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A review by liamliayaum
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
3.5
Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded up to five
Content Warnings: N/A
The delightful inspiration, written in 1986, for the movie adaption of the same name by Hayao Miyazaki. Disclaimer: I've seen the movie dozens of times before I sat down to read the book and my review may be trying to compare the two.
The booked focused more on Sophie, the main protagonist, on being the eldest of three daughters and therefore falling to misfortune. The Witch of the Waste places a curse on her that turns her into an old lady. Sophie ends up at Howl's castle to try to break it. Will she be able to break her curse?
Most of the characters were similar to how they were adapted in the movie but not all. It was an interesting concept that Howl was Spoilerin fact from another world (i.e. our world) and not the world in which the novel was set. Those distinctions, or lack thereof, were a bit confusing and were never fully explained, like how Howl had gotten to this other world and how this other world where magic is prevalent exists. The writing was quick and witty and although billed as young adult, older reader could enjoy just as easily.
My major gripe was the use of the word queer. It wasn't used in a LGBTQ context. Perhaps when this book was written there was a popular turn of phrase or different meaning to queer, but it did rub me the wrong way.
Content Warnings: N/A
The delightful inspiration, written in 1986, for the movie adaption of the same name by Hayao Miyazaki. Disclaimer: I've seen the movie dozens of times before I sat down to read the book and my review may be trying to compare the two.
The booked focused more on Sophie, the main protagonist, on being the eldest of three daughters and therefore falling to misfortune. The Witch of the Waste places a curse on her that turns her into an old lady. Sophie ends up at Howl's castle to try to break it. Will she be able to break her curse?
Most of the characters were similar to how they were adapted in the movie but not all. It was an interesting concept that Howl was Spoilerin fact from another world (i.e. our world) and not the world in which the novel was set. Those distinctions, or lack thereof, were a bit confusing and were never fully explained, like how Howl had gotten to this other world and how this other world where magic is prevalent exists. The writing was quick and witty and although billed as young adult, older reader could enjoy just as easily.
My major gripe was the use of the word queer. It wasn't used in a LGBTQ context. Perhaps when this book was written there was a popular turn of phrase or different meaning to queer, but it did rub me the wrong way.