Reviews - Castle in the Air

3.03k reviews for:

Castle in the Air

Diana Wynne Jones

3.72 AVERAGE

jdarling's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

zarahzoe's review against another edition

1.0

I was so confused. When I read "howls moving Castle" earlier this year, I found it quite charming and funny.
This one though...

+the big reveal
-fat phobia
-islamophobia
-abdullah's skin colour is repeatedly described as a sunburn
-one of the princesses is referred to al the "little yellow one"
-basically an aladin retelling
-flower-in-the-night's only qualities are being thin and being well-read, but she's quite happy to sacrifice a common prisoner to marry a stranger
-sure, meet twice and decide to marry
-the treat the twins so badly! They haven't done anything to anyone! Not to mention how weird it is that they are twins and supposed to be married off to the same man (twice)

Basically, hasn't aged well and reads exactly how a book by a middle aged white lady would hijack a fairy tale from a foreign culture and think she would be doing something grand. Haha, he's brown! No thanks.

I read this for a reading challenge for which I must read book three also, but now I am quite weary of it.

mimyo's review against another edition

5.0

It reminds me a lot of Eva Ibbotsons storys, which I love. So I naturally love this very much. The best thing about it is how it is one of those typical storys, with plot twists wherever you do not expect them. It is so cute and amusing looking sooo forward to read the third book!

paleflyer's review against another edition

5.0

This book is the sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, which is one of my favorite books ever, EVER, and Ever. Howl's moving castle is truly a book that actually touches me. Not only that, but it's written beautifully and comedically. But what am I doing? This is not another review about Howl.

The thing about Castle in the Air, is that it is not really a sequel about the characters I know and love. Sophie and Howl have more of a cameo in the book than an actual part. The new main character's name is Abdullah, and he is a carpet merchant. The story is charming as Abdullah buys a magical carpet and goes on an adventure. It all starts when the magic carpet takes him to the garden where lives the Princess Flower-In-The-Night, and he falls in love. However, she is abducted by a Djinn! (as are many other princesses). Eventually things get worked out, Sophie and Howl make their cameo, which is so short it makes me sad.

The story is cute, though less loveable than Howl, and the writing is just as fun and quirky as her other book. It was interesting for her to take the sequel on such a different direction, but now that I think about it, she did the same thing with her other series I love so much: The Dalemark Quartet. Jones is just a wonderful writer, one of my favorites.