Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle is my favorite Studio Ghibli movie, so when I found out it was based on a book I was very excited to read it. I bought it, started reading it, and only put it down because I had to work.
The book is very different from the movie, telling its own story that the movie branches off from in many ways. While I think the movie is wonderful, the book was even better. Not only is the book magical, fun, and full of humor brought on by the very flawed characters, but it strings you along in a way by presenting the mystery of the contract between Howl and Calcifer, and several other bits of story that we get pieces of here and there. Since I'd seen the movie so many times, I didn't think anything would really surprise me but I was wrong! So much was explained throughout the book that made everything make much more sense. And, it's explained in a way that keeps you wondering. I guess the best way to describe it would be the author leaving a trail of breadcrumbs.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it!

A lovely treat!
I cannot think of a purer love than this. Very very funny, I laughed a lot. Very easy to read too. The plot twist of Howl knowing about her curse from the very start, linked so perfectly that it was very satisfying to read. Every character is so charming. The ending was just so...perfect, how they just go into a world of their own even while everyone is bugging them because after all Sophie is an elder sibling and they cannot have a single moment of just their own. They truly are soulmates. I cannot think of anymore adjectives to describe this book. Any elder sibling would love this story.

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.

This is the first book chosen for the Discord book club since I took it over. Suggested by Jae or Rezz. I have been listening to it while cross-stitching, cosy under my blanket on the couch. So far, I like it a lot and I am looking forward to discovering the rest of the story. I watched Miyazaki's adaptation years ago and I only remember glances of it, some images here and there, and I like that it colors the way I imagine and remember the story. Very enchanting. Strong characters. Very original setting. 3 daughters. Sent to apprenticeship. Two exchanged places in secrecy, one stuck at the hat's shop working for nothing. Trapped under a spell created by a witch after hurting her ego. Now an old lady, employed at the castle that terrorizes the neighborhood, creating a pact with the Fire Demon Lucifer in order to revert the spell she is trapped under. Interesting, interesting!

Update: I finished it. The audiobook. The -almost- full book. I missed some parts from being distracted, falling asleep or being too tired to really listen. But I finished it. And I loved it a lot. It reminded me of Anne of Green Gables. It has this classic children literature quality. One that creates wonder. One that stays with you long after you finish it. Like, I could imagine it being a comfort book, to just open and read a little bit from, when I would feel like it. Which is not something I really do. But this book has this quality to it. Only a few books have this 5/5 stars. Intemporal.

Update: After reading The Kite Runner, Po-On and 1984, I can't give this book a 5/5 stars. So 4 it is. Like, I fell asleep several times and I completely missed the flying whales. It became too fantastical for me, and too long. So 4 stars, which is still a high rating for me, who doesn't read fantasy books anymore. 6/7/21

Read: 2021-03-10

I don't think I can empathise enough how much I love that book.
Some or even many people may know the move adaption by Ghibli and I can tell you it is nothing compared to the book! So when you like the film I guarantee you you'll love the book.
Only after reading it I understand some of the scences in the movie, so go on and read it while I wait for the other two volumes to arrive at my local bookstore ;D

Extremely charming, wicked funny. Both fantastical and mundane (in the best way). A book to fall in love with.

Movie watchers wondering if the book is worth it, WITHOUT A DOUBT. It'll make you love the characters you already know so well more while also opening your heart to the stories of so many other lovely characters.

Howl, Sophie, and Diana Wynne Jones own my heart.

A good friend of mine has suggested both the film and the BBC 4 radio adaptations to me also multiple times, I finally I got round to it. I got so round to it that I listened to the radio play – not on BBC Sounds any more but can still be found on YouTube – and downloaded the audiobook so I could switch between that and the kindle edition. I still haven't seen the movie, but I'm sure it won't be long! 

I'm sure since I am very late to the party with this one that everyone already knows what it's about, but just in case anyone else also lives under a rock, the story is set in the world of Ingary. Our main character is Sophie, who is the eldest daughter and being very genre-savvy has resigned herself to a fate where nothing much of note ever happens to her, as she is the eldest, and if she goes out to make her fortune she will fail first and fail the worst. However, one day she gets cursed by a wicked witch and transformed into an elderly woman. Deciding that she can't continue to live her life like this, she immediately sets off to make her way in the world and ends up on the doorstep of Howl's literally moving about the landscape castle, where she's hoping the curse can be broken. 

I fell headfirst in love with this story. It very much reminds me of the magical feeling of being drawn into and entranced by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and filled me with the sense of whimsy and magic which that book also does, which probably accounts for how much I love it. The brilliant cast of characters certainly helps, the gentle inherent humour that suffuses the entire narrative, the charm and quirkiness. It was a delight. I found myself wanting to go get my kids to read it to them (currently they aren't interested as it's not Minecraft, but I will make them come to the light) just because I wanted to share my delight in it with them. 

The way that Sophie completely embraced being an elderly woman was very endearing. Howl could easily have been annoying considering how vain and spoilt he is, but he doesn't come across that way at all. There is a great sense of found-family affection between the residents of the moving castle that is just a pleasure. I loved how the curse, while ostensibly a bad thing, freed Sophie from what she felt was her role in life and enabled her to become more her than she had ever been. 

Rating: 4.25 leaves out of 5
Characters: 4.5/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Story: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Magic
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Yes!

It was a lovely book and there are comparisons with the book and the movie but book Howl is so much more different than movie Howl. I would much rather movie Howl, he just seemed more of a gentleman than book Howl could ever be. It still held that magical presence and I enjoyed it. Sophie is a kick in the book as well as in the movie. I would recommend giving this a go!

I think Howl and Sophie are just real magic. The movie is my all-time favorite and I've been putting off reading the book because I was worried it would change my feelings for the movie. It really hasn't. The book is vastly different, but it has enough elements that stayed the same to make it familiar. I loved this book. There is no redemption for the witch of the waste, but it didn't need it. I loved Calcifer, and book Michael, being 15 instead of 9 or 10, was perfect. I liked that Sophie had her own magic. Lettie and Martha were great. The relationship between Howl and Sophie was nuanced and it was almost surprising that he had fallen for Sophie at the end of the book even though I knew it was coming. I was a little sad that Turniphead was less of a character as the scarecrow golem. My favorite part of the book was how Howl really was from Wales and loved rugby so much that his heart made Calcifer sing Sosban fach (the saucepan song). This story is timeless and I'm sure I will read this book again throughout my life.

I hate doing this, but my actual grade here is 4.5 stars. Sorry.

Well, first of all, I love Diana Wynne Jones. I loved her already from her Chrestomanci books, which I read as a kid, and I love her now even more. Howl's Moving Castle is as fun and well written as I expected it to be, and the worldbuilding is simple and effective in a way that many authors can't manage to do nowadays. Jones's characters are very much alive, and I love how each is different from the others, how the story gets to develop their personalities without overexposing them. Also, uh, yes, I re-fell in love with Howl Jenkins. No, I couldn't help myself. Yeah, stop. Stop judging me.

I freaking love this scene so much, and I was so so happy it was in the book.

As most of this generation, I think, I saw the animation first. It didn't bother me much at the beginning, but I developed a... curious sensation as I approached the ending of the story. I don't think I can explain it properly, but I feel like the book and the film complement each other in a way that I haven't really seen written work complement adaptation, like, ever? It's weird, even. This is, of course, my opinion, and you are well entitled to feel differently, but I find it funny that the characters are best developed in the novel, while their film counterparts are more charismatic and easier to relate to; the novel's plot is more complete, it has a “bigger” feeling to it, but the film's is more... consistent. Does it make sense? I don't know.

Anyway, read it, love it. Diana Wynne Jones was a genius and deserves each and every praise she gets.

I think I liked it better reading the second time. I remember having difficulty keeping the Ghibli film off my mind when I read it the first time and Howl seemed so much of a disappointment. This time around though, I found that there's more character to Howl than I'd presumed before... Sophie as well is quite interesting and I enjoyed the banter between them. I still think the ending was a bit rushed after the whole build up which is why I wouldn't rate this book a 5 but loved it just the same.

HOLY SHIT!!!!! Gaaaaaahhhhh this was SO fantastic!!!!! I loved this a LOT!!!! It's so very different from the movie that I love it separately from the movie (and yes, honestly, More than the movie)!!!!!

Reread after watching the movie within the last week and Wow not only is this so much better than the movie, but it's honestly such an incredibly good book with so much depth to it that the movie just doesn't have!!!!!!

Me ha gustado mucho, es un libro rápido de leer, interesante, divertido y mágico.

Empezando por lo bueno, la historia te engancha desde el primer capítulo y siempre está pasando algo para mantenerte entretenido. Es un libro apto para todos los públicos, aunque obviamente los más peques necesitaran la ayuda de un mayor, ya que el lenguaje no es súper súper básico.

Me gusta mucho Sophie, la protagonista. Para haber estado escrito en 1986 es un libro muy moderno en cuanto a la actitud de Sophie y eso es algo que me ha gustado muchísimo.

El único punto negativo que tiene es que hay algunos momentos que son un poco confusos. Al final se entienden la mayoría pero mientras lo leía me causaron tener que releer algunos trozos para ver si me había saltado algo, y si eso me ha pasado a mí puede que para un niño sea peor, lo menciono más que nada porque la categoría principal es middle grade, pero también es verdad que hay muchos niños que esos temas les da igual mientras se lo pasen bien. También podría ser que esté hecho a posta ya que lo estamos viendo todo desde el punto de vista de Sophie.

En resumen, uno de los mejores libros que he leído y una muy buena recomendación para los peques que empiezan a leer cosas un pelín más avanzadas.