Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Castle in the Air

review for the audible audiobook:
I really appreciated Kristin Atherton while I was massively disappointed in DW Jones. Kristin I already appreciated in the first audiobook of the series and she did another great job.

The writing is great, no questions asked DWJ knew how to write, but the story was just a massive letdown and Abdullah just came across as really unlikable.

Now to the story... It's quite racist. And fatphobic. Flower-in-the-Night who is the love interest of this book seems to be the only woman Abdullah, the protagonist, ever found worthy of respect. The arabic-esque Zanzib is filled to the brim with stereotypes that hearing in 2022 is just.. grotesque. The only thing Abdullah seems to actually like about Flower is her looks; he continuously points out how thin, pretty and *light-skinned* she is. Her personality is described as kind and smart, we barely see any examples of that

now by the very end of the book she even goes completely against that established smartness by being upset that Abdullah didnt kiss her because of the other princesses, who were also abducted, told her if he'd like her he'd have already kissed her. They have met twice at that point. Twice.

. Moreover, these characteristics seem to just be an afterthought, a bonus at best, for Abdullah since he is completely focussed on her looks. Her father going so far as to not even let her into the garden during the day lest she might get a tan. Before meeting Abdullah Flower has only ever met one single man in her entire life. That man being her father.
Shortly before Abdullah can rescue her, after meeting her exactly twice, from the prison that is her palace, he is being forced by his family to marry two of his relatives, cousins or something of the sort. These two cousins are the only overweight characters in the entirety of the book. The only way these two are described is as dumb and disgusting. It is literally pointed out when these two are just giggling Abdullah can see nothing but their fat wobbling and how he is appaled by that.

If you hope to continue to follow Howl and Sophie in this book, you will be disappointed. The insertion of those two feels like an afterthought, the story being pretty much the same if their parts had been played by new characters. Their pre-established personalities almost don't play a part whatsoever, some parts of it going directly against what'd you'd expect them to do if you read this right after reading/hearing Howls Moving Castle. It feels like this was just something to get the fans who kept asking for a sequel to calm down and be quiet. Abdullah even goes on about how Sophie's strong character is entirely unattractive.

Where the first book basically showed that Howl and Sophie fell for each other for their personalities, for the faults that made them the person they are. This book seems to do the complete opposite, Howl fell in love with Sophie despite her looking like a 90year old woman, Abdullah falls for Flowers looks only. Where Howl grows and learns that being "pinned down" isn't always bad and he can actually genuinely love, Abdullah never faces any repercussions for only being interested in Flowers looks. Where Sophie grows to be more confident, self-assured and learns to speak up for herself, we only see a step back for Flower at the very end and no real growth at all since we barely had any time with her. The first book took its time to show Howl and Sophie getting closer and more comfortable with each other showing that falling in love is a process and more than the crush Howl had on the girls he was courting before, Abdullah and Flower meet like 4 times in the entirety of this book. The fourth time being when they finally reunite after finding the kidnapped Flower.

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