Howl's Moving Castle

Paperback, 448 pages

English language

Published April 22, 2008 by Eos.

ISBN:
978-0-06-147878-9
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
320838316

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (99 reviews)

As the oldest daughter, willful, outspoken Sophie knew that her life could lead to nothing but mistakes. When her father dies, her stepmother sends her two sisters out to make their fortunes while Sophie continues to work in the family hattery. As she whispers her thoughts to the hats she trims, the shop begins to grow in popularity, until she offends the Wicked Witch of the Waste. The witch casts a spell turning Sophie into an old woman. Sophie leaves the shop and happens upon the castle of the Wizard Howl. He has a reputation for finding young women and eating their hearts but that doesn't stop Sophie from moving in and turning the lives of the whole castle, including Howl's apprentice and his fire demon, upside down in a battle against the wicked witch and for Sophie's future.

22 editions

Review of "Howl's Moving Castle" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Everyone wants to marry Howl, especially me. He is the ultimate 'I can fix him' man, and that's just from the film! This book? Stupendous. Refreshing. Like a minty salve smeared over my forehead. Every character shines. The writing quality is a folktune on the ears. Sophie is a wonderful and deeply relatable protaginist for all of her pragmatisism and cynicism, but with just enough good-heartedness to carry her forward.

My only gripe is that the ending tries to bundle up everything at once in a way that comes off as a little confusing for how chaotic it gets, but it's not something I really mind.

Review of "Howl's Moving Castle" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I picked this up because I'm so familiar with the Ghibli film, I had to know the source material.



Without bashing the movie, which is wonderful in it's own right, I just have to say that I wish the movie included more of the book than it does. As is normal, the movie changed and omitted a lot, which is unfortunate. The book breathes so much more life into what are already lively characters. Anyone more familiar with the Ghibli movie should definitely give this a read, it paints a much fuller picture of the story.

Review of "Howl's Moving Castle" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Commute audiobook. I enjoyed the narrator of this one.

Book was ok.

I love the moving castle. LOVE it.

I felt like a lot of interesting things happen, and I liked the interplay between Sophie, calcifer and Michael. But none of it ever quite coheres into sensical plot, with the result that I found it somewhat challenging to keep track of the characters Howl may or may not be searching for and the encounters between minor characters who were probably in disguise at the time anyway. (I blame this partly on listening while driving. I can't give ALL my attention to the book...)

Spoiler below.







But honestly the biggest issue for me is the tail end--suddenly Sophie and howl are in love, but it comes out of NOWHERE. They've spent the entire book sniping at each other, and not in a "they secretly love each other but just don't know …

Review of "Howl's Moving Castle" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

[Review 2012]: I have seen the anime before and did not expect to be much surprised by the plot, but I was wrong. There are so many differences between the book and the movie that they are probably best described as variations on the same topic.

I don't know what I like most about this book. I am fond of those fantasy stories which seem to share their basic ideas rather with the the Wizard of Oz than the Lord of the Rings. Beside this the book has something truly original. I am looking forward to read the sequel.

[Review 2023]:After reading this book again more than 10 years after my first review, I would like to add a couple of observations:

I like the idea, that the moving castle's portal door leads not only to places in the books' own fictional world of Ingary, but also to modern …

Review of "Howl's Moving Castle" on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

A kid's fantasy novel about a young woman who's been suddenly aged 70 years by an evil witch. A quick and fun read, but I was struck by the overwhelming passivity of Sophie, the hero. This is the most passive, do-nothing protagonist since Clay in Less Than Zero. You keep wanting to yell at her to get up and act against all of the indignities that are heaped onto her. Outside of that, the settings in the book (including the Moving Castle itself) and the supporting characters of Howl the Sorceror and the hearth-dwelling fire demon draw you through the story. I'm not sure I'm recommending this book as a book, but I'll definitely be in line next year when Hayao Miyazaki's animated feature film is released.

avatar for mxrumphius

rated it

5 stars
avatar for mckmak

rated it

3 stars
avatar for fjordic

rated it

5 stars
avatar for ashinonyx

rated it

4 stars
avatar for androgynoid

rated it

4 stars
avatar for nclack

rated it

4 stars
avatar for syni44

rated it

5 stars
avatar for alien_sunset

rated it

5 stars
avatar for dnoate

rated it

3 stars
avatar for catnap

rated it

4 stars
avatar for AHemlocksLie

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Snorpy

rated it

4 stars
avatar for nonskanse

rated it

4 stars
avatar for KathleenMMM

rated it

5 stars
avatar for tesserato

rated it

4 stars
avatar for unsquare

rated it

5 stars
avatar for zachegwood

rated it

5 stars
avatar for OtterForce

rated it

5 stars
avatar for sansaraf

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Langwidere

rated it

4 stars
avatar for paparomeo

rated it

5 stars
avatar for seanbala

rated it

4 stars
avatar for bookllyfr

rated it

4 stars
avatar for joeyh

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Fireblend

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Pretense

rated it

4 stars
avatar for 73pctGeek

rated it

4 stars
avatar for betty

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Monirah

rated it

5 stars
avatar for kevlar

rated it

4 stars
avatar for bondolo

rated it

4 stars
avatar for noxernia

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Reynard_Fox

rated it

5 stars
avatar for zumbador

rated it

5 stars
avatar for claracd

rated it

4 stars
avatar for barsports

rated it

5 stars
avatar for krisrex

rated it

5 stars
avatar for acaleyn

rated it

5 stars
avatar for brstf

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Hyzie

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Dvmheather

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Way2

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Angzarr

rated it

4 stars
avatar for tripoutro

rated it

5 stars
avatar for bachya

rated it

3 stars
avatar for indeed_distract

rated it

5 stars
avatar for oddghost

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Cmot_Dibbler

rated it

5 stars
avatar for dev_tea

rated it

4 stars
avatar for GvS

rated it

2 stars
avatar for Gretrascis

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ginkgo

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Rinn

rated it

4 stars
avatar for LemonSky

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Marina

rated it

5 stars
avatar for furkell

rated it

4 stars
avatar for karlhungus

rated it

3 stars
avatar for tsukikage

rated it

5 stars
avatar for chaos_angel

rated it

5 stars
avatar for alma_de_cantaro

rated it

5 stars
avatar for pannakocka

rated it

5 stars
avatar for SweetGravy

rated it

4 stars
avatar for lindwurmkai

rated it

4 stars
avatar for boo

rated it

4 stars
avatar for yasharz

rated it

3 stars
avatar for andym

rated it

4 stars
avatar for pd-bomber

rated it

3 stars
avatar for forvrin

rated it

3 stars
avatar for sciatrix

rated it

4 stars
avatar for herdivineshadow@bookrastinating.com

rated it

4 stars

Subjects

  • Fairy Tales & Folklore - General
  • Humorous Stories
  • Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
  • Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic
  • Juvenile Fiction
  • Children's Books/All Ages
  • Children: Grades 4-6

Lists