It's very hard to rate The Warm Hands of Ghosts. How do you give a book about loss, grief and fighting against all odds for your family and it possibly not even being enough a review? This book was not what I was expecting. Like many of us, my exposure to Katherine Arden was through The Winternight Trilogy, and TWHOG could not be more difficult. Where Winternight is fantastical, TWHOG is steeped in realism and grief with some unexpected supernatural elements. You won't be disappointed by picking this up, but you will definitely be sad.

After reading and loving the Winternight Trilogy, I jumped at the chance to read another book by Katherine Arden. But this book failed to grip me like Winternight did.

This book is very character driven, but the characters felt 2D to me. Laura should have been a great character, she had all the ingredients that Vasilisa did in the Winternight trilogy, by I did not feel like she was a compelling or engaging character; I thought she was a bit bland. I was more interested in Freddie as a character and would have preferred if the focus was on his character instead of Laura. And I didn't really care about the other characters.

Because of that and the fact that the pacing was slow I found it a struggle to get through at times. I love paranormal and supernatural elements in a story, but in this case I didn't care for the execution and thought it should have been explored more.

I did enjoy it to some degree, I thought it was interesting and haunting, but not enough to grip me.

Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts is probably one of the most unique books I’ve read this year.

After Winternight Trilogy, I’m not sure how I’ll like this standalone, but was pleasantly surprised how much I love it.

Without revealing too much, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a historical fiction with supernatural elements that mimics the horror and trauma of war. Arden uses an entity that embodies the inner demon that harms one’s mental health and soul.

This is more of a slow burn, but I love how the Laura and her brother Freddie’s storyline weaves together. There’s little romance but I love how it was portrayed as well.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a great book to read and savor. I love Arden’s writing and cannot wait to see what she’ll write next!

The Warm Hand of Ghosts is easily my most anticipated release of 2024 ever since I first heard Katherine Arden talk about the premise during her Instagram lives in 2020. Taking place during the Great War with nods to Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost, this novel was heartbreaking and hopeful and absolutely worth the wait. The story opens up by introducing us to a pair of siblings in two different timelines of the Great War - Laura is a former nurse who was sent home after an accident and her brother Freddie is a soldier on the frontlines.

The story starts off very slow as Freddie and Laura set the stage for their individual acts. Laura is recovering from an injury while Freddie is on the run after nearly being killed. When Laura receives a package with Freddie's belongings, he's assumed to be dead, but she notices some items missing which prompts her to return to the frontlines to find answers. The best way I can describe the prose is quietly heartbreaking as the novel tackles difficult topics about war and the trauma that it inflicts on the soldiers and medical staff. Each character deals with their own trauma in different ways and we get to see how their experiences haunt them throughout their journey as they struggle to find a reason to continue holding onto hope for a better future.

My personal favorite aspect however, has to be the exploration of death and memories. I could read a whole novel just following Faland and exploring his backstory and motives. There are hints of a possible angelic background and I was absolutely fascinated by the connection of music and memories and how Faland used his violin as an anchor to humanity. The Warm Hand of Ghosts feels vastly different from Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy which I absolutely adore but this novel stands strong as a new addition to her bibliography. The questions surrounding one's loss of humanity during war haunts both the characters and the readers long after the story itself concludes.

Gorgeous and sad and well developed. You can tell how much research was put into this. Arden is an instant buy for me.

I absolutely loved this book because it mixes history, magic, realism, and resilience well. Katherine Arden brought together historical events and fantasy in a captivating narrative that impressed me. Having enjoyed her Bear and the Nightingale trilogy, I had high hopes for this one, and it didn't disappoint. Arden crafted a compelling story about family, love, friendship, and loss, highlighting the power of courage and hope. Plus, it really showcased her versatile writing style.

Katherine Arden is such a wonderful writer, the setting and characters of her books just jump right off the page.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts takes us back to WW1, Laura was a combat nurse during the war and her brother hasn't come back from the front. She receives word that he's died but she also hears whispers that there might be more to the story than she's being told.

In flashbacks to Freddie's perspective, months before Laura's chapters, we learn of his miraculous survival alongside a German soldier.

There's a lot of supernatural working in this one, a hallmark of Arden's writing.

Ultimately, this is a story of familial love and the refusal to let chance stop you from outwitting fate.

I read this novel back in December and I had forgotten to update my review on this.

Katherine Arden has done it again! Her writing has continues to blow me away since I read her first novel, The Bear and the Nightingale on NetGalley years ago.
Her writing has taken me back to WWI. The characters were so well written including the backgrounds. It felt like I was in the story which I love!

Some readers may not resonate with this novel because it is totally out of the field from her The Bear and the Nightingale series. They may struggle to understand the story because it is very unique.

I would recommend this novel to anyone I know would understand the depth of this darkness and story.

Thank you Del Ray and NetGalley for this wonderful ! All my opinions are my own.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a hauntingly beautiful novel about the horrors of WWI and the bond between siblings. Though it took me a bit to get into the story, once the fantastical elements were introduced I did not want to put it down. I would highly recommend this book to people looking for a darker twist on Addie and Luc’s dynamic in The Invisible Life of Addie Larue.

I am obsessed with the way that the two timelines slowly twine together as the story progresses. The slight differences in the timelines of each perspective preserve a constant sense of tension. Pieces of the past are revealed but certain characters’ fates remain a mystery until the very end. The dark magic of a forgotten god subtly links both of our main characters and it was so satisfying to see how everything connected in the end.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts provides fascinating commentary on grief, trauma, and the way different people were touched by the horrors of the war. The fantastical elements are a uniquely interesting vehicle for these themes and conversations.

There were a lot of different elements in play by the end of the book. Though I found them all interesting for various reasons, I don't know if they all fit together. Some elements felt rushed or underdeveloped which made the ending feel a little bit awkward.

"Armageddon was a fire in the harbor, a box delivered on a cold day. It wasn't one great tragedy, but ten million tiny ones and everyone faced theirs alone."

I cannot express how much I loved this story. It beautifully captured the emotional effects of war on those who served. No man's land stripped men down to their primal instincts to survive. How we cling to comfort when we are alone in the dark, how our brains try to protect us when we encounter things that are too horrific to process, and how, in the darkest times, the warm hands of ghosts can help us find our way back home.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden is a moving work of historical fiction set during the horrors of World War 1 in 1918. It revolves around the siblings Laura and Freddie Iven, who grapple with the profound darkness of the war. Laura, a former member of the Canadian Nursing Force, was forced to retire after sustaining a severe injury in Belgium. Freddie, a private in the Canadian army, embarks on a dangerous mission in The Forbidden Zone to capture Passchendaele Ridge.

When Laura receives a box with Freddie's personal effects one day, she can scarcely believe it—his tags and jacket with a German postcard concealed in the lining. No one had sent a telegram to say that he had been killed in combat. Upon deciphering a cryptic message on the back of the postcard she found in his coat, she sets out to return to The Forbidden Zone and uncover the truth about her brother's fate. He is all Laura has left after the tragic loss of both her parents in the Halifax explosion. She joins forces with Mary Borden and Pim Shaw to navigate back to the front and serve at a private aid station near Poperinghe.

Freddie wakes up and is not alone—there is a voice in the darkness. He reaches out, needing something to cling to, and the voice leads him. Along the way, he encounters a mysterious man named Faland, who offers to help him keep the promise that he made in the dark. But is the cost of Faland's aid too high to bear? Freddie has nothing to offer; the war has already taken everything from him. All Faland asks for in return is a story...

This book has everything I love to read about. I think this book just found me at a bad time. I DNF this book around 30 % which I never like to do. Thankfully every book I have not finished I came back to and finished. I am going to give this book some time and space and will come back to read again! I really enjoyed where the plot was going, I think It was just a little too detailed to take in for me. Usually I read these types of books with audio to help me comprehend but because this was an advance copy I didn't get the chance to. Will circle back again!

Katherine Ardin has some of the most beautiful writing I've ever read! This was a fantastic historical fiction/fantasy that had a lot of beautiful conversations about family. I enjoyed the the fantastical element of this book as well. It added a different layer to the book that really emphasized the familial bond and the horrors of war. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

ARC provided us exchange for an honest review.

My apologies, I’m a little backed up with my ARC’s but working diligently to get caught up. I really enjoyed this book! It had the perfect mixture of horror, history, and romance! I liked how it shows a strong sibling relationship and even has a touch of a M/M love. I would highly recommend if you like historical fiction with some creepy horror aspects and a touch of magic!

I was so excited to receive this ARC since my most favorite trilogy of all time is the Winternight series.

Katherine did not disappoint! I loved the atmosphere of this story. I truly felt like I was walking down the street in Birmingham in the 1900s during the mining times. It's a slow build and a wonderful story of family and the lengths someone will go for truth.

I need more books like these!

Thank you to Del Ray Books and Netgalley for this amazing ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be really engaging and I loved the premise. I'm a sucker for gothic so this story was right up my alley. I am looking forward to reading other books by the author.

This a sibling story set during WWI. It's full of magical realism, an eerie hotel and an unlikely friendship. Though very different, I think it would be a great companion to In Memoriam by Alice Winn.

This book sounded so interesting. A nurse during WWI is searching for her missing brother after his effects were mailed home to her. She makes her way back after being discharged after an injury and some paranormal activity follows her there. This book is GRAPHIC in its descriptions and isn't shy about the gruesome realities of the trench warfare of WWI. She is a nurse and has SEEN some things, on and off the front.

This started off a little slow and jumps between Laura and Freddie's POVs with a time gap between them. So we follow Laura's search for Freddie, and his journey on the front lines of the war. I got really confused, REALLY fast with this book. It feels very disjointed in the writing and I had to power through this at times. I would fall asleep after reading 2 pages, often. You also felt like you were in a fever dream state while reading Freddie's POV, which was probably intentional, but that made it even harder to keep it straight at times. The twist at the end was half what I was expecting it to be, at least in the who. The why was not what I thought it would be.

It didn't feel like it was written by the same author of The Bear an the Nightingale or even Small Spaces.

While this world wasn't as engulfing as The Winternight Trilogy's, I think it's a very good standalone novel. I love the pairing of this grieving, changing world with the paranormal aspects of the story. I didn't love the third act, which was unfortunate, but I appreciated that this was more a story of familial love than a romance. We don't see those as often.

Thank you, NetGalley for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Arden's "Winterlight" trilogy is one of my favorite book series ever. When I saw she was publishing another novel, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. Though the story was slower in the beginning and took me a while to get into, Arden's ability to craft language to express emotion and tell a story is unmatched. This story is set during WW1 so be prepared for vivid descriptions of war and wartime injuries/illnesses. I would definitely recommend for anyone who enjoys a historical fiction read with a touch of the supernatural.

This book killed me, and this read is going to stay with me for a long time.

Thanks to the publisher Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.