Reviews

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

ibereadingbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

So cute.

karabu's review against another edition

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5.0

So wonderful and complex. Read this one as a family and we all enjoyed it. I look forward to reading more even if the rest of the family doesn't, but I bet they will.

snukes's review against another edition

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4.0

I watched the movie first. I picked up the book immediately afterward, because I got to the end of the movie and said "huh?" and hoped the book would clear some things up. The book had the same kind of whirlwind pace that the movie did, but it did deliver a more complete story with more satisfactory conclusions.

The funny thing about this story is that I found both Sophie and Howl rather infuriating the whole way through the story. Sophie is cranky and vindictive almost without letting up, until all the sudden at the end we are simply TOLD it's because
Spoilershe's fallen in love with Howl
(just in case that was a spoiler). And why in the world should that be? Howl acts like a bad-tempered teenage boy all the way through. He is everything he claims to be - cowardly, vain, selfish and kind of irrational. So why would anyone fall for him?

This really bothered me until I read the interview with the author at the end. One of the comments from her addressed the fact that apparently every teenage girl in the world is in love with Howl. One girl stood up at a Q&A session and asked if she could marry Howl, to which Jones replied that she'd have to get to the back of a line stretching all the way around the world.

Why?! Why is a guy who is cowardly, vain, selfish and irrational SO appealing to teenage girls?

And then it suddenly clicked. ALL teenage boys are this way. It is what teenage girls know. What Howl has going for him that real teenage boys don't is that underneath all his horrible personality traits, he is secretly noble, large-hearted, and very very clever. In order to get around his cowardliness, he has to hide these traits even from himself, but they are definitely there. And every teenage girl in the world wants to believe that the boys they have crushes on anyway - the dopey, ill-mannered, vain and irrational teenage boys - are secretly as noble and good as Howl.

Ha! While I prefer my men a little less secretive about their redeeming qualities, at least the story's device makes more sense to me with this perspective.

Right. Anyway. It was a fun story. I really enjoyed it, and I'll go look for the next two soon. I want to know more about wizards wandering between worlds.

nwiltse's review against another edition

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3.0

This detailed and super fantastical writing took a few chapters to hook me. I had to concentrate too hard, so I started skimming and finally was grabbed by the plot. It's a textbook example of fantasy as it combines elements of fairy tales, myths, is of course set in a medieval community... with spells, and an evil witch. It's really a compilation of all of the cliches in fantasy squeezed into one plot. But, I know students who will eat it up, and probably request more by [a:Diana Wynne Jones|4260|Diana Wynne Jones|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1193516584p2/4260.jpg]. It's a complicated plot, so it will take a strong reader at the elementary level. Fantasy readers grades 4-8 who love [b:Fablehaven|44652|Fablehaven (Fablehaven, #1)|Brandon Mull|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255708435s/44652.jpg|2129546] or [b:Redwall|7996|Redwall (Redwall, #1)|Brian Jacques|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qKtmE9DBL._SL75_.jpg|486980] would probably enjoy this book.

sammy_stenger's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful 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

4.0

super cute!

inglesonreilly1's review against another edition

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4.0

I’m obsessed and want to read this again NOW. The only reason it got four stars is because it’s a dang children’s book so the ending was simply not enough, it’s being punished for not having 700 more pages! Brb gotta go rewatch the movie

jessyf's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-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

jeannekc's review against another edition

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5.0

My favorite Diana Wynne Jones book of all time!

sarah_fossgreen's review against another edition

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2.0

I so desperately wanted to fall in love with this book but sadly I did not. I really enjoyed the magic and fantasy setting but that is about it. I didn’t care much for Sophie. I appreciated how she had character development in the end but it took way too long to happen. I found her insufferable at times so I wish the character development happened throughout the book versus that one moment of realization towards the end.

I also wish we got a Howl POV. Sophie would talk about how he was out and what she thought he was doing. I wish we could have read about his adventures and how he pieces everything together. I didn’t like how it was explained to us at the end.

I have heard that this is one of those rare moments that the movie is better than the book so I will give it a try.

Prompt: Read a book that stats with H.

aidanrb's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

3.0