Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Warm Hands of Ghosts

Interesting story. Mostly loved it was about WWI. Seems like there are very few stories about that one, and I’m a bit burned out on WWII.

Was a little surprised homophobia went unaddressed given the time frame it was written in.

Pace of progression was a little fast for me. Seemed like little time passed between all the events and that ordinarily, such said events would take longer to develop. However, I liked it overall.

Content Warnings

kymuir's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

juanat77's review against another edition

Go to review page

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 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Content Warnings

toriwatson's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

Content Warnings

louisekf's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Katherine Arden has written a very interesting story, combining the history or World War I and a sci-fi/fantasy/magical realism aspect. The narration switches between the POV of Laura Iven, a nurse from Halifax, Canada, who was badly injured while serving in Belgium and France, and her brother, Freddie, a soldier still in Europe, who has been reported to Laura as missing in action/presumed dead.

Arden describes the brutality of WW1’s warfare. You can tell she’s done her homework! The concept of shell-shock, which we now call PTSE is explored, along with the realities of dealing with mass casualty situations.

I was most interested in Freddie’s part of the story, with him waking up in total darkness after a major explosion on the battlefield. He’s in total darkness and eventually realizes there’s another soldier in there with him. The two of them band together to try to save themselves, even though both are wounded and the other man is the enemy: a German soldier.

The supernatural aspect of the book didn’t grab me that much, unfortunately. There’s a mysterious hotel in the middle of bombed out Belgium which is run by a “fiddler”. Soldiers who go there drink wine and forget their troubles. Literally. There are a lot of biblical references to the end of days, much of which I didn’t relate to, as a non-Christian reader. Apparently the chapter titles are biblical quotes.

The ending was a little too pat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

michaelapr's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is an intensely emotional read. Katherine Arden delves deep into the horrors of World War I using enough details to make you hurt but without going into too many details. This book is an exploration of the traumas of war and how war is often an apocalypse for those living through it. The characters in this book were deeply traumatized and I was rooting for them all the way - especially Freddie and Winter. I really enjoyed listening to this book with it's trauma, it's haunted desperation, and an antagonist that's easier to go up against than the system of war as he tempts our characters into oblivion with his fiddle and his hotel.

Content Warnings

hannahmaedeer's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.25

Content Warnings

horationelson's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

More...