Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Howl's Moving Castle

I liked this book far more than I expected to, and for the first half or more of the book I was wondering if I possibly enjoyed it more than the Ghibli film. In the end, I was a little too baffled by the wackiness of all the inexplicable things happening, and decided I enjoyed the film a little more. But! It was a very enjoyable book and I am adding it to my shelf of comfort reads.

I think my favorite part was getting a clearer glimpse at the interiority of the characters (mostly Sophie) and what made them tick. It's very clear to me now that Howl is neurodivergent and likely coded for autism, though it's unclear how aware the author was of that when she wrote it in 1986. Mild spoiler:

His green slime "tantrum" makes far more sense to me now that I've read more on autism and the how/why of meltdowns. I kept wanting her to be more compassionate for him, which is one reason I'm marking this as moderate Ableism.

I ended up liking Howl more and Sophie a little less for these reasons, which surprised me.

Howl, the resident Manic Pixie Dreamboy, is still a frustrating character with a lot of elements of misogyny to unpack, concerning infidelity and relationships with minors. For example, Sophie is 17 and he is in his early/mid 20s. (There's no Storygraph tag for ageism, but this book definitely has a lot of ageism, with many characters valuing youth above all else in small and large ways.) Howl is kind to her in different ways, and they seem to (kind of?) work well together, but it's not clear to me exactly why she falls for him after being frustrated with him for most of the book. It felt like a lot of stuff I've read/seen from the 80s where a lot of stuff gets excused because love enters the equation.

Howl's Moving Castle has a very "oral history fairytale told around the fire" kind of voice to me. A lot happens in exposition. Also, I don't typically enjoy mysteries because I can rarely solve the puzzles before the end and don't get the dopamine hit from that which some friends enjoy. But I suspect if you enjoy solving mysteries, this one might feel a little, um. Oddball.

I hesitated to read this book because body horror is usually a hard no for me due to trauma, but a friend said it wasn't graphic in the way I usually find hard, so I gave it a try with the reading equivalent of tiptoeing cautiously into the book. It ended up being fine for me. If anyone else is concerned about that, here's a clear detailed spoiler of what that means:

The body horror themes come in two main parts: First, Sophie is cursed to live in the body of an elderly woman, which seems to be emotionally empowering/liberating but physically painful and dangerous as she's prone to heart attacks and fears about mortality. There's quite a bit of detail in this, and my own bones creaked in sympathy. Second, there are several characters who are cursed to live "in parts" -- these are not bloody or gory scenes and while there is some emotional distress and sadness, it is moderate to mild when compared to other more prominent storylines. But an antagonist wants to combine these different parts of people into a single whole to control them. The most graphic elements are when a side character is described as having no head, and another character magically pulls a skull into their own head to be able to talk. Finally, there are other body horror elements of transformation, people getting turned into animals and trying to turn back, plus one person is killed and becomes bones in a very fairytale way. It all feels very theoretical with magical realism and lacks the kind of gritty, visceral realism a lot of books would probably try to bring to the table if this were published in 2023. It's mostly "X happened" and not so much "they felt such and such when X happened in this specific detailed way."

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theirgracegrace's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious slow-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

4.25

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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samchase112's review

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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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh, how absolutely lovely! I adored this fantasy adventure book featuring a pragmatic "old woman," a drama-queen wizard, a well-meaning, young assistant, a talking flame, and a whole host of entertaining characters. Sure, some threads became confusing, but that didn't really matter; what's important is the characters' interactions, their little side quests, and the colorful world Diana Wyne Jones placed them in. I flew through it! And I can't wait to rewatch the wonderful, wonderful adaptation — no wonder Hayao Miyazaki thought this would make a delightful animated film.

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ruthmoog's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

4.75

Such a good story, very enjoyable and witty. It conjures vivid pictures of the events that unfold.
I have wanted to read it since seeing the Ghibli film and it's well worth reading imo.
I loved Howl, such a dramatic creature!

- "I'm delirious. Spots are crawling before my eyes."
- "Those are spiders!"

nb I unknowingly read an abridged version.

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merle_bookdragon's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Who me? I assure you, my friends, I am cone sold stober. ... What a lie that was! ... My shining dishonesty will be the salvation of me.

Oh my goodness, what an absolute joy of a book. I've seen the movie approximately 50 times and I was so happy when I got gifted the beautiful Folio Society edition and then it stood in my shelf for a year. But I finally got to read it as part of my university bookclub and I absolutely loved it (as was to be expected.)

I am usually not the biggest reader of introductions but in this case I was very happy I did because it was informative and funny and taught me things that made the story even more special. For example that Diana Wynne Jones came from Wales, that she had juvenile rheumatism and that she attended lectures by both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. I really enjoyed her storytelling and her creation of this world which is such a delightful mix of fairy tales, myth, and folklore and went on to inspire many more.

The story itself surprised me in the places in which it differed from the movie, which kept me on my toes to anticipate any changes that were made. Both Howl and Sophie are much more ... assertive and rude? :D And I don't mean that in an entirely negative way it just surprised me a little. I read a couple days ago that the book is the story told from Sophie's perspective and the movie is the story as Howl likes to tell it. And I think that is very accurate because Howl sure is more annoying that he is made out to be in the movie.

I enjoyed having to rethink some relationships and names that might've appeared in the movie but were connected differently in the book like Mrs Pentstemmon, the Witch of the Waste, the king, Michael, Sophie's sisters... basically most of them. But since the Ghibli movie was made to convey a very specific message and chose a specific route for that, I can totally see why changes were made and some things were left out. Still I would've loved to see animated Howl in rugby uniform.

I will most definitely reread this many times and extend my tabs and notes. I shall recommend this to everyone and I've also added the artbook for the movie to my wishlist :D

Megan's full of envy because she's respectable and I'm not.

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mydearwatsonbooks's review against another edition

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4.25

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martharosen'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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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