Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

59 reviews

kymuir's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

I devoured this book in one day.

I wrestled over whether or not I’d read this. I tend to avoid WWI historical fiction, but I loved Arden’s Winternight trilogy so much that I knew I had to give it a shot. 

This tale is about a nurse trying to find her brother, a Canadian soldier missing from the frontlines in WWI. Much like The Bear and the Nightingale, The Warm Hands of Ghosts offers a deeper commentary on morality and the flawed systems we exist within, and the role that hope and perseverance play in survival and life beyond survival. 

Arden’s prose is hauntingly beautiful, and you can see how her writing has sharpened with this latest book, especially the dialogue. The writing is atmospheric, the plot kept me turning the page, and I felt for the unique characters and their heartbreaking conflict. She also weaved in fantasy elements in a way that was supernatural and creepy, it felt like more of a terrifying extension of the reality we know than a reimagined world you’d escape to. All of the religious Armageddon references (including the chapter titling, so freaking clever) definitely contributed. 

I’ll be thinking about this book for weeks. Thank you for another brilliant book, Katherine. You’ve officially become a must-read author for me. 🤝

TW: gore, death, intense descriptive wartime scenes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

juanat77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was a total cover buy. It wasn’t what I thought it was. After all these years I still haven’t learned to not judge an actual book by its cover. Historical fiction with paranormal touches. During WWI. 1917 to 1918. Two POVs (brother and sister) told in alternate timelines. It was a very different way to tell a war story. I really liked the premise but I had difficulty connecting with the characters. When I read I like to immerse myself into the story and think about the characters when I’m not reading and when I’m done with the book. I found myself rushing to get through the story. I enjoyed that it had a relationship between a brother (Freddie) and sister (Laura) as opposed to a romance as it is often done. I was more invested in Freddie’s chapters than Laura’s as his were more emotional and his character was deeply developed. It is beautifully written and the history was thoroughly researched. 

3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

theoceanrose's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Suicide

midaas010's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Torture

xiggy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

hagwife's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is truly something else.

Set in WWI as it is, I went in with some expectations about how difficult and how emotional this read would be, but Arden's characters and writing pushed the book far beyond my expectations. It is both a war story and a story set during war and the level of accuracy and attention to detail is intense. Which is a good word for this book overall: intense. I could probably talk anyone's ear off for hours about this book, but its really hard to put in words. 

The one thing that I can articulate is how much I adore the fiddler.

Faland might be my favourite written conceptualization of the Devil because he's custom designed for this story. He slips in at the edges, a soldier like so many, and a lost soul like all on the battlefield. Arden picked just a few of the many threads and spun them into quite a wonderful construction – Faland isn't evil, he just is, because he takes nothing that is given. It doesn't mean he didn't cajole or manipulate to get his mark to there, but his motives aren't clear-cut. And he takes his time. The soldiers he pulls into his bar are different marks than Freddie or Pim. The level of care he puts into his personal favourites is quite something. Not to mention the fiddle, the music, it's just all kind of unreal. Arden created a version of the Devil, the fiddler, perfect to her exact needs and setting, tailor made. It keeps the focus on the characters and their struggles, and not everything else that usually comes with a divine being from the Christian tradition.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and War

Minor: Suicide attempt

hannahmaedeer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death of parent

Moderate: Death

horationelson's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, and Violence

Minor: Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol

blacksphinx's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

whatkireads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a haunting tale about the Battle of Paschendaele and a mix of World War One. It revolves around the battle between the Canadians and the German before the Allied forces came to assist in the battle. 
I'm not sure I fully understand the story, but it was haunting and gripping entirely the same. The book has a sliver of fantasy, where amidst the war, there is a being known as the fiddler, called Faland. Some refer to him as the devil, but he equips a violin and grants your wishes in exchange for a story. 
The subplot of romance was very unexpected for me, the way the story makes you slowly realise when a character is falling in love, just like how the character comes to the same conclusion.
The side characters never really feel like side characters, they all are complex and hard to understand and yet you can't help but root for them all the same. 
This was very different from the books I usually read, but captivating and haunting all the same.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide attempt