I somehow missed reading this book when I was younger, so I decided to catch up now, and I absolutely loved it. Actually, I didn't like it at first, I read about 40 pages and decided to give it up, but then the next day I suddenly realised that I kept thinking about the characters and wanting to find out more about them, so I went back to it. The characters were definitely my favourite thing about this book, they're really vivid and memorable and likeable. I actually find that a lot of children's/young adult books have extremely well-written and memorable characters, something I often miss in more adult or 'serious' literature. Anyways, the story is really good also, it's a lovely balance between predictable and full of original and unusual twists. It also gets better and funnier as it goes along, it doesn't start out in a particularly fascinating way, and doesn't really get into its proper stride until about halfway through, I'd say. It's just one of those adorable and lovely stories that makes you feel really happy and contented, there's something very satisfying about it. For some reason, I couldn't get it out of my head that Howl (also known by several other names) seemed ridiculously like David Bowie in both appearance and personality, I mean, 'a plain man with mud-coloured hair' who spends an inordinate amount of time and money on fancy clothes, dyeing his hair and preening, also a serial seducer who constructs an entire alternate persona, but actually sweet and kind and really intelligent. I'm definitely seeing David Bowie here. The main character, Sophie, is also really great, but my favourite was the fire demon, who is really sarcastic and complains all the time (sounds a lot like me). I also loved the fact that the main curse takes the form of a John Donne poem, since as far as I'm concerned, every single John Donne poem is a curse on all humanity.
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