A review by timelord10
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

This is probably my most surprising book of the year. I started the book thinking it was slow, not interesting and that I would end up giving it like 3 stars. But I grew attached to our characters: Laura, Freddie, Winter, and Jones, and I cared about what happened to them. I’ve read many World War 2 novels, but this was my first World War 1 novel and the setting is heartbreaking. In the author’s note, the author says that World War 1 is overshadowed a lot by World War 2, but World War 1 was still just as devastating. What the author did with the setting was just brilliant. Also, in the author’s note, she talks about the character Faland, and how he is basically supposed to be the devil. In the book, she tries to answer what would the devil do if he was irrelevant because the war is doing his work for him essentially? And I think she answered that question brilliantly. The book just has so much depth, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
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