Howl's Moving Castle

A young woman gets caught up in magical machinations and is turned old & fabulously crotchety. Great characters and vibe but I lost track of the plot a bit (disclaimer: listened to this as a sleep story), and wasn't really into the romantic ending.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8eOjQ3JrXk&list=PLp6dwtXsi8Pu6G7MT4ajMGB1YrumzQRZ9

It was easy to notice the elements of this story that inspired the Ghibli film, but the themes were quite different, with more focus on fate and the strengths of age. I enjoyed the characters and the story, and found the plot more cohesive than the film. As a whole, it's a fun fantasy that subverts expectations beautifully.

I'd given HMC a 4/5 on my first read-through, but on my second, I've absolutely fallen in love with this book. It's entirely adorable and full of charm. I remember having a hard time understanding Howl's behavior, but this time everything really clicked into place and felt so entirely heartfelt that I couldn't help but get giddy over the entire ending of the book.