Review: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Name: Howl’s Moving Castle
Series: Howl’s Moving Castle #1
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publisher: Harper Collin’s Children’s Books
Format: Kindle
Genres: Middle Grade/ Young Adult, Fantasy, Adventure, Classics
Spice Rating: None

Rating: (Rating got amended to 2.5 Stars)

Synopsis: Goodreads
In this beloved modern classic, young Sophie Hatter from the land of Ingary catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell . . .

Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls…

There Sophie meets Michael, Howl’s apprentice, and Calcifer the fire demon, with whom she agrees a pact. Her entanglements with Calcifer, Howl and Michael and her quest to break her curse come alive with Diana Wynne Jones’s unique combination of magic, humour and imagination.

Review:

So, my friend Wendy suggested I read Howl’s Moving Castle. I added it to my challenge for 2025 and thought yeah! A cosy fun adventure read might be a great pallet cleanser later in the year. I’m coming to realise that really, the cosy fun books are not for me. I need stakes! Or romance at least. But that didn’t stop me from trying to enjoy Howl’s Moving Castle.

Sophie is one of those FMC’s that never htis. I was never able to get on with her, I found her to be particularly forgetable… Unfortunately. She’s the eldest daughter of Fanny, a hat shop owner, who finds herself cursed and somehow staying with Howl… I say somehow because even though I read it, I’m still not exactly sure how or why she ended up staying with Howl. And anyway, while she’s there she meets Calcifer – a fire demon – and strikes a deal with him to help him so he’ll help her.

Calcifer is why I continued reading Howl’s Moving Castle, because honestly I loved him. He had some excellent moments, as his banter with all the characters was just excellent. Michael was another character that I quite liked! And it made me very happy watching as he grew throughout the story. Howl himself grew on me I suppose – but he’s a very complicated and confusing character, I think on purpose, so it worked. But Sophie… Eesh, I just was so bored of her.

I don’t think I’ll continue with this series, pretty sure I won’t in fact. However, I do want to watch the movie! I desperately need to see Calcifer on the screen! But I am definitely learning that cosy and low stakes books really aren’t my thing…

“I hope your bacon burns.”

Reading With Tyler