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

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!

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erebus53's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a book club read that finally came through for me on Libby. I didn't feel like I was missing out on much because I have long been a fan of the movie. As such it's great to finally read the source material, because these things are generally better for having more time to develop the characters and more insight into the motivations.

The book is certainly clearer to understand than the film. It is made clear that Sophie interacts with inanimate objects and respects them more than most people, but because it's her "normal" she doesn't realise that the things she says to the things that she talks to or makes are taken to heart by those items. She is innately magical, but does not see it. This has a subversive, dreamy quality, and I could see how it would be inspirational to a young reader... what if I am magical too, and I just haven't noticed, or figured out the trick of it?

A lot of the little descriptions in the books are rendered in the movie very faithfully. Little things like feeding eggshells to the fire have been faithfully captured in the animated version, though as is always the case, the movie just doesn't have the scope to unpack all the backstory provided in the book.

I am very glad that I got the chance to check this version out, as it fills out a lot more of a story that I already loved. It would be a great read for the 10+ age group.

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a_islandcriptid's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is one of my favorite books and is defienetly my go-to comfort read. I highly recommend to to anyone and everyone!
The whole series is quite funny, and very engrossing! Diana Wynn Jones is, as always, a fantastic writer and all of the characters have depth, and the characters' story feels very real (especially for being set in a fantasy world).
It is very different from the Studio Ghibli movie (which is also amazing, and I recommend) but they are better enjoyed if they are not compared against eachother and each let to stand on their own merits. The go together and prop eachother up but are also fairly seperate stories and worlds. (The movie will probably make more sense, and has more depth if you know the book.)

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singalana's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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