Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones has been on my TBR list for over a year. The book inspired the much-loved anime animated by Studio Ghibli, however, after now reading/watching both, there are huge discrepancies between the two. I enjoyed them individually, but I was shocked by the liberties the movie adaptation took. The music was absolutely beautiful though.
The book version definitely fits into the category of 'cosy fantasy'. The stakes are low, but the magic is wonderfully bizarre and entertaining. Seventeen-year-old Sophie works in a hat shop and lives an incredibly dreary and monotonous life, until one day, the Witch of the Waste places a curse upon her. Trapped in the withering body of a ninety-year-old woman, Sophie throws caution to the wind and hobbles across the countryside in search of adventure and, hopefully, a solution to her current predicament. After being chased by a deranged scarecrow, she finds herself finding solace with the sinister walls of the infamous moving castle that terrorises the moorlands. This is where she encounters Howl, the dreaded Wizard with a scandalous reputation for eating the hearts of young girls.
It was a whimsical book suitable for all ages; a gentle read that I wasn't particularly emotionally involved in but enjoyed immensely. The humour was very dry, the pace was slow, but the characters were fantastical, and I enjoyed losing myself in the quirky and rich world Jones created.
Is there a book that has been sitting on your TBR that you're hoping to get to in 2024?
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