4.75 Charming book that really manages to build up and subvert fairy-tale clichés while also presenting characters that are mostly believable and a story that starts out as really opaque and mysterious, but step by step manages to explain the craziness (though thankfully not exhaustively). It's still very enjoyable to read after watching the Miyazaki's amazing movie since almost nothing but the three main character's main plotline is the same. The interviews with the author in my edition were also very nice showing the mutual admiration of Jones and Miyazaki.