Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - El castillo en el aire

Nowhere near as good as the first book in the series. It's basically a retelling of Alladin and it's as problematic as the Disney version, plus loads of added fatphobia!
I did really enjoy how it wrapped up and tied into Howl though, and Tabitha screamed with excitement when Calcifer finally put in an appearance!

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mxpringle's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Overall this whole series was so wholesome and light. Definitely not as cathartic as the Howl's moving castle movie in my opinion, but still very much enjoyable

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sophmcgraw's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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pocketspoon's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

The author clearly had fun turning arabian-nights-like tales on their heads a bit, and it is definitely fun and clever in some ways. However, there is a lot here that is really problematic, not least of all the general and persistent misogyny of the main character. I'm afraid that learning to love one smart, capable woman doesn't make him not sexist.

In the very last pages he is giving away his (previously extensively fat-shamed) relatives as chattel to the villain. But it's okay, because he's handsome and actually wants them because they're not uncooperative like the kidnapped princesses, so they're into it?!
I also find it annoying that the Howl's Moving Castle characters all have babies in this book, as if that's the only possible progression of a young woman's life/story.

You could explain some of this away as "satire, not endorsement" but this is a kids' book, and kids don't get sattire; they're going to see women being constantly compared to each other (and generally criticized and found wanting) by the male protagonist, who is pretty unlikeable and shitty, but is still somehow the hero of the story.

He rides in and attaches himself to the escape plan the princesses were already working on, and then one of them has to agree to marry a slimeball just so he won't eat them out, and the men get all the credit for the rescue.

And a bunch of other toxic stuff.

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daisiesandbees's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wasn’t impressed with this book as a teen who just wanted more adventures with Howl and Sophie, but I enjoyed this reread. It was so fun waiting for my husband to discover the connection with Howl and Sophie, and I was not disappointed by his reaction! I also liked how this started out as an Aladin retelling, but then went off on its own adventure.

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lily1304's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No

2.75

Disappointing compared to Howl's Moving Castle. The story was wiped clean of anything that made Howl's Moving Castle interesting - the characters were flat and there was no interesting puzzle to the plot. Even the feminist themes were gone - the female characters have very little agency besides manipulating children and each other.

Castle in the Air was published in 1990, before it was cool for white people to stay in our lanes I guess, because the setting is a fantasy-stereotyped medieval Middle East. It reminded me strongly of both of Calormen, C.S. Lewis' fantasy Middle East south of Narnia, and the Disney version of Aladdin.

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