Epic adventure that proves that love really can concur all. Set during WWI this story is told from two different story lines. It follows a war nurse named Laura she travels through the war torn country in search of her missing brother Freddie after receiving a package containing his laundered military uniform. Being told that he is dead Laura refuses to believe that her beloved brother is truly gone. She sets out to find out what happened to Freddie. The second story line follows Freddie as he is trapped within no man's land with an unlikely friend who is supposed to be his enemy.

Laura is desperately seeking her brother, Freddie, whose effects have been returned to her during WWI. Hampered by an injury she is still recovering from and the fact that she is a woman and has to follow certain rules, she accepts a job at a private hospital to make it back to the front lines of the war. Meanwhile, Freddie is on his own journey back to his sister after being trapped in a pillbox bunker with a strange German soldier during a bombing.

Slightly spooky, but not quite spooky enough for me? I picked this book up because it was written by Katherine Arden, whose Small Spaces quartet was an amazing middle grade horror series. I think I expected more of that from this book, where everything seems to be muted and demure. There are ghosts, there is a strange, somewhat evil hotelier that likes to trap people in his ghostly hotel...but the stakes just seem so...low? I don't know. I really enjoyed the book, but I put it down, not to sound like Michelle Visage scolding drag queens, I wanted MORE. More spook. More ghosts. Just...more.

I think this might be more of a me problem and not the book problem? I tend to pick up books in a couple eras (WW1, Victorian, Edwardian) because they sound amazing and then I don't like them or am mildly disappointed for no discernable reason. Not because they're bad books, but because I just...don't like the eras those books are set in. If you like books set during WWI, you'll probably really enjoy this.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts exists in liminal spaces, straddling the tenuous border between reality and fantasy, life and death, historical and speculative fiction. It is a story that grapples for scraps of humanity amongst the wreckage of war. A story in which the characters desperately pine for a miracle yet must settle for tattered vestiges of hope. Because hope, fleeting though it may be, persists.

But what if the salvation you sought turned out to be a greater hell than the one from which you were plucked? What if your savior is leech? A fiend?

Proust who? Katherine Arden has rebranded the persistence of memory. Those dogged, unflagging memories of sun-kissed skin, the sea breeze in one’s hair, and the explosion of glass that still knocks the breath out of you. Peaceful, quotidian remembrances plague the characters, their spent happiness rendered in stark contrast against their new reality. Yet for some, salvation is found in the contours of memory.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a haunting. It is characters who have seemingly lost everything, running from ghosts and running to ghosts. It is the specter of possibility. It is hope, desperate, keening hope daring to wend its way in and settle into the brain and lingering against all sense.

Not all casualties of war are dead. Warm hands of ghosts, indeed.

Thank you a thousand times, ROBIN KATHERINE DEL REY for the gifted book package and the opportunity to participate in the Fiend group chat. Understanding each reference and each little detail made me love and appreciate this book even more.

I'm a big fan of the Winternight trilogy so I was really looking forward to this one and, as expected, Katherine's writing is excellent.

TWHOG is completely different from Winternight, being set after WW I and following Laura, a combat nurse, and her brother Freddie, a soldier. The book doesn't shy away from the horrors of war and how it impacts on the various people involved, making you really feel for the characters, particularly Freddie whose chapters were my favourite to read. There was a supernatural aspect included which I thought was really interesting and which didn't detract from the bleakness of the situation.

While I did enjoy many elements of the book, at the end I felt I just wanted a little bit more from it as everything wrapped up a little too quickly. I didn't necessarily think romance needed to feature and I didn't mind that it did generally, but I just would have liked it to be developed a bit more.

Overall, while the ending might not have been exactly what I wanted, I still really enjoyed reading Arden's prose again. I do think this book will appeal to a lot of people, and I'll look forward to whatever Katherine writes next.

Thanks so much to @centurybooksuk for the ARC and to @delreybooks and @netgalley for the eARC

Katherine Arden is one of those special authors whose writing will always find a way to reach out its hands to readers, glide its way up your arms, and burrows its way into your chest. This book scraped me raw, poked at my tender flesh until I cried and by the end, soothed my aches with salves and hope.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts takes you the harsh and heartbreaking realities of WWI through the eyes of a nurse and her brother, a soldier. It’s a dark, heavy journey for Laura as she pieces together the path to finding her missing brother. Katherine Arden does not shy away from loss and fully invites readers to witness the grief and devastation war causes, but twists reality with paranormal aspects that elevates the story into something curious. A mystery that you will not be able to resist following and trying to solve.

And while it may seem like this book is out to devastate you, it’s not. By the end of it, you realize that, ultimately, Laura and Freddie’s story is one of hope and love. Both are fueled with their love for each other, and we are witnesses to how far they will go to be reunited. It’s truly a journey worth experiencing.

Absolutely beautiful. Time slipped away while I was reading it and I loved it all. "The hands of ghosts are warm" is something I never thought about but how true it is.

This book took me by surprise, I’m not really a big historical fiction reader but this sounded so good so I had to give it a shot and surprisingly I loved it!

I read this book in a single day. I couldn’t put it down, I was so invested in these characters and their stories.

Overall, a wonderfully haunting story that makes me want to pick up more of this authors works.

Well, drat. This isn’t the review I wanted to be writing for this book.

I loved Katherine Arden’s Bear and the Nightingale trilogy and also greatly enjoyed the first book in the Small Spaces series. I’m bummed and surprised to report that this book did very little for me.

Arden’s writing is as lovely as ever, which of course goes a long way toward making an otherwise unappealing story more readable. It just wasn’t enough to save this one, even if it allows for moments of appreciation for the author’s talents.

I understand from the author’s note what Arden was attempting to do here, but I’m not sure it was a successful endeavor. This is mostly a horrors of war novel, which isn’t exactly rare, and the magical element feels like both an afterthought and a disappointment. Though there were flashes of potential (particularly early in the story when we first encounter our mysterious stranger), the magic lacks both the originality and the sparkly, evocative quality that has made Arden’s other work such a delight to read.

I’ll continue to eagerly await new offerings from Arden, who I suspect has many more good books in her. But I recommend skipping this one.

What is it about?

Laura Iven is a nurse injured in WWI. Shortly after losing her parents in an explosion she gets news that her brother has died on the front. The 3 little ladies that she is staying with tell her that isn’t true and she needs to go back and find him.

Meanwhile, you hear her brother’s story.
Told kind of like a Christopher Nolan movie, the time lines happen at different paces until they finally merge together near the climax.

Was it good?
Yes! Freddie’s time line jumps right in with on the edge of your seat tension. His story is like a bad nightmare that is told so beautifully you can picture it.

Laura’s point of view is a little slower and more thoughtful. She’s resistant to the mystical elements in her life, but she’s willing to do anything to find her brother.

The story has so many thought provoking parts and pieces. I had many interesting conversations with my people about similar hypothetical situations.

I strongly recommend this book for fans of historical fiction, ghosts, devils, war, or Katherine Arden

I left my review on Story Graph, Goodreads, and Amazon.

All I can say is that this book is a monster book!!!
And by that, I mean, it has the author’s soul all over it. Have you ever read a book that you knew was incredibly considered and meant so much to the author. For instance, many authors, arguably most, would say that they put their blood, sweat, and tears into their project, and you might believe them based on the sheer challenge of writing anything for any length of time. In Ghosts, you feel the impact of the writer’s care in every word, the punctuation, and every decision.
The flow of the book was like riding a gentle wave toward shore where you know you’re safe, moving toward the shore at a precise speed that will effortlessly land you in exactly the place you cared to end up the whole time. That is my experience with this book. Such a work of art, and what a story and oh my I will rave on.
My absolute favourite in a very, very long time.
Maybe I’m just in the mood for this type of novel set in this time and these places, with these characters, what can I say, it just worked for me on all levels and I think it’s going to work for a lot of people.

Thanks to netgalley or providing me with this ARC!

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a book that changed something foundational in my brain, in how I see the world. Katherine Arden's stories of Laura and Freddie and Winter and Pim showed the inhumanity of war and the uncertainty of a changing world in clear, relatable, horrifying ways.

This book was violent and scary and beautiful and intelligent and amazing. I finished it in two days because I could not put it down. I'm torn between wanting to write paragraph after paragraph of praise and wanting to tell you just to go read the book. Do it. Let it live in your brain and illuminate how you look at humanity.

Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Arden, and Del Rey for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Book Name: The Warm Hands of Ghosts
Author: Katherine Arden

ARC
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley for an ARC of The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

Stars: 1
Spice: 0

Historical Fantasy
“Gothic”

Thoughts
- PTSD
- Graphic Depictions of Injury
- Horror > Gothic
- “Unreliable Narrator Vibes”

Darker and far more depressing than expected and the opening was mildly confusing. The descriptions of violence were just gratuitous, since Laura, out FMC, was unable to do process it due to her PTSD. The Gothic “vibes” of this felt more in line with a typical horror movie than a gothic crimson peak. (Hopefully that makes sense.) The exploration of PTSD would have been interesting but it just felt depressing. Overall this book just wasn't what I expected and therefore wasn't the best read for me.

Due to the Negative Nature of this review, I will not be posting it to Goodreads or retail sites with respect to the publisher and author.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! "The Warm Hands of Ghosts" by Katherine Arden is a gripping and haunting tale set amidst the backdrop of World War I, following the poignant journey of Laura Iven, a combat nurse searching for her missing brother amidst the chaos of war. Arden's vivid prose immerses readers in the stark realities of the battlefield, where hope dwindles and desperation reigns supreme. Interwoven with Laura's story is the gripping narrative of her brother Freddie, trapped in a life-or-death struggle with a German soldier. Through their harrowing experiences, Arden explores themes of loss, resilience, and the enduring bond of family amidst the turmoil of war. "The Warm Hands of Ghosts" is a powerful and evocative portrayal of the human spirit in the face of adversity, leaving a lasting impact on the reader's heart and mind.

Here's the thing: I think I really struggle with historical fiction. This wasn't solely historical fiction; it definitely had a fantasy/folklore aspect to it, but I would say the primary genre was historical fiction (perhaps alternative history?). The whole first half of this book, I kept wanting to love it, but just really struggled to feel engaged. However, the second half of the book definitely did sell me on how smart and beautiful of a book this is!! I'm really glad that I stuck with it.

Katherine Arden is a fantastic writer and I was frequently in awe of her way with words. Freddie's journey in the book was truly something special. The symbolism in his journey of losing himself in his war experiences and then needing to work so hard to find a way back to himself felt like a profound illustration of a veteran with PTSD. I also felt the concept of how our stories (positive or negative) are the things that create our sense of self was so powerful.

I was also really taken in by the author's note at the end of the book; I love to hear how and why a book was created. This was outside of my comfort zone but I am so glad that I read it!

(This review was posted on my Instagram account on 2/15/2024).

A haunting, tragic story of war and unconditional love, this book easily became a 5-Star read. Whether its wartime Halifax or an unknown French battlefield, Arden does an incredible job transporting us there, and we're experiencing the story as if we're right alongside the characters. Our main characters have their own voices, and complex emotions are rarely portrayed as well as they are in this story.
Laura is a complicated heroine, which is really refreshing after reading so many historical fictions about saintlike women. She feels she is an unlikable woman, but we see that though she is stern and sometimes reckless, she is very compassionate, determined, and able to overcome her biggest fears for those she loves, especially her brother.
Freddie, while young and inexperienced in the world, provides such a sense of hope that makes it impossible to not root for him in every arena. He is clever and naive and optimistic and worrisome all at once, providing a well-rounded look at a young man's coming-of-age in a war torn world.
This story gives brilliant accounts of overcoming loss, living with PTSD, finding hope in the darkest of times, and so much more, while seamlessly incorporating the paranormal aspect that is often associated with war.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I loved everything about this book, from the detailed history and setting (World War I Belgium and Halifax, Canada) to its beautiful but haunting story. It was the perfect blend of historical fiction and fantasy. I was already a big fan of Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy, but this book is very different from her other ones, and apparently it’s a book that took her a long time to write. It’s worth the wait.

In 1918, Laura is a war nurse who’s been discharged with a leg injury. She arrives home to Halifax when a ship (the SS Mont-Blanc) explodes in the harbor. The ship was full of high explosives and the explosion killed nearly 1,800 people, and blowing out a large sector of buildings in Halifax. Laura loses both of her parents in the tragedy. Then, weeks later, she receives a box with the uniform and dog tags of her brother Freddie, but no explanation of what happened to him. Not knowing if he’s dead or alive, she returns to the front, determined to find out.

We get both Freddie’s and Laura’s perspectives in this story, only Freddie’s story begins a few months earlier, in the Battle of Passchendaele. As their stories converge, both Freddie and Laura hear about a mysterious man known as “the fiddler”. The soldiers say that once you’ve entered his bar, drank his liquor and heard his music, you’ll never want to leave, and you’ll spend the rest of your life trying to get back. Of course, amidst the horrors of war, this is only one more strange story going around, and it seems pretty understandable that the soldiers would want to be anywhere other than where they are.

Laura and Freddie are great characters, as are the friends they make in their journeys. Laura is so strong and determined, but she’s also haunted by the memory of her mother’s death, who was alone in their house in Halifax’s harbor. She also struggles with her physical injuries from the war, including scarred hands from nerve gas. Freddie is haunted by the things he’s done in the war. As Arden tells the story, it seems like basic right and wrong gets turned around in war, where you’re forced to kill innocent people, betray friends, and fleeing means you’ll get shot by a firing squad.

I won’t tell you more about the story. I loved the vivid, atmospheric writing and the way the fantastic elements just blended seamlessly with the history (war is already such a strange, unimaginable environment). It reminded me at times of the first Wonder Woman movie, the way it was horrific and beautiful at the same time. I also loved the way Arden slowly builds the relationships that Freddie and Laura develop over the course of the story.

The book is named for a World War I memoir, Ghosts Have Warm Hands, by Will R. Bird, a soldier in Canada’s Black Watch from 1916-1919. In this memoir Bird describes several experiences where he was guided to safety by the ghost of his brother, who died early in the war.

I want to share what Arden says about this book on Goodreads:

Ghosts is a book about love and loss, how the world ends, and how it goes on. It’s about the nature of evil and the shape of hell, and about war. I started it in 2019, and here it is coming out in 2024, when young men are fighting in trenches in Europe once again. Perhaps enjoy is the wrong word for the book I spent a long time calling the Fiend. But I hope it haunts you, as it has haunted me.

Katherine Arden
Note: I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley and publisher Del Rey. This book published February 13, 2024.

I tend to be a rather quick reader but occasionally I run across a novel that demands that I slow down to savor it. THE WARM HANDS OF GHOSTS was exactly such a read. I took my time learning the characters and the time period as I have always avoided books set during the World Wars yet I feel I need to read it a few more times to be able to comprehend it all.

THE WARM HANDS OF GHOSTS is set mostly in Europe during the Great War and follows Canadian combat nurse Laura Iven as she searches for her younger brother, Freddie, who was lost and presumed dead. Laura comes across strange clues that all is not as it appears. She is joined by Pim Shaw who lost both husband and son as well as Mary Bradley who run a civilian hospital in Belgium.

I think what really drew me into this story was the pure grittiness of the story as Ms Arden doesn’t pull any punches about what a hellhole the trenches were. She shows us men being trapped and drowning in them after a bomb collapses the walls. She shows how people will do almost anything to escape the horrors including trading away pieces of their souls. After reading this book, I definitely appreciate the men and women who fought for our freedom even more.

I doubt I would haven given this book a chance if it wasn’t for the author who I already followed because of her excellent writing so I do I highly recommend this book even if you tend to skip books set during wars. I also feel that readers who enjoy their history seasoned with a touch of fantasy will really enjoy this novel.

I was given this book at no charge by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I have never read any other books by Katherine Arden, and while I do own both the Winternight and middle grade series by her, I've yet to pick them up. So when I saw a standalone available to read, I jumped at the chance.

I think my favorite part of the book was the writing. While I am not the biggest historical reader, I don't think the fantasy elements were done all that well (mostly just not enough time or explanation), and there were definitely pacing issues, but the writing itself added a certain whimsy and at time darkness, to the story that I could really appreciate. I will say however, that the transitions between characters and sentences at times was quite harsh and abrupt. It took me out of the story many times since I constantly had to go back and reread to see what happened.

I enjoyed Freddie's chapters the most because there was more emotion there and he actually felt like a real person. Whereas Laura felt like both Mary and Pim. None of them had distinct voices, and while Pim was the only one with a slight personality difference, any of the three women could have been interchangeable. Freddie's chapters had grit and trials and he struggled. On the other hand, Laura had answers for everything and from one chapter to the next most of her problems were solved. I could have liked the whole sibling dynamic a lot more if Laura just wasn't one of the siblings. She was so self righteous and thinks she's so smart and important. She acted like her purpose was better than everyone else's and that even those who were in fact NOT inferior to her, knew less than her. It was annoying and made me enjoy her chapters a lot less, which was unfortunate since most of the book is told from her POV.

I also think that both romances were rushed and didn't add anything to the story. These would have both been great friendships, and just throwing romance in there so undeveloped didn't make me believe it was anything other than a trauma bond. It should have been left out because two of the characters in particular stood well enough on their own and made the story tragic enough without adding in some random kissing.

Maybe it's just because I don't read a lot of historical fantasy or fiction to begin with, but I did have a relatively good time with this. I found it to be a quick read in spite of disliking most of one characters chapters. I wish the fantasy element was better explained and played a bigger part in the story because it felt unique and interesting. I will definitely pick up her other books since I have heard a lot of good things about the Winternight series. I am rounding up to a four star for the purpose of this review, but I think this was more of a 3.5

Katherine Arden had me hooked right away with this story of World War I nurse Laura Iven and her brother. Growing up in Halifax, their mother was very religious and made sure they knew the end would come at some point. Like most kids, they didn’t pay much attention to her until the Great War came to their doorstep.

Laura trained to become a nurse and when the war began, she was a field nurse in an area that was bombed. Suffering severe injuries, she was discharged and sent back home to Halifax. Laura’s brother Freddie had enlisted and was fighting in Flanders. During this time a tragic accident happened in Halifax, killing their parents, thus leaving Laura with no home and family in Halifax.

Laura is taken in by some elderly women and is working at a local hospital when she receives a package containing some of Freddie’s possessions. It is believed he is dead, but things just didn’t make sense. It just so happens the women Laura lives with like to hold seances and one night as they are having a seance for a woman, they get a message about Freddie being alive.

With no family left, Laura becomes determined to find out the truth, so she goes back to the trenches as a volunteer in Belgium, hoping to find Freddie or at least discover what happened to him. Her journey had me riveted, from the dangers of war to the evil spirits that lurked about.

Katherine Arden wove a tale of suspense, a bit of thriller and a bit of romance as she relates the horrors of the Great War and those who served.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Ray Publishing for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to recommend this book to readers and to give my honest review.

There is something to be said about a novel based on war that grabs my attention in a way a novel of this sub-genre hasn’t since A Farewell to Arms.

Arden allowed for her words to flow as gut-wrenching but poetic as all those who had to describe the horrors on earth as they endured them, and while other succumbed to them.

Instead of romance, this is a tale of familiar love that is stronger, deeper, while at the same time being weaker & more fragile.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over just how beautifully Arden was able to transcend good v bad, and just focus on one’s humanity while reading.