hi, I just finished the book and I just need to complain about Howl and Sophie getting together in the end. My forst issue is that I felt zero romantic interest/chemistry between them at all throughout the book, which is understandable because for the most part Sophie was a ninety year old woman and Howl was pursuing every women he came across, yet somehow in the end when she turns back he’s in love with her. It doesn’t make sense to me. I could never view an elderly man as anything more than that, at best I’d consider him a good friend. This may be extreme but it just feels like there’s some weird undertones of gerontophilia. Is It supposed to be some hidden message about inner beauty and how Howl could see beyond the curse and fall for her despite the way she looked? My second issue is I don’t understand what makes Sophie different. In the book Howl works to make women love him and then he immediately loses interest. Why is Sophie different? Is it because he didn’t need to work to make her love him? Because of the time they spent together or what they’ve been through?
It just feels like the romance between them is completely out of place and unnecessary. Like the writer was trying to appease some specific audience that would be mad if the dynamic between the guy and the girl didn’t end in a relationship and play into the “and they lived happily ever after” trope.
by Proyuna
7 Comments
Erm, what book is this?
Yeah, I hated that too. Um, what book?
I had the same issue when reading it. For 90% of the book I just assumed that the romance plot line was created solely for the movie haha.
Well a few things to know, is that Howl always knew that Sophie was not really an old woman , but actually a young woman under a curse, just like calcifer called out Sophie’s curse as soon as they met Howl realized it too. And was actively trying to break it.
Thats the reason Howl sends Sophie to the castle to meet with the king, and his magical mentor Mrs penstemmon, hoping that his mentor will recognize her curse and be able to break it, which she does recognize but can’t break. Mrs Penstemmon tells Sophie that she has incredible magical gifts, and insinuates that Sophie is causing her own curse not to be broken , by feeling like she deserves it. Sophie has the power to speak things into life, her words shape reality, and her negative self image is keeping her cursed. Sophie realizes she loves Howl, when she realizes how jealous she feels of Howls attention to Mrs Angorian Howl loves Sophie from the start because she cannot be won over easily.
Howl loses interest in the woman he chases as soon as they return his affection, which is usually instantly.
*EDIT ADDED CONTEXT* Also keep in mind that for most of the book Howl does not possess his own heart. Calcifer owns it as part of their contract/ curse, so Its not really possible for Howl to truly love anyone until Sophie breaks their contract, which is why Howl “steals” the hearts of so many woman (that is his curse).
One of the big themes in the book are disguises
Disguising our true intentions and hopes.
What we show the world is not what we truly feel, or who we truly are.
Id say read it again in a year or so and you will catch more of the subtlety and implied context.
I think I felt the same way after the first time I listened to the audiobook, which is excellent and I highly recommend.
It’s a book that improves with every reading, and each time I pick up more clues to all the different mysteries going on. As others have pointed out, Howl knew the whole time she was not an old woman. Give it a few weeks or months to settle in your imagination and then try reading it again.
Sophie is a completely unreliable narrator, she’s lying to us and herself the whole book. There’s lots of chemistry throughout the book. It’s super fun to pick up on in repeat reads.
Wait, there was tons of chemistry in the book. It was a fun play on a mild enemies to lovers in some ways, but it was very much there throughout the book. In fact, it got less and less subtle as the book went on.
As others have said howl knew about the curse. Gerontophilia is quite a stretch. I’m not sure how you got that, but didn’t pick up on the chemistry. I feel like I read a totally different book than you did.