needed a break from light-hearted fantasy. Will likely pick up later.