Q U I C K S T A T S
Characters- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Writing style- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall rating- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
// Content Warning: Violence //
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Age group: Middle Grade
Genre(s): Fantasy
Pub date: April 1986
P R E M I S E
Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.
M Y R E V I E W
The story follows Sophie, an eighteen-year-old (I think she's eighteen?) apprentice of her father's hat shop which is now being run by her kind of nice step-mother (I'm quite conflicted on whether she is nice or evil). But one day she is cursed by a witch because she couldn't control her temper and had used some very PG-13 words to tell her to get the fuck out of the shop.
Now that I think about it, I better watch my tongue because I don't want to be cursed to look like an old woman. Not yet.
So, now she's an old woman and sneaks into Wizard Howl's house only to find out that he's a certified drama king (holy crap, this guy is another level of overdramatic) and now she sealed a deal with the demon in the fireplace. Fun.
When I tell you I laughed, I don't mean a small giggle every now and then. I mean laugh as in laugh, walk over to my sister at God knows what hour, wake her to tell the joke all over again, leave and laugh again until she tells me to shut up. Sophie was such a likeable character and I was immediately attached to her from the beginning of the book. Howl and his idiocy are not to be forgotten obviously, and paired with Sophie's sassy and very sarcastic remarks, you could see why I loved every minute of it.
Keep in mind that I am not the target audience for this book and therefore the issues I found probably went unnoticed. Can someone please explain how the fuck this house works? Like, does the demon in the fireplace get into this car thingy and take the house on a joyride at I don't know, 100 KMPH (which could potentially kill you) or does Howl wake up one day and decide he wants to socialise and poofs the house away? Or does something else happen?
BONUS CONTENT: MINI MOVIE REVIEW
First of all, there's absolutely no fucking way the visuals look that good and secondly, I think I visualised Howl wrong during the entire book:
THE MOVIE:
MY HEAD:
*Old man wheezing*
And to be that person who always points out the differences between books and the movies; Sophie's hair is supposed to be ginger ("red gold" as she would say). I don't know if I prefer it brown or have her original hair colour.
I take zero criticism for the soundtrack because holy fudge nuggets guys, this is the stuff. Who needs Taylor Swift when you've got *gestures wildly* the artists behind the movie album*
*- For legal reasons this is a joke; we all need a little bit of Taylor in our lives.
S I M I L A R B O O K S
Inkheart (series) by Cornelia Funke (translated by Anthea Bell)
That ultimate chad anime wizard howl tho 😂