Vivian Johnson

i, being a huge fan of the movie, story, and director, was sadly disappointed in this book. i'm not saying it was bad, it added some interesting elements and plot details that i would've liked to see translated into the movie like all of sophie's sisters, but it was lacking in some of my favorite areas that were included in the movie. i think the journey and character development that both sophie and howl go through is moving and incredibly thought out. especially whenever sophie progresses or regresses in age, i love that so much. however in the book, you don't get that same magic. starting off with just the structure and setup, i found it rather wordy. and as for sophie's personality, she wasn't relatable at all, at least for me. it seemed she was destined to be a sour old lady right from her early years. sophie in the movies was complex and the relatability was heartbreaking. she wanted to be beautiful, but more than that she wanted to escape a monotonous life. but she didn't think she deserved it. there was nothing that really brought her joy or anything to be proud of. that was the hardworking sophie i knew, that regardless of the hopeless life she lived, she strove to help those around her. in the book she was the oldest of three, so that meant she was meant to be a failure. she was rarely kind, and didn't try to do anything for herself because she thought she'd never amount to anything. not my sophie. i could go on about howl for ages, but I'll keep it brief. movie howl believes in sophie, he loves her, searched relentlessly for her, and in the end sacrifices everything for her. and yes he was a drama king. book howl rarely payed attention to sophie, and basically hated her until the last couple of chapters. i was searching for some kind of underlying love, even the smallest bit, but alas no signs of him being in love with her. and the same goes for sophie. the end where on the last two pages they "realize their love for each other" feels unnatural and out of the blue. it's nonsensical. there was no chemistry (despite popular opinion)! one of the greatest plot points of this story is howl and sophie's love for one another, so you can understand my frustration. overall it was fun to find out about sophie's sisters, but that was the most entertaining part to me. movie with war and time travel for life, love you Miyazaki and thank you diane for the book that inspired him.