![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_ityyoung fantasy, magic, vague nonsense, girl power, best curse ever
I went through a not-short period of my childhood reading books I didn't like. I read them because my mother decided they were worthy, and because I was made to. Looking back, I realize that there is a difference between being able to read and being able to understand. It's why the first time through "Contact" was such a train wreck, and why Madeleine L'Engle and I got off on the wrong foot entire. As an eight year old, there were many things I just didn't get.
So I wonder why my mother never went for Diana Wynne-Jones. Because this book was AWESOME.
I really liked the title, for starters. It's kind of fantastic. And I loved that none of the sisters or the step-mother were "evil". They were just REAL people who had REAL problems (where REAL is defined in a fantastical setting, of course), and who sometimes were a bit absent minded because they were focused on themselves. And Howl was hilariously stupid, at times.
I really, really, loved Sophie. The idea of her character is really neat, and I love that her only real enemy is herself. I might be projecting a bit (who me? NEVER!), but I liked watching her grow through her issues and come into her power. AND I LOVED THE CURSE! I loved the idea that she stopped being afraid of thing IMMEDIATELY upon becoming old. It's just so...perception based and wacky, and I love it.
I also love the part where, had the Witch not interfered, Sophie would never have left the hat shop, and the Witch would have won. Because I am a sucker for that kind of story-telling.
There were a great many parts of this book where I laughed out loud. The ending was a bit sudden, if only because I was totally not expecting Howl and Sophie to hook up (well, that's a lie, because CLEARLY they were...I was just expecting it to be different). But EVERYBODY LIVED, and I always, always love that.
This book was just so much FUN. And now I have to go and read everything she's ever written! I am excited. I give it a 9!
I went through a not-short period of my childhood reading books I didn't like. I read them because my mother decided they were worthy, and because I was made to. Looking back, I realize that there is a difference between being able to read and being able to understand. It's why the first time through "Contact" was such a train wreck, and why Madeleine L'Engle and I got off on the wrong foot entire. As an eight year old, there were many things I just didn't get.
So I wonder why my mother never went for Diana Wynne-Jones. Because this book was AWESOME.
I really liked the title, for starters. It's kind of fantastic. And I loved that none of the sisters or the step-mother were "evil". They were just REAL people who had REAL problems (where REAL is defined in a fantastical setting, of course), and who sometimes were a bit absent minded because they were focused on themselves. And Howl was hilariously stupid, at times.
I really, really, loved Sophie. The idea of her character is really neat, and I love that her only real enemy is herself. I might be projecting a bit (who me? NEVER!), but I liked watching her grow through her issues and come into her power. AND I LOVED THE CURSE! I loved the idea that she stopped being afraid of thing IMMEDIATELY upon becoming old. It's just so...perception based and wacky, and I love it.
I also love the part where, had the Witch not interfered, Sophie would never have left the hat shop, and the Witch would have won. Because I am a sucker for that kind of story-telling.
There were a great many parts of this book where I laughed out loud. The ending was a bit sudden, if only because I was totally not expecting Howl and Sophie to hook up (well, that's a lie, because CLEARLY they were...I was just expecting it to be different). But EVERYBODY LIVED, and I always, always love that.
This book was just so much FUN. And now I have to go and read everything she's ever written! I am excited. I give it a 9!
