Tag: Young Girl

Diana Wynne Jones – Howl’s Moving Castle | Review

Title: Howl’s Moving Castle

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 304

Rating: 4*/5

 

Dianne Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle

Dianne Wynne Jones – Howl’s Moving Castle

 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this book, because although I watched the movie several years ago, I couldn’t remember it too much. Because of that, I can’t really tell you how close the book and the movie are, but I can hopefully give a decent insight into the book by itself.

Howl’s Moving Castle was a delightful little read that could appeal to both kids and adults, a fantastic little sojourn into a fantasy world that still has traces of our own world scattered throughout it. It reminded me of an Enid Blyton book, or maybe even of The Eye of the Dragon by Stephen King. It has the vibe of a classic fairy tale with a young adult fantasy edge.

Loosely speaking, the story follows what happens to a young girl called Sophie Hatter after she’s placed under a cruel enchantment. Cursed by the Witch of the Waste and with nowhere else to go, she finds herself settling in to live with a wizard called Howl. He’s a complicated chap from a mysterious, faraway country called Wales, and at first it starts to seem as though he’ll never change. But then they start to have adventures and the character development kicks in – but I can’t tell you about that without spoiling the story line.

Overall then, this is a great addition to anyone’s collection, and a fun one to read to your kids, if you have them. I don’t, but I didn’t let that stop me, and I found it to be a lot of fun. It whizzed by too, and I also loved the illustrations at the start of each chapter. It was an aesthetically pleasing read.

 

Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones

 

Click here to buy Howl’s Moving Castle.


Stephen King – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon | Review

Title: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Author: Stephen King

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 342

Rating: 4*/5

 

Stephen King - The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Stephen King – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

 

This book was interesting, because it’s very different to what you might expect if you’re a big Stephen King fan. It’s much more streamlined, almost basic, in a way that reminds me of a fairy tale. It makes for an interesting change, especially if you’ve just finished reading IT, The Stand or one of his longer works. That’s mostly down to the fact that there’s no need here to go into the charactersbackstories. He can focus on the action, and the action is gripping and exciting along the way. Better still, you could read it to a kid without giving them nightmares.

Loosely speaking, the plot follows what happens to a young girl after she gets lost during a walk through the woods with her mother and brother. Her family is arguing and paying her little attention, so when she needs to go to the toilet she decides to wander off. But once she leaves the path, she can’t seem to find it again. That leaves her lost in the woods, struggling to survive with no company except for the radio on her walkman, which she uses to listen in to Red Sox games. In particular, she likes to imagine she has company in the form of Tom Gordon, the Red Sox player, who she has a huge crush on.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is good enough, but it’s not amazing. For any other author, a book like this would be one hell of an achievement, but for Stephen King, it’s just okay. Still worth reading, but not revolutionary.

One last thing to mention is that the book actually ends on page 298, but the page count is higher because it also comes with a preview of Hearts in Atlantis. I haven’t read that yet, but I do own a copy, so I guess I’ll work my way round to that sometime soon.

 

Stephen King

Stephen King

 

Click here to buy The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.