Written 30 years ago now, Diana Wynne Jones creates an old-fashioned kind of fantasy full of adventure. With wizards, demons, magic spells, and moving castles, Howl’s Moving Castle is an original and imaginative story that certainly takes you on a journey or two.

Whilst not a familiar fairy tale, the story of Sophie and Howl very much feels like one at times with its emphasis on morals and exploration of relationships but, on the other hand, it also feels much more adult, being filled with a lot of humour, brilliantly complex characters, and many secrets to be revealed.

Not technically a book for adults, Howl’s Moving Castle is more of a young adult novel, written long before young adult fiction became so popular. It’s quite an innocent story, with Howl and Sophie’s relationship developing quite quickly but, most of all, the focus of the book is on how Sophie feels about herself, which is an important subject for young girls in any decade.

Sophie thinks she’s doomed to fail because she’s the oldest of three, and feels like she doesn’t compare to her more talented and beautiful sisters; so when the Witch turns her into an old woman, she finds it quite fitting and almost accepts her new appearance straight away. It’s not until the end when Sophie realises that it’s about what she can do that defines her, not the qualities of those around her.

It is quite inspiring, but it’s also quite basic at the same time. Regarding her relationship with Howl, too, there’s not a lot of development or emotional investment, just a sweet happy-ever-after, so older readers may have some issues with it.

That being said, I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I can’t wait to read it to my own children. For me, what this book is really about is fantasy and magic, and that’s what I found so enchanting about it. It’s not often you can delve so easily into a fantasy book and feel part of the world that has been created, but that’s definitely what Howl’s Moving Castle does.