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A review by takarakei
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
dark
emotional
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
3.75
Me chronically never reading blurbs to never knowing what I’m getting into is just my vibe.
Anyway the only thing I knew about this was like ghosts(?) and something about a violin which is what sold me initially.
But it’s a commentary for sure on war. It’s set during WWI and I actually really enjoyed the authors note at the end which talked about all the research she did and gave some more context for her reasons to write this book. I just love a good
Authors note.
It’s told in dual pov between Laura in the ‘present’ 1918 and her brother in the past a few months before. It was interesting to read a book that centered a brother sister relationship. It generally reads very much historical fiction with some fantasy/odd things sprinkled in.
Speaking of, I will say I was a bit confused even at the end with the whole plot line of this mysterious sort of evil character (name is escaping me so that maybe shows how memorable it was) who is sort of feeding off the emotionally weak. The violin ended up being just a part of what this nefarious being uses to manipulate people. I think maybe if the plot had leaned in to it a bit more it would’ve felt more integrated, but as I said it reads really more like hist fiction. Which if that’s your genre you’d probably love this. It just didn’t quite work for me.
That being said there was some beautiful prose and I did overall enjoy the story. There’s a little romance in there which I really enjoyed. The stern doctor was one of my fav characters
Anyway the only thing I knew about this was like ghosts(?) and something about a violin which is what sold me initially.
But it’s a commentary for sure on war. It’s set during WWI and I actually really enjoyed the authors note at the end which talked about all the research she did and gave some more context for her reasons to write this book. I just love a good
Authors note.
It’s told in dual pov between Laura in the ‘present’ 1918 and her brother in the past a few months before. It was interesting to read a book that centered a brother sister relationship. It generally reads very much historical fiction with some fantasy/odd things sprinkled in.
Speaking of, I will say I was a bit confused even at the end with the whole plot line of this mysterious sort of evil character (name is escaping me so that maybe shows how memorable it was) who is sort of feeding off the emotionally weak. The violin ended up being just a part of what this nefarious being uses to manipulate people. I think maybe if the plot had leaned in to it a bit more it would’ve felt more integrated, but as I said it reads really more like hist fiction. Which if that’s your genre you’d probably love this. It just didn’t quite work for me.
That being said there was some beautiful prose and I did overall enjoy the story. There’s a little romance in there which I really enjoyed. The stern doctor was one of my fav characters
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma