Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle #1)

Reader reviewed by Connie



Howl's Moving Castle tells the story of Sophie Hatter who is cursed to take on the appearance of an old woman. She decides to leave her house and enters the terrifying castle of Wizard Howl, who is reputed to eat the hearts of pretty young girls. At the castle, Sophie ends up having plenty of adventures she never imagined she would have. This fantasy story lacks large battle scenes and a quest, which makes it very unique. You never know what's going to happen next! Its creativity in terms of plot and witty dialogues makes this a favorite.

Reader reviewed by Kathleen



Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is the perfect blend of witty narration, crazy characters, and perfect plot. While I've never been able to get three pages into any of Jones' multitudes of other books, this clever fairytale had me hooked from the first sentence.

We open in a small town on Sophie Hatter, the hat maker's daughter. You know how in fairytales only good things happen to the youngest, and stepsisters are always bad? Well Jones takes the angle of the eldest, caring for her young sister Martha and step sister Lettie. Sophie has basicaly resigned herself to being stuck in the hat shop for the rest of her life while her sisters go out and learn magic and meet fantastic people, because she is the eldest and the eldest never succeeds.

Through a wonderfully twisted and cruel trick of fate, Sophie is the only one in the shop on day when the evil Witch of the Waste drops by. Convinced that Sphie, herself, is a rival witch, she puts a spell on Sophie and sweeps out of the store. All of the sudden, young pretty Sophie is a ninety year old woman, complete with backaches and knee pains. To proud to reveal her new self to her family, she leaves home and heads for the hills. She chances upon a huge castle billowing black smoke and moving across the moore. Without waiting to be invited, Sophie lets herself in to give her tired old feet a rest.

Inside she finds the decidedly unplesent Calcifer, a fire demon trapped by a contract. Michel, a young, slightly abused but loyal wizards apprentice. And the Wizard Howl, known where Sophie comes from as an evil man who uses his magic to prey on young girls and eat their hearts (And may or may not turn them into the spiders that spin webs all over his messy house) She offers her services as a house maid, and so begins the captivating story in which Sophie cleanes a wizard's house, induces green slime, casts a few spells, and defeats the Witch of the Waste.

I can truely find no fault with this book. It's one of those that i can read three times a week and still laugh and cry along with the characters. Each and every character is unique and surprising. Jones starts each character very "cartoon" like, but as the story progresses you get a glimpse into each one's anger, love, sadness, and passion which makes them so human it'll feel like a vile crime to shut the book on them. This book is for anybody who ever dreamed of fairytales, from the ages of ten to one hundred and ten.

Oh, and one more thing. There's a movie. It's a anime by the award winning film director Hayao Miyazaki. Please please please read the book first. While the movie is good, it is NOTHING like the book.

Reader reviewed by Meeshee

I must have read this book in a day it was so good - a pageturner till the end. I would highly recommend this book. (if you have seen the movie, it follows the book beautifully, you'll find many similarities with a few differences) This book is magical, mysterious, and has earned a loving place on my shelf.

Reader reviewed by co-chan

Ever read a fantasy book? Howl's Moving Castle is nothing like it. It's a very particular book about a womanizing wizard and a young girl who was turned into an old lady by a curse.
The story is different than any other in its genre. Not only the setting, but the magic,the characters... practically everything. If you're in search of something original, Howl's Moving Castle is definitely something for you.

Reader reviewed by tomato_chic

Howl's Moving Castle is one of Diana Wynne Jones's best written books, i think. It is very creative and makes you laugh at how Sophie turns into a 90 year old woman. If you have watched the movie, you would DEFINATELY love the book because it is different to the movie but just as good. The thing that makes you keep reading is to find out what will happen to Sophie (will she turn back to her real age), Wizard Howl's childishness, and the relationship between everyone. People who read this book will most likely laugh out loud at what happens...(I did!) I recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

Reader reviewed by mimagirl

Sophie is the eldest of three sisters, which everyone knows is terribly unlucky. When the Witch of the Waste turns up and transforms Sophie into an old woman, things go from bad to worse!

Sophie goes to seek help from the Wizard Howl and discovers that he is not what many believe him to be. Will she ever be able to gain help to break the spell?

Full of memorable characters and quirky situations, Howl's Moving Castle is a fully-fleshed fantasy enjoyable for readers 13 and up.

Reader reviewed by Riney

Diana Wynne Jone's novel (which was recently made into a film), is a fun and humor-filled, and somewhat mysterious story that is quite different from your average fantasty story.

The story starts out in a small town, Market Chipping, where we are introduced to Sophie, the oldest daughter of a middle class family. Resigned to living her life as a hat maker, Sophie is surprised to meet a witch who curses her and turns her into an eighty year old woman! And in the meantime, there are rumors about a heart-eating wizard in a moving castle who might be able to turn Sophie back to normal! And so Sophie goes off to take the spell off of her only to make a bargain with a fire demon, to become a housekeeper, and to take care of a semi-spoiled vain wizard!

This book was very fun and very enjoyable! It is quite confusing at times and it sometimes requires two or three times of reading to comprehend. Nevertheless, it's a fun fantasy book that you should definetly re-read to get all the hints that the fire demon speaks about!

Although this novel was made into a movie, I suggest reading this book first! The movie was quite different from the novel, and I felt that the book was way better at explaining things!