Blue
You know it was a good book when, as the last page turns, you are smiling.
Obligatory Movie Tangent: I had watched the Studio Ghibli animated film a very long time ago, so I couldn't really remember it while I was reading. So, reading the book was like a new experience. I then watched the movie again afterwards to compare the two. One thing that really struck me at the end was how different the book is from the movie. I will say, if you are reading one or watching the other, you do not have to worry about spoiling the experience. They're almost like two different interpretations of the same concepts...I actually really enjoy when a book and movie are different like that. I think it's a bit boring to adapt the book exactly as-is when making a movie, and I respect when a director takes liberties to try and give the movie an identity of its own.
Onto the book:
The book is wonderfully whimsical and refreshingly original. The characters are so fun to read about; the dialogue is witty and humorous, and each of the characters has their own quirks about them that make them very engaging. It doesn't take long to endear to each of the characters in their own special way. Sophie, as an old woman, is cantankerous without being too mean and quite clever. Howl was a great surprise; I actually much prefer him in the book versus the movie. He is the perfect match of coolness and childishness. He feels so human in this way, dressing up in beautiful suits while complaining about Sophie trying to clean his room. This was a book where I greatly enjoyed the whole cast of characters, including Michael and Calcifer.
I admit I can be cautious when I read older fantasy books. As much as I love fantasy, there's no denying that you can see the same trope throughout countless books and things don't age well. It was a pleasant surprise to see how original this book was. I didn't run into the same character tropes or predictable plot developments. This is not a story where you could easily slap the outline onto something else; the premise, the characters, and the execution were delightfully one-of-a-kind. For example, I completely expected Calcifer to have a plot twist of secretly being an evil demon while maintaining a falsehood of being friendly. I mean, isn't that one of the oldest tricks in the book? The obviously “evil” character in the cast (in this case, the fire demon) secretly pretending to be an ally until during the book's climax, revealing himself to be the villain. Jones completely subverted my expectations!
This book just has delight written all over it. There's no grimdark fantasy here or any heavy quest. It's about a group of magical people in a quirky world, dealing with problems both mundane and magical. I find those to be some of the best books of all. We don't need an epic 1000 page quest to get some merit out of fantasy literature. The characters are fun to read about, the world is fun to read about, and it's hard not to smile as you turn the pages.
Honestly, my only complaint is the ending part of the book. The pacing seemed to crank up by 1000x speed in the last two chapters and things were resolved so quickly, it was quite jarring after such a long and gradual journey of build-up. The climax of the book, the falling action, and the resolution really happen all in the last two chapters...but the ending does not dictate the journey, and it didn't dampen my enjoyment of everything leading up to it.
All in all, a wonderful and delightful book. I haven't read something that cheered me up this much in a while. If you are a jaded adult reader that is struggling to find wonder in books like you used to as a child, take heart from someone similar - it is still possible to be charmed.
Audibook Review: I listened to this book via audiobook. The audiobook was narrated by Jenny Sterlin, and was excellent. Sterlin is a great narrator, putting emotion into her words without it being overly exaggerated and comical. It really did give the feeling of having the story told to you by a master storyteller. Her voice is very soothing, smooth, easy to listen to and perfectly fitting for the atmosphere of the story. My only complaint is that her voice for Calcifer could be a little grating (but still fitting for his character, considering he's a fire demon) and her accent for Howl seemed to occasionally be off from time to time. These are minor complaints all-in-all, and listening to the audiobook was a fantastic experience.
You know it was a good book when, as the last page turns, you are smiling.
Obligatory Movie Tangent: I had watched the Studio Ghibli animated film a very long time ago, so I couldn't really remember it while I was reading. So, reading the book was like a new experience. I then watched the movie again afterwards to compare the two. One thing that really struck me at the end was how different the book is from the movie. I will say, if you are reading one or watching the other, you do not have to worry about spoiling the experience. They're almost like two different interpretations of the same concepts...I actually really enjoy when a book and movie are different like that. I think it's a bit boring to adapt the book exactly as-is when making a movie, and I respect when a director takes liberties to try and give the movie an identity of its own.
Onto the book:
The book is wonderfully whimsical and refreshingly original. The characters are so fun to read about; the dialogue is witty and humorous, and each of the characters has their own quirks about them that make them very engaging. It doesn't take long to endear to each of the characters in their own special way. Sophie, as an old woman, is cantankerous without being too mean and quite clever. Howl was a great surprise; I actually much prefer him in the book versus the movie. He is the perfect match of coolness and childishness. He feels so human in this way, dressing up in beautiful suits while complaining about Sophie trying to clean his room. This was a book where I greatly enjoyed the whole cast of characters, including Michael and Calcifer.
I admit I can be cautious when I read older fantasy books. As much as I love fantasy, there's no denying that you can see the same trope throughout countless books and things don't age well. It was a pleasant surprise to see how original this book was. I didn't run into the same character tropes or predictable plot developments. This is not a story where you could easily slap the outline onto something else; the premise, the characters, and the execution were delightfully one-of-a-kind. For example, I completely expected Calcifer to have a plot twist of secretly being an evil demon while maintaining a falsehood of being friendly. I mean, isn't that one of the oldest tricks in the book? The obviously “evil” character in the cast (in this case, the fire demon) secretly pretending to be an ally until during the book's climax, revealing himself to be the villain. Jones completely subverted my expectations!
This book just has delight written all over it. There's no grimdark fantasy here or any heavy quest. It's about a group of magical people in a quirky world, dealing with problems both mundane and magical. I find those to be some of the best books of all. We don't need an epic 1000 page quest to get some merit out of fantasy literature. The characters are fun to read about, the world is fun to read about, and it's hard not to smile as you turn the pages.
Honestly, my only complaint is the ending part of the book. The pacing seemed to crank up by 1000x speed in the last two chapters and things were resolved so quickly, it was quite jarring after such a long and gradual journey of build-up. The climax of the book, the falling action, and the resolution really happen all in the last two chapters...but the ending does not dictate the journey, and it didn't dampen my enjoyment of everything leading up to it.
All in all, a wonderful and delightful book. I haven't read something that cheered me up this much in a while. If you are a jaded adult reader that is struggling to find wonder in books like you used to as a child, take heart from someone similar - it is still possible to be charmed.
Audibook Review: I listened to this book via audiobook. The audiobook was narrated by Jenny Sterlin, and was excellent. Sterlin is a great narrator, putting emotion into her words without it being overly exaggerated and comical. It really did give the feeling of having the story told to you by a master storyteller. Her voice is very soothing, smooth, easy to listen to and perfectly fitting for the atmosphere of the story. My only complaint is that her voice for Calcifer could be a little grating (but still fitting for his character, considering he's a fire demon) and her accent for Howl seemed to occasionally be off from time to time. These are minor complaints all-in-all, and listening to the audiobook was a fantastic experience.