Reviews with content warning for Violence - Howl's Moving Castle

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

34 reviews

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

4.25

funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A delightful romp through a fairy-tale, Howl's Moving Castle is a great middle grade fantasy. Sophie Hatter is the eldest of three, so naturally she gets cursed by a witch and leaves her home to find a cure. She ends up at the moving castle of Wizard Howl, a mischievous magician with incredible magical prowess but very little sense. The characters are so hilarious to listen to as they bicker and plot and scheme, and the magic is so vague and mysterious that it's impossible to figure out how it works. The ending answers so many questions that dog Sophie and Howl throughout the book and ties everything up nicely. A great read, even if (like me) you've never seen the Studio Ghibli film before!

Content Warnings

augie_'s review against another edition

4.0

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

emilywemily6's review against another edition

3.75

lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was surprised I didn’t enjoy this more. The writing was well done and immersive, but the story felt aimless and slow for quite a bit, and lots of major plots progression points were glossed over so quickly that I almost missed them. The ending had way to much going on in the last 30 minutes of the audiobook and it felt like a lot of conflict was suddenly resolved without a good explanation. I didn’t really like Howl, though I enjoyed Sophie’s character mostly except for a lot of the dumb things she was doing. Characterization was well written. Overall, it was a good book, but not a very good book, for me.

Content Warnings

scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I knew the movie existed but I had never watched it. I picked this book as part of a reading challenge for reading a book published in the year I was born.

I'm so glad I did because I have fallen madly in love. (But I was hella disappointed to find out the movie is vastly different.) Every single character is absolutely charming and unique and so damn memorable and I can't remember ever reading a book in which I belly-laughed so hard. The humor was just so perfectly placed without distracting the reader from the seriousness of Sophie's whole predicament. Sophie and Howl's relationship was so touching and I enjoyed how they developed from bickering constantly to... well... read the book and you'll see!

I just loved it. Loved it so so so so much. I can't describe it any more words.

Content Warnings