Howl's Moving Castle (1986), In Which the Book is Still Better But Not By Much

Originally published: March 9, 2026

I had a tough time choosing which book covers to display because I wanted showcase the narmy 80s style art that the author (or someone) had in mind writing or reading this book. It turns out that since it is a pretty old and famous book, it's had a shitton of different covers made throughout the years pre- and post-Ghibli movie, some of which you can peruse at The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (I recommend you do, some are pretty great and some are pretty ass). Suffice to say, thank God for Studio Ghibli giving a shot at the book and cementing in everyone's minds the beautiful fantasy landscape we are more familiar with today.

Many of you may have already heard that the book is quite different from the film. They start out both roughly the same, but around the midway point the film greatly diverges from the original story, though some of the core elements still remain the same. I initially had no interest in reading the original novel as I was pretty satisfied (though not especially enamored) with the film the first time I watched it as a child.

Fast forward to my current loser adult self, I was looking for book recommendations online with "loser protagonists" (haha no surprises here) that I could relate to, and Howl's Moving Castle was recommended in a Reddit thread. Eventually I got around to actually reading it since I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to read. Yeah, so I didn't actually know it was a kid's book, but the way it's written didn't strike as super dumbed down either so it's no surprise that it has an adult fanbase and it's being recommended to adults still. Or maybe it just sounds intelligent enough because it's in British English. lmao

So, what did I think? It's... okay.... I guess. It does some things really well, and other things a bit lacking. I was kind of disappointed actually (Lately, I've been disappointed by a lot of books. Am I the problem??) I do get though why there's a fanbase, I guess I just expected a bit more.

Diana Wynne Jones is really good at creating a whimsical fantasy atmosphere. "Whimsical" is probably the most common way people describe her writing here, and it's no surprise that this book is a lot of people's comfort reads (before "cozy fantasy" became trite and cringe, sorry not sorry). There were times however where it got a bit confusing or "too whimsical" for me. The whole story is written in the perspective of Sophie, and most of the story she's just dragged along to places and stuff just happens for some reason? It's not until the very end where both Sophie and the reader understand what's actually been going on the whole time, and also she and Howl are a couple now? lol.

In the earlier half of the novel, Sophie had more agency and her personal journey was of the focus. But by the latter half, her personal story takes a sideline to the main overarching plot involving Howl and the Witch of the Waste, which is still shrouded in mystery up until the very end were Howl just drops the bomb on Sophie about what was really happening behind the scenes. Her personal struggle with self-confidence also warps into some sort romantic jealousy of Howl's other girls, which kind of came out of nowhere for because Sophie and Howl actually barely spend any time together in the book.

And it's not to say that the characters are undeveloped or poorly-written; I actually love their personalities and interactions with each other much more than the movie. Sophie's inner thoughts are explored more and resonated with me. Howl is much more foppish and flawed than in the film, and thus he has a lot more character here. The supporting characters are much more fleshed-out, and its a shame that the movie had to cut off Sophie's relationships with her family. I also much prefer Sophie and Howl's bickering dynamic compared to the sappy romance in the film version. But therein also lies the problem with the main couple. Howl and Sophie actually barely spend any screentime together where they're not getting on each other's nerves. And I know it could also be interpreted as Belligerent Sexual Tension, but it just doesn't land for me because book!Howl can also be really, truly obnoxious, and I don't like the idea of Sophie just falling for him despite that just because he's good-looking. I'm not saying that there should have been more romance, but just some more time for them to breathe and cultivate the relationship. A missed opportunity for me.

I was so bothered by this that I, loser that I am, of course had to search online and see if other people felt the same; and satisfyingly I wasn't alone but we do seem to be a minority. I've also read replies from the fans who tried to elucidate and justify some of the writing choices. Things like "you may have had the wrong expectations", "it's written more like a fairy tale than a fantasy", "it's a lot clearer and better appreciated on the second read"-- those all could be sound arguments. I'm also not really the most voracious reader out there since I cam out of a rut, so I definitely could have missed a lot of subtext. Although I do think that it's better for a book to not require a second reading to be received better by the reader.

Yeah, I know I sound like a mega hater in this blog post since I did bitch a lot. But I actually still do like the book, maybe even more than the film. And it's because I like the book that its flaws irk me so much. Or maybe I'm just butthurt that I see so much praise but I ended up being disappointed. Oh well.