Scan barcode
A review by inkerly
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I watched Howl’s Moving Castle , the movie which was loosely inspired by this book when I was in high school but I always wanted to read the book. Eight years later, and I have finally done so. I didn’t have any expectations on this book as I had forgotten most of what happened in the movie.
This was a really lighthearted adventure-packed tale that reminded me of other classic tales like “Alice in Wonderland”, “The Wizard of Oz“, etc. It is quite literally a bundle of riddles wrapped in fantasy , adventure and colorful language.
4 out of 5 stars though because I felt like there were 10 different plots running concurrently at the same time - Sophie’s curse, Calcifers curse, Howls curse, the Prince, the Witch, etc…- that I could barely keep track of what was going on. I was confused almost the entire book. Especially since this book is under 300 pages it felt like these segments were slapped into the story for shock value more than to actually move the plot forward. I think this is where the movie does the story justice as these subplots were whittled down considerably. But I would say I enjoyed the characters and their aloof ness very much.
I suspected that Howl knew Sophie’s identity all along and their back and forth like an old married couple in the end was cute. Everyone who loves riddle-like tales should read this.
This was a really lighthearted adventure-packed tale that reminded me of other classic tales like “Alice in Wonderland”, “The Wizard of Oz“, etc. It is quite literally a bundle of riddles wrapped in fantasy , adventure and colorful language.
4 out of 5 stars though because I felt like there were 10 different plots running concurrently at the same time - Sophie’s curse, Calcifers curse, Howls curse, the Prince, the Witch, etc…- that I could barely keep track of what was going on. I was confused almost the entire book. Especially since this book is under 300 pages it felt like these segments were slapped into the story for shock value more than to actually move the plot forward. I think this is where the movie does the story justice as these subplots were whittled down considerably. But I would say I enjoyed the characters and their aloof ness very much.
I suspected that Howl knew Sophie’s identity all along and their back and forth like an old married couple in the end was cute. Everyone who loves riddle-like tales should read this.