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beanie_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I won't lie -- I was probably bias while reading this book. I have watched the Ghibli movie, and I adored it. Not only that, but I read this book right after another book I hated reading, but I read because I do not DNF books.
But dang, reading this book was just... It was relaxing. It was smooth. I was a child just sitting back and enjoying the adventure of this girl cursed to be an old woman and joining the craziness of life in Howl's castle.
I will say this though: for anyone who has watched the movie, do not go into this book expecting the same things. The movie was Miyazaki taking Dianne Wynne Jones' world and characters and twisting them to a degree to promote his own anit-war message. Imagine it as if two writers were given the same overall outline, but went two different focuses and added their own details mixed in.
Because where Miyazaki did this, Jones focused on Sophie. Sophie was an oldest child of three who had really let that rule her life, and only by suffering as an old lady did she learn to appreciate who she was.
This isn't an overly fantastical story. It is very controlled and focused. There is a lot of magical things that I would love to see explored, but it is mentioned in passing or with Sophie as a distant viewer. And if anything, that is my main gripe about this story. It does feel too centered on Sophie, but I came into the book with different expectations and beliefs of what the story would be, as well as most of my experiences with books being very modern.
But when I took that into account and distanced myself from these two factors, I could just enjoy the character focus. This is a whimsical, silly, enjoyable story of very imperfect characters growing into a family who genuinely cares about each other.
One other complaint I did have is the plot seemed unfocused, and I dismissed that as just being part of the story, but... Jones pulled a fast one on me and had everything tie together in an amazing way. I was the moron who didn't trust her, and she sucker punched me in a great way for it.
As I said before, the characters are very imperfect. Sophie is very grumpy and snappy and sometimes petter. Howl is vain and fickle. Calcifer is a fire demon who has his own agenda. Michael enables Howl and can be childish (though in his defense, he is a child). But they all are united by this just... This silent care they seem to have. None of them seem to admit it, but they do care deeply for people, especially Howl and Sophie. Howl I would want to beat over the head with a broom, but he is one of my favorite characters simply because of how much he silently cares for people.
I do wish we had spent more time with the characters at the end because I wanted to see where things went for them, especially in regards to a certain ship I have. I won't say which one in case the story is unknown to you. The ending had this weird way of feeling completely but not, but that may have been me expecting more and not reading between the lines enough. There are sequels though which, although not about Sophie or her new family, may expand a bit on what I'm wanting to see. I may pick them up when I have the chance.
Overall, strongly recommend for anyone who enjoys these kind of whimsical journeys of self discovery and family creation.
But dang, reading this book was just... It was relaxing. It was smooth. I was a child just sitting back and enjoying the adventure of this girl cursed to be an old woman and joining the craziness of life in Howl's castle.
I will say this though: for anyone who has watched the movie, do not go into this book expecting the same things. The movie was Miyazaki taking Dianne Wynne Jones' world and characters and twisting them to a degree to promote his own anit-war message. Imagine it as if two writers were given the same overall outline, but went two different focuses and added their own details mixed in.
Because where Miyazaki did this, Jones focused on Sophie. Sophie was an oldest child of three who had really let that rule her life, and only by suffering as an old lady did she learn to appreciate who she was.
This isn't an overly fantastical story. It is very controlled and focused. There is a lot of magical things that I would love to see explored, but it is mentioned in passing or with Sophie as a distant viewer. And if anything, that is my main gripe about this story. It does feel too centered on Sophie, but I came into the book with different expectations and beliefs of what the story would be, as well as most of my experiences with books being very modern.
But when I took that into account and distanced myself from these two factors, I could just enjoy the character focus. This is a whimsical, silly, enjoyable story of very imperfect characters growing into a family who genuinely cares about each other.
One other complaint I did have is the plot seemed unfocused, and I dismissed that as just being part of the story, but... Jones pulled a fast one on me and had everything tie together in an amazing way. I was the moron who didn't trust her, and she sucker punched me in a great way for it.
As I said before, the characters are very imperfect. Sophie is very grumpy and snappy and sometimes petter. Howl is vain and fickle. Calcifer is a fire demon who has his own agenda. Michael enables Howl and can be childish (though in his defense, he is a child). But they all are united by this just... This silent care they seem to have. None of them seem to admit it, but they do care deeply for people, especially Howl and Sophie. Howl I would want to beat over the head with a broom, but he is one of my favorite characters simply because of how much he silently cares for people.
I do wish we had spent more time with the characters at the end because I wanted to see where things went for them, especially in regards to a certain ship I have. I won't say which one in case the story is unknown to you. The ending had this weird way of feeling completely but not, but that may have been me expecting more and not reading between the lines enough. There are sequels though which, although not about Sophie or her new family, may expand a bit on what I'm wanting to see. I may pick them up when I have the chance.
Overall, strongly recommend for anyone who enjoys these kind of whimsical journeys of self discovery and family creation.
erintempleton's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
5.0
hey i love the ghibli version as much (or more, probably more) as the next guy, but in this house we grieve for the book details that were left behind, including but not limited to: drunk howl, the enlarged suit bit, MODERN DAY WALES, the weed killer bit, sophie's affinity for scissors, the dog-man, the animated beat-down stick bit, and domestic flower-shop life.
this book was so marvelous, the perfect light fantasy. it is familiar and cozy and funny and sweet and crazy all at the same time. can't wait to read it again.
this book was so marvelous, the perfect light fantasy. it is familiar and cozy and funny and sweet and crazy all at the same time. can't wait to read it again.
kat_jack's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
sunnyevie's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
I don't wholly know how to feel about this book.
•I can definitely see why Miyazaki decided to make a film of it (one of my favorite films)
•the story starts of very close to the movie but after about 8 chapters it does deviate more and more
•I can see why they chose to rewrite and deviate quite a bit... it's kind of convoluted by the end and I didn't see any actual on page relationship growth in fondness and romance between Sophie and Howl to the point where, on book page, the "in love happily ever after" seems quite jarring.
Things in the book I'm glad aren't in the movie:
-the whole wizard Sullivan and Prince Justin body parts snatching thing. So convoluted and I honestly didn't follow how that all really happened. I don't think it was explained well.
-the dog being a... boy? Right? Percival did end up a boy at least I think.
-Howl needing to go out and flirt with other females
-Howl being from Wales (hilarious omg but not in a wanted way)
-there being two sisters all over the place, both being referred to as Lettie quite frequently.
Things I'm glad were in the movie but changed:
-Michael being more of a boy
-the scarecrow being the missing prince all along but nice and helpful
-the spell from the Witch of the Waste being far more benign
-the Witch of the Waste but being dealt with early and no fire demon of her own nonsense
-the little dog just being a little dog
-Howls personality, it was much softer in the movie
-Sulliman being his old teacher and who he was slithering out from
-all the characters they deleted in the movie adaptation were perfect, there wasn't a whole lot of need for them except to pull attention in two many different ways
Things I'm glad were in the movie but not from the book:
-the war being a plot device
-the castle was moving cause it was trying to find Sophie who they had been seeking since they saw her years ago
-more relationship development between Sophie and Howl
I didn't have feelings one way or another on Sophie being a witch. Take it or leave it.
I think I give the book 4 stars for nostalgia. I'd probably give it 3 if I didn't have a love for the movie coloring it cause the plot was so far more convoluted than it needed to be. Everything everywhere geez, it's a children's book but I don't know if I even followed it at 35 😅
•I can definitely see why Miyazaki decided to make a film of it (one of my favorite films)
•the story starts of very close to the movie but after about 8 chapters it does deviate more and more
•I can see why they chose to rewrite and deviate quite a bit... it's kind of convoluted by the end and I didn't see any actual on page relationship growth in fondness and romance between Sophie and Howl to the point where, on book page, the "in love happily ever after" seems quite jarring.
Things in the book I'm glad aren't in the movie:
-the whole wizard Sullivan and Prince Justin body parts snatching thing. So convoluted and I honestly didn't follow how that all really happened. I don't think it was explained well.
-the dog being a... boy? Right? Percival did end up a boy at least I think.
-Howl needing to go out and flirt with other females
-Howl being from Wales (hilarious omg but not in a wanted way)
-there being two sisters all over the place, both being referred to as Lettie quite frequently.
Things I'm glad were in the movie but changed:
-Michael being more of a boy
-the scarecrow being the missing prince all along but nice and helpful
-the spell from the Witch of the Waste being far more benign
-the Witch of the Waste but being dealt with early and no fire demon of her own nonsense
-the little dog just being a little dog
-Howls personality, it was much softer in the movie
-Sulliman being his old teacher and who he was slithering out from
-all the characters they deleted in the movie adaptation were perfect, there wasn't a whole lot of need for them except to pull attention in two many different ways
Things I'm glad were in the movie but not from the book:
-the war being a plot device
-the castle was moving cause it was trying to find Sophie who they had been seeking since they saw her years ago
-more relationship development between Sophie and Howl
I didn't have feelings one way or another on Sophie being a witch. Take it or leave it.
I think I give the book 4 stars for nostalgia. I'd probably give it 3 if I didn't have a love for the movie coloring it cause the plot was so far more convoluted than it needed to be. Everything everywhere geez, it's a children's book but I don't know if I even followed it at 35 😅
polarbbp's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Kinda sexist
erynn01's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.75
carecatt's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
3.5
laraph's review against another edition
5.0
Heart warming and so funny she had me in tears laughing. As good as her best Chrestomanci books, and, from me, that's the highest praise.
karebearzz's review against another edition
4.0
I really love the movie which is why I wanted to read the book and I enjoyed it very much. Highly recommend!