Howl's Moving Castle

Executive Summary: Enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected. I was looking for something fun and short and this was perfect.

Audiobook: Jenny Sterlin did a good job. This is definitely a good option in audio and the story works well in this format.

Full Review
I've had this one in my library for awhile after getting a deal on it, but I never felt a lot of urgency to read it so it just sat there.

The main reason I finally picked it up was I was looking for short, light listens to finish out the year and this seemed to fit the bill.

After a bit of a slow start, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I'm pretty sure I've watched the anime, but I didn't really remember the details I guess. Now I want to rewatch it.

Generally I prefer well defined magic systems, and this book is definitely not that. Still I found the story interesting enough to not get hung up on the hand waving nature of the magic. Not every book needs to have a cool magic system.

For me it was the characters that really made this one for me. I loved the grumpy fire demon, and the crazy scarecrow and the kind of sketchy wizard.

Apparently there are sequels to this, but I'm totally fine stopping here. The story felt self contained enough that while it could be interesting to continue on, I don't find it necessary.