A review by annescorner
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

3.75

This is a tricky one. In a good sense, but still tricky. I have watched the film many years ago, and wanted to read the novel before watching it again. It definitely is a very whimsical and fun story. The first 200 pages were quite fast-paced, the next 170 were a bit slow and not a lot happened, the last 60 were full of action. I liked Howl and his silliness, Calcifer and Michael, and Sophie for the most part too - though she could definitely be also rather unlikable at points in the story. All together, the four of them did make a cool and yet chaotic team. The other characters were also interesting and added to the story. I have to say, that I did not expect the turn it took towards the end regarding the Witch (I won’t spoil of course), but I really craved a tiny bit more romance. Also, I do think there were some pacing issues here and there (see before). Generally the novel read quite fast (it is somewhere on the margin between middlegrade and YA in my opinion), but my engagement and want to continue to read the story were not as strong in these middle 170-ish pages as the rest of the novel. It still is a fantastical, whimsical and adventurous story (though I have to say, I did not get the problem with being the eldest of three…), so I definitely recommend. I’m going to watch the film again now - I know that it is a bit different to the novel though. I might continue with the series, I might now. I don’t know yet. I’m not completely against it, but it definitely is not a priority. Plus, this first book is definitely also good as a standalone. I’ll have to see.