I expected to love this as I have loved most of Katherine Ardens writings.
The beginning of the book is slow and never hooked me. I finished it, but was just underwhelmed.
The authors note was phenomenal - Katherine Arden at her best.

This book follows two siblings in two different timelines. Laura is a WW-I combat nurse who was discharged due to injury. While back at home in Canada, she receives a box of her brother’s belongings. Her brother is presumed dead but things seem amiss and Laura decides to go back to Europe to try and track down what happened to her brother. We then follow her brother, Freddie, roughly 4 months prior to Laura receiving the bad news. His story starts with him being trapped in a pillbox with a German soldier. Will help come? Will they get out? As enemies in the war, can they trust each other?

In the author’s notes Ms. Arden notes that her initial idea for this was to write about a WW-I combat nurse. Unfortunately I found Laura’s story to be really boring. It’s mostly her trying to track Freddie down and learn what happened to him. As a reader, you are learning this information before Laura because you get to read past Freddie’s story. I definitely found Freddie’s story much more engaging as his life was in danger and he’s on the front lines of the war. Freddie’s story is also where the paranormal and ghosts come in, which was a draw for me to pick up this historical fantasy. Most of Laura’s chapters are her following very convenient leads to find more and more information on what happened to Freddie.

Overall I liked it but not as much as the author’s previous trilogy, The Winternight Trilogy. I recommend it if you’re looking for speculative WW-I fiction that is slow-paced and character-focused.

Super late to this one, but I have finally finished The Warm Hands of Ghosts and it's an easy 5 star. Beautiful, wonderfully written, it made me feel all the things. I love Katherine Arden, and this book confirms that she is truly a master. I loved it.

Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a stunning, atmospheric historical fantasy that blends the brutal realism of World War I with haunting supernatural elements and lyrical prose. Known for her Winternight Trilogy, Arden once again proves her mastery at weaving folklore into deeply human stories—but here, she moves into darker, more harrowing territory with breathtaking confidence.

Set in the trenches and hospitals of war-torn Europe, the novel follows Laura Iven, a field nurse sent home from the front lines after a traumatic injury, and her search for her missing brother, Freddie, who is presumed dead. But Freddie’s story didn’t end on the battlefield—and what follows is a chilling, heart-wrenching dual narrative that blurs the lines between memory, madness, and magic.

The supernatural in The Warm Hands of Ghosts is subtle and eerie—ghosts of grief, war, and trauma linger just under the surface. Arden doesn’t rely on jump scares or horror tropes; instead, she builds a world where sorrow itself feels like a specter. The novel is rich with atmosphere—cold trenches, flickering candlelight, ruined cities, and a constant sense of something unseen pressing against reality.

What makes this novel exceptional, though, is how Arden uses fantasy not to escape the horrors of war, but to deepen our understanding of them. Her prose is elegant and devastating, and the emotional payoff is powerful. The characters—especially Laura—are strong, compassionate, and achingly human.

In short: The Warm Hands of Ghosts is one of the rare books that manages to be both a gripping historical drama and a quietly terrifying ghost story. If you enjoy literary historical fiction with a touch of gothic horror and profound emotional depth, this is an unforgettable read.

This was not at all what I was expecting. This is a novel that is character focused and is more concerned with the overall journey than the end destination. I did find the pacing to be too slow for my taste, but I did enjoy how Arden wrote about WWI and the affects it had on soldiers, nurses, and civilians alike.

This was an exceptional read! Katherine Arden truly knows how to write powerful descriptions and characters. Looking forward to reading more of Katherine Arden's work.

This story had all the workings to be something I would love. A rich historical setting ✔️lovable characters with thorough development ✔️a unique magical element to make the story more compelling and unique. ✔️

But something about this one just didn’t fully fit for me, and I felt separate from my own reading experience with this one. It just felt like I almost had a disassociative reading experience, where I knew I was reading the book, but wasn’t fully present with it. Maybe this was a me problem, maybe it was a book problem, but overall this was a forgettable read for me, that I’d still recommend to the right reader I think!

Read this one if you like:
👻 ghost vibes
2️⃣ dual POV
🧑🏻‍⚕️ MC in medical field
🪖 WW1 fiction
🪄 magical realism
🏛️ historical fiction

Going into The Warm Hands of Ghosts, I did not know what to expect. I saw Katherine Arden and I immediately requested to read it. I did not read the synopsis, I just jumped. And I regret that now. I think this is the kind of book that you don’t just jump into. And if I could go back and redo it, I would.

First, I feel an emotional historical book is one you have to really be in the mood for. Katherine Arden is a talented writer. She has a wonderful way with words and definitely knows how to make me cry. And I was just let down with this book. It did not move me the way I thought it should have. And it is hard to admit, but I did not really care for these characters. I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the right mood or if I just did not connect with any of them. But I did find it difficult to read.

The setting is terrifying and dark and while I appreciated certain aspects (the love stories) I just couldn’t find myself to muster enough care. I loved that Freddie and Winter found each other and shared a strong deep love. That was truly beautiful to read. And I did love that overall message . What I took away from the ending was love perseveres though all.

I truly hope that anyone who picks this book up goes into it knowing what they are getting into. Just so they can fall in love with a book that deserves it. I wish I was one of those people.

Absolutely amazing and atmospheric. I adore Arden’s ability to weave magic and horror into her books in a way that feels natural. The characters are so well fleshed out and I felt attached to each and everyone. This will be a book I reread often.

I love the ghost story in this book! I thought it was very atmospheric! The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that it was a bit of a depressing read! I liked the dual narrators! I recommend this for fans of Laura Purcell!

Given that this author's first series was so wildly popular, this one surprised me. The writing felt like a debut and the story didn't flow. I don't think I would purchase this unless the author had a large following at the library.

I had the highest hops for The Warm Hands of Ghosts because I LOVE a historical fiction, but to be honest, it let me down a little bit. I had heard nothing but great things about this book, but for me, it just missed the mark a bit. I had a hard time really getting engaged in the story and sometimes felt the storyline was lacking and a little confusing. I did like the characters and how everything wrapped up in the end. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy this book! It just wasn’t the 5 star read I was expecting. But if you love historical fiction and dual POV, this one’s for you!

Thank you to @netgalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This novel offers a compelling blend of historical fiction and speculative elements, following a nurse’s desperate search for her brother in the aftermath of World War I. The atmospheric writing beautifully captures the devastation of war, and the eerie supernatural undertones add an intriguing layer.

However, the pacing felt uneven, with stretches of slow-moving introspection that sometimes dulled the tension. While Laura and Freddie’s parallel journeys are emotionally charged, the speculative aspects weren’t fully developed, leaving some plot points feeling unresolved. The characters had potential, but I struggled to connect with them as deeply as I’d hoped.

Overall, this was an interesting read with a unique premise, but it didn’t quite deliver the emotional depth or narrative cohesion I was expecting. Fans of lyrical historical fiction with a touch of the uncanny may still find it worthwhile.

One of my favorite new releases from 2024. On paper the only thing this book had going for it, in terms of my taste, was that it was written by Katherine Arden, the author of the Bear and the Nightingale, a story I adore. Otherwise I dislike WWI historical fiction and fantasy so I was extremely apprehensive going into this. I was beyond surprised at how well this worked for me. I loved both sibling's perspectives and the mystery we are trying to uncover. I also feel that the turn of the century and the horrors of war were expertly captured in this fantasy novel. I also resonated with the themes of connection and their value very strongly and though that this glue was the shining star of the novel. Even if you are like me and general apprehensive about low magic historical fantasy I recommend giving it a go.

This book was fantastic. I loved the characters and the mood. It was probably my favorite read of 2024.

This book takes place during the Great War. A combat nurse, Laura receives news that her brother may have died in the trenches. Not long after that she gets an eerie sign that he may or may not be still alive. She decides to set out for answers and searches for her brother.

R E V I E W:
This was so good. I started the book first and then ended up switching to audio and I did like the audio a lot more.

This was dark and hopeful and such an atmospheric story with a sprinkle of magical realism. This is more historical fiction than fantasy but I really enjoyed it.

The writing was stunning and so visual. I have not read a book where I felt so immersed. The horrors of war were hard to read at times but those descriptions were things that needed to be read.

I still think about this book constantly and the images are burned into my mind. That does not happen to me too often.

I don't know, I feel like this book had so much potential just to waste it all. It was boring and disappointing.

I really love Katherine Arden. The Winternight Trilogy was amazing. While I’m not sure this book lived up to that trilogy, there was still a lot to enjoy here.

"During the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise, in this hauntingly beautiful historical novel with a speculative twist from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, she receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about haunted trenches, and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else?

November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German by the name of Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two men form an alliance and succeed in clawing their way out. Unable to bear the thought of returning to the killing fields, especially on opposite sides, they take refuge with a mysterious man who seems to have the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear.

As shells rain down on Flanders, and ghosts move among those yet living, Laura’s and Freddie’s deepest traumas are reawakened. Now they must decide whether their world is worth salvaging—or better left behind entirely."

Very good book

Although totally different from The Winternight Trilogy, The Warm Hands of Ghosts was equally perfect. Arden has a way of getting at the emotion of a situation in an understated way that leaves me gutted. Her balance of character development and plot is unmatched. The attention to detail for the historic elements had me itching to learn more. Cannot recommend highly enough.