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A review by monniebiloney
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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
4.0
The reason why I rated this book 4 stars rather than 5 is that the book has a very ruff first 20 pages. There was so much exposition on sophies family that I think was there to show you that Sophie is an unreliable narrator and but felt just badly written to me.
Its been many years since I origionally read Howl's Moving Castle. I was mainly motivated to re-read it because I saw a couple of tiktok of people saying the book was very different then the movie, to the extent the characters were different, and I was flabergastes becuase I remembered that the book was very similar to the movie with the exception of the plot--as in Sophie and Howl were the same.
Upon re-reading this, I was mostly right. Sophie and Howl ARE exactly the same as they were in the movie, but Micheal, even though he is 5 years older, is also the same (personality wise) which was a shock! I forgot how different the Witch of the waste was between the two versions, and I also completely forgot the majority of the plot of the book other then the dog. (The dog thing was traumatising for me as a child)
I was crazy shocked when I begun reading the book and the first half of the book was exactly the same as the first half of the movie (Other then the Lesse plotline not being mentioned). The two don't really diverge from each other until they go visit the (King in the book)' (Madam Soloman in the movie), there the book and movie diverge greatly plotwise BUT the characters stay the same as they were depicted in the film. The only difference in 'personality' is that the film shows us that Howl is slightly less egotistical at the very end of the film I guess? Maybe? Or maybe the opposite, Sophie is slightly more egotistical at the end of the book lol.
I actually found the flower scene in the book to be more moving than in the movie. It felt kind of random in the movie, but soo sweet in the book.
Its been many years since I origionally read Howl's Moving Castle. I was mainly motivated to re-read it because I saw a couple of tiktok of people saying the book was very different then the movie, to the extent the characters were different, and I was flabergastes becuase I remembered that the book was very similar to the movie with the exception of the plot--as in Sophie and Howl were the same.
Upon re-reading this, I was mostly right. Sophie and Howl ARE exactly the same as they were in the movie, but Micheal, even though he is 5 years older, is also the same (personality wise) which was a shock! I forgot how different the Witch of the waste was between the two versions, and I also completely forgot the majority of the plot of the book other then the dog. (The dog thing was traumatising for me as a child)
I was crazy shocked when I begun reading the book and the first half of the book was exactly the same as the first half of the movie (Other then the Lesse plotline not being mentioned). The two don't really diverge from each other until they go visit the (King in the book)' (Madam Soloman in the movie), there the book and movie diverge greatly plotwise BUT the characters stay the same as they were depicted in the film. The only difference in 'personality' is that the film shows us that Howl is slightly less egotistical at the very end of the film I guess? Maybe? Or maybe the opposite, Sophie is slightly more egotistical at the end of the book lol.
I actually found the flower scene in the book to be more moving than in the movie. It felt kind of random in the movie, but soo sweet in the book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty and Body horror