Howl's Moving Castle

By: Diana Wynne Jones

Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin

A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book and ALA Notable and Best of the Year in Young Adult Fiction, Howl's Moving Castle is by acclaimed fantasy writer Diane Wynne Jones and was transformed into an Academy Award nominated animated motion picture by Hayao Miyazaki. On a rare venture out from her step-mother's hat shop, Sophie attracts the attention of a witch, who casts a terrible spell transforming the young girl into an old crone.

©1986 Diana Wynne Jones (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"A wonderful blend of humor, magic, and romance." (Publishers Weekly)

Great book for all ages

I really love this book, it is inventive and rich in so many ways. It has themes that appeal to all ages, and playfully tweaks the fantasy genre while creating one of the most memorable wizards in literature. The story is quite different than the movie version, with surprises right up until the end. The narrator has a unique voice, but I liked her interpretation, and highly recommend this audiobook.

delightful!

while this is different from the animated film, I found it such a joy to listen to. I just love the ending.

Will forever love this book

I loved this book. If this were my physical copy of this book, it would have tattered pages by now. Sometime I don’t have time to sit down and read and the movie doesn’t always queue my productiveness, but I love how Jenny narrated this book. Best purchase!!

I related way too much to Howl

Though this isn’t my typical go-to genre, I’ve been wanting to read this book for a long time and I wasn’t disappointed. I enjoyed my time in Sophie and Howl’s magical world.

I related way too much with Howl on many occasions. Two prime examples in which Howl is me:

Example 1: When Howl gets sick with a cold and becomes a giant baby about it, moaning and groaning and acting like his world is ending. This is me every time I get sick. Ask my husband. In fact, I’m pretty sure my husband is Sophie and I am Howl in so many ways it is frightening.

Example 2: When Howl tells Sophie his truth: “I’m a coward. Only way I can do something this frightening is to tell myself I’m not doing it.”
This is the backwards tactic I’ve been known to use when I need to convince myself to do scary things — I tell myself and others that I’m not going to do it (or at least find a million “outs”) and then I usually end up doing it. Both Howl and I know ourselves well enough to know that if we have to commit to something, the pressure becomes too great and we give up. I’m not proud of it, but I’ve embraced it. And I loved that he did, too.

So, basically, I related exceptionally well to Howl and I was thoroughly entertained by how Sophie dealt with things. Particularly turning into an old woman. She was just like, “Eh, it is what it is,” and kind of went on with life, only vaguely inconvenienced. I found this hilarious for some reason.

The writing was perfectly middle-grade fantasy and British. At least it was to me, coming from someone who rarely reads this particular genre.

It was nice to roam outside of the norm for a bit with this book. Now I’m off to find out how I can get my hands on the movie!



Audiobook Performance:
Jenny Sterlin had the absolute perfect voice for this book. Her voice acting is impeccable. I was completely in the story the entire time thanks to her.

More complex than it looks

I kept seeing reviews talking about reading it to their kids but honestly there are so many little details I think everyone can get something out of it.

Not quite like the movie mind you. There's some Frankenstein body building going on for example, and the witch of the wastes will not ever be so well mannered as to eat soup at the table with everyone else.