Reviews

Second read: 05/10/24-05/12/24
Rating: 4.5 stars.

Such a fun, lighthearted book. I loved reading it for the second time and everything connected with the plot, and I loved seeing the foreshadowing. I am excited to continue the series!

First read: 04/05/23-04/06/23
Rating: 5 stars.
I’m astonished. This masterpiece of a book was just sitting in front of me all along.

I watched the movie quite a while ago, and I enjoyed it, but was really confused by the ending. I did not realize that the movie was solely built on the backbone of the book and the creator of the movie just filled in his interpretations in order to convey a political message. This is definitely interesting in of itself, but this book was so much more than the movie ever could have been.

The characters were all brilliant and the development of Sophie and Howl was so impressive for a standalone. There was so much depth and meaning behind every little thing, so I feel like I need to reread the book to properly grasp the magnitude of it.

The themes were so touching. I love the idea of the fact that Sophie has magic herself, speaking things into existence, and she has perpetuated her own curse because she sees herself as old and she grows so comfortable in that position that she prevents herself from being young. She is the one to finally break her own curse by gaining self confidence, seeing the beauty in life, breaking out of her head of what it meant to be the oldest sister, and feeling like she did not have to hide behind a disguise anymore. It was SO BEAUTIFUL. And the way that vain, selfish, superficial Howl falls in love with Sophie although she is in a 90 year old woman’s body is just so…ugh it’s so interesting, it’s so good, it makes me so emotional. At the very end of the book where she breaks her curse and her red hair falls in her face, and Howl tells her that he was wondering if she was the pretty girl he had met in the street….I was on the FLOOR. It makes me so emotional even thinking about it. I love how this romance is only really existing in the last couple pages of the book but it made me feel so much.

The plot was very interesting and I loved the world building. Like I said, I definitely have to read the book again to catch all of the nuance and subtlety that was hidden between the pages. I like how it didn’t focus on war like the movie but instead on magic and fighting the Wicked Witch of the Waste. Overall this book was really strong in the things that I want in a fantasy book: plot, character development, proper world building. It was just so beautiful and I love it so much.

juliabegeman's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

dvid_0231's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-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? Yes

4.0

jeslo's review against another edition

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funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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