Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

66 reviews

toriwatson's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

louisekf's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Death of parent

michaelapr's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Medical trauma, and War

Moderate: Death of parent

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

abby_can_read's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

📖
This was a beautiful book. It was emotional and captivating. I liked the two different narratives and how they overlapped and connected. The characters were amazing and the relationship with great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

lou_christie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kendallashley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was absolutely beautiful, tragic, hopeful, heart-wrenching, and everything in between. Bringing a supernatural bent to a story set in the battlefields of WWI was a genius move. It brought the horrors of the war to life in a captivating and unique way. This is a book I’ll be thinking about and unpacking for quite a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder