The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a historical fiction book with a twist of horror/supernatural elements. We have Laura, a combat nurse during WWI and her brother, Freddie, who is a soldier fighting in the war. When Laura is injured and sent home, she receives Freddie's dog tags and jacket but does not know if he is dead or what happened to him. She has the opportunity to go back to Belgium and look for answers about her brother.

This book was so haunting and dark. WWI was a terrible war and we were knee deep in it for this book. We have a lot of description of the fighting and the injuries. On the flip side, there is a lot of love in this story. You feel the love between brother and sister, the love between the nurses and doctors, and the love between friends. We get different POVs throughout and it hops around from Laura and Freddie. I enjoyed the different POVs because you were able to really get into the heads of each character.

The characters were all very well developed and you felt very deeply for them. Everyone was battling their own demons throughout this book and it was easy to sympathize with the characters. The relationships were also very realistic and you rooted for the characters. I kept finding myself not wanting to put the book down because I needed to know what happened to these characters.
The writing was also very good in this book. The imagery made it feel real and that is why it was so haunting and dark.

I do wish the supernatural elements were a bit more present. This book seemed to me to be more historical fiction. That is not my usual genre but I did enjoy this one. I feel like the title and cover make it seem more horror/supernatural than it really is. I also feel like the pacing was just a bit off. It felt slow in the beginning and it took a little while for me to get in to the story.

I feel like there are not a lot of stories centered around WWI. This one did a great job at highlighting the atrocities the veterans and the nurses went through. Thanks so much to netgalley and Random House for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I think a lot of people will love this book!

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for an arc!

First off, do not go into this thinking it is fantasy. It is not, it is more speculative fiction with a bit of an element of the other - supernatural.. Now, with that out of the way I think this book is going to be one people either really enjoy or are just going to be “meh” on if they’re looking for something like the Winternight Trilogy. THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT BAD. THIS BOOK IS GOOD. Sorry, I wanted to be VERY clear about that, set your expectations, because if you don’t read the summary you will be surprised.

Arden’s writing is still spectacular, but it is a different writing style than her other books. It is no less good, just different. I felt that it worked very well for the theme of the book. You have two main characters, siblings, both going on their own journeys, and I feel that it was depicted so well. The cadence of the book is often how the war is described in the book - jarring. I feel like that was the way that Arden intentionally did that, because it was how it felt.

Laura is such a great character, and so is Freddie. I enjoyed both their parts equally in this book. I hate to say this is a “good” book, because while it is, it is also a sad one, a harrowing tale. I was absorbed in this story, and there were some dark, dark moments.

As with her previous works, this book really built on atmosphere and mystery at certain points – it made the book hard to put down. I think the book is very hard to describe as there is so much that is best left to experience first hand as you read.

The descriptions, everything, was just so well done. I cannot commend her enough for how she took a time in history and made it come alive. It was a great read, and I recommend it to people who like both historical fiction and books with a bit of otherness/supernatural elements.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC!

I don't usually read war stories, but I do love Katherine Arden's work, so this was an obvious must-read for me. I appreciated the ways in which the trauma and brutality of war are shown here—a purgatory world full of ghosts, the hotel setting, the lengths we'll go to save each other when our humanity is quickly fading—and it all feels incredibly relevant to current events. As always, I'm a sucker for mood and atmosphere, and Arden once again delivers both in this story. That being said, this book did feel a bit heavy and sluggish at times, and I had a hard time connecting to Laura's character especially. I ended up looking forward more to Freddie's sections than hers. I wanted a bit more character work for this one, but again, the writing offers up great and terribly tragic atmosphere. It's a worthy addition to Arden's bibliography, and I'm excited to read her next project, whatever it may be.

While I very much enjoyed the Winternight Trilogy, I did not enjoy The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden. This novel is more for fans of historical war books with the lightest touch of fantasy and a lot of religious rhetoric. In this case, it's set in WWII and the the characters, soldiers and combat medics, are extremely bland and monotonous. The dialogue is extremely stilted as if the novel was written in phrases and spliced together roughly through time. The plot dragged quite a bit though I do think the ambiance was well done.

Beyond the dullness of the novel, there is a large number of times the word "savage" was used to describe and illustrate 'uncivilized' behavior. It rubs me the wrong way reading a book written by a white author liberally using a slur that has been historically used to dehumanize certain groups of people and is said to be rooted in colonialism and oppression. In my honest opinion, in the examples listed below, quite a number of words could have been used in place of the slur without reducing the intended meaning of the text.

--

"But you'll wear a proper uniform. Not one of those field-modified things, hemmed to the knee."
"Am I a savage?" asked Laura. "I'll look perfectly proper."
--

"Gott in Himmel," sai the voice, right in his ear, savage, "will you listen to me?" - and then a fist came clipping across his jaw.
--

"Nothing a bite and a drink won't fix," said Laura. (...) Laura had to sit on her hands so she wouldn't seize it and drink it off like a savage.
--

He grinned around his cigarette. The ember made something savage of his smile. "Beeindrucke much," he added, (...) Freddie, taking the words for a threat, groped for his knife.
--

Laura was furious, which is why she permitted herself to retort, low and savage, "Yes, well, I'm sure that will be a great comfort to him, to be buried with two legs and no gangrene."
--

Faland put his violin to his shoulder and began to play. The music curled out, (...) tentative, sweet. (...) And then the music turned savage, as though Faland had killed them awhile, only to snatch the rage right out of Freddie's heart...

This is the perfect book to curl up with on a cold and dreary day and read cover to cover. You will feel the cold and the wet, the pain and the heartache that these characters do. When you finish reading, you will want to hug the book and hold it close.
The ending snuck up on me and just made me love it so much more. Are Katherine Arden's other books written this beautifully? So. Good.

I loved The Bear and the Nightingale, so I was really excited to get a new book from Katherine Arden. This book is completely different from that series, but I still really enjoyed it. It was a slightly fantastical take on a WWI story, one that didn't look away from the harsh realities of how brutal and bleak WWI really was, with some ghosts and demons to boot. I really connected with the main characters and was really rooting for them. There were also some great twists toward the end, and some really sweet romances. There were a few moments were the emotion felt a little numbed and distant and I felt like I wasn't feeling what I was supposed to be, and the narrative had a definite slower pace. Still, overall I liked it and appreciated the bits of hope and whimsy sprinkled into such a dark, gruesome story.

Wow. I dove headfirst into this book and found it absolutely impossible to put down. I was already a fan of Arden from her previous Russian fantasy trilogy, and this book just cements her even more as an auto-read author. This is a haunting, emotionally complex story about a WWI combat nurse, Laura, who returns to the battlefields of Belgium to search for her missing brother. There is a supernatural element to this novel, and I had my doubts about how it would play out, and yet Arden achieved the perfect marriage of history and fantasy. The characters were all vividly drawn, and the settings made me feel like I was right there in the story. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for a digital review copy.

*Goodreads review posted on 1/22/24, link below*

This is a NetGalley arc review. Thank you as always to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for this amazing opportunity to provide an honest, pre-release review.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden is a historical fiction novel, telling the story of two siblings separated by war, and their journeys back to each other. But can anyone truly come back, let alone the same?

Arden is arguably most known for her Winternight Trilogy, another historical fiction story, but with a much different in tone, as I’ve heard. The series is on my TBR for this year!

The Warm Hands of Ghosts takes place during 1917-1918 World War I amongst the backdrop of a vortex of historical events, spanning from the at home horrors of Canada’s Halifax Explosion to the deepest trenches of active war in Flanders, Belgium to the looming of a dark and deadly outbreak, not explicitly labeled, but most likely the Great Influenza epidemic of 1918-1920, or the “Spanish flu”.

Chapters mostly alternate between the POVs of the two siblings, older sister and decorated nurse Laura Iven, who bears the body’s physical reminder war with her limp, and soldier Freddie Iven, on the ground in Belgium, a young man suffering with war’s toll on the mind.

While Laura is a strong-willed and interesting character in her own right, for me, the story’s heart and soul lie with Freddie and the older German soldier he finds himself trapped with after an explosion during combat, Hans Winter. As likely as they would have killed each other above ground, now below, corpses just not dead yet, they must rely on each other for a slim chance at life, and an even slimmer chance of surviving what came next. Their oaths to each other, borne of survival, evolves into the most beautiful of bonds, raw and bittersweet, intimate and unexpected for them both.

Arden’s portrayal of WWI in its many forms was haunting, with her staccato descriptions and poignant, to the point dialogue driving an unnerving beat into the reader. It is obvious the amount of time and effort that was dedicated to historical research and accuracy, as well as delicately but truthfully portraying active war and its aftereffects.

The addition of the more supernatural elements of the story was done with a deft hand. The exploration of the paranormal never overshadowed the reality of war, but rather was a dark and seductive partner to it, giving the reader not a new way to look at WWI or war in general, but a deeper meaning to sentiments like that of Thomas Paine, about a very different war: “These are the times that try men's souls.”

Because the first half was so strong, particularly Freddie’s chapters showing his growing relationship with Winter, the last few chapters felt a bit more abrupt to me. Of course, this may just be me being picky, but another 20 or so pages just with an expanded ending or epilogue would have been the absolute cherry on this bittersweet sundae.

This is definitely a release to watch for 2024, and I’m still thinking about it, particularly Freddie and Winter, even as I type, two days after finishing.

What a beautiful, heartbreaking, lovely novel. I am so glad I could read this book's arc and order a special edition for my own shelves. Katherine Arden doesn't disappoint.

The book is set during WWI and the harsh reality of the world almost ending and changing in unprecedented ways is combined with a dark fantasy where ghosts literally and figuratively haunt the two main characters. Unlike her previous series, this book is written less lyrically and more directly and harshly, matching the world around the characters. The plot picks up at about 1/4 of the way through and is nonstop, making me want to keep reading it late into the night. What I found fascinating was that at the beginning of the book, I wanted to keep going back to Freddie's POV, but then, in the later book, I wanted to go to Laura's. I've never had that happen before where it swapped in the middle of the book. Also, it was a book I wanted to read the ending before finishing because I wanted to make sure that the characters had a happy enough ending since I cared so much for them. The war felt present in every aspect of the book, and even the dark magic could not compare to the dark reality of what fellow humans can do to each other.

Although not as whimsical as the The Winternight Trilogy, this novel is another beautiful book by Katherine Arden. Be prepared to see the harsh realities of WWI and the strength of love that is universal throughout time that just might help our characters through.

𝒜𝑅𝒞 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌

Thank you to the author, @delreybooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨: 𝘼 𝙉𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡
by Katherine Arden
336 pages
February 13, 2024

This novel was beautifully written, a historical fiction novel with a haunting supernatural element where people come back from the dead and are haunted by the myth of a man who plays the fiddle and offers them a delicious glass of wine.

This novel places us in the horror of the Great War while adding a supernatural element characterizing the trauma of those who survived it.

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, Laura 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, where she soon 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 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.

We are immersed in the trauma of war with these characters who are struggling to save one another even as something or someone else haunts them.

I read this in one day. Katherine Arden remains one of my auto-read authors.

Read this...

if you enjoy historical fiction

an eerily gorgeous and creepy supernatural story

ghost stories

magical realism/ supernatural folklore

Readalike❓This made me think of The Book Thief (WW II historical fiction with a supernatural twist.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 stars

This is one I started awhile back and had to put down bc it was a difficult read for me at the time. I picked it back up recently and loved it. It’s about love and loss in times of war and all the feelings that come with it. The grief and guilt and feelings that nothing will ever be the same. I suppose it’s not hard to see why it was difficult to read considering all that is happening in the world. Five stars

The first 1/3rd of this book was a slow start. It is historical fiction with some extra out of genre aspects (hint: ghosts are in the title). Although the subject matter was dark, the writing was beautiful. 3.75 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced release copy in exchange for an honest review.

Captivating from the first chapter.

As the story opens, the reader is dropped into the story with Laura. Arden brings the sights, sounds & smells to life in a way few authors could do.

This is a love story, not a romantic love story, but rather a love of family— a mother’s love, sister’s love— and what they will do for those they love.

It’s also a story of the ravages of war, of PTSD, of survivor’s guilt and of choosing to remain hopeful in the face of devastation.

It’s a story about revenge— about righting wrongs in the eyes of the beholder.

Towards the end, the author reflects on the lessons of war, but ones we clearly haven’t learned from.

This story was beautifully written. It is one that creeps into your heart, and it’s not until it’s over that you realize how much the characters have come to mean to you.

The “fiend” (iykyk) gave me chills through the entire journey. It’s heartbreaking and suspenseful and I could not put it down. If I had to, it was all I could think about. I love this book so much and I hope everyone else that reads it loves it too. Thank you, NetGalley for the arc and thank you Katherine for writing one of my new favorite books.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts starts out like a historical fiction. It is interesting indeed, but really picks up its fantasy stride about 1/2 way through. The characters are well defined and likeable and the author cleans up loose ends nicely. It is a bit slow paced and for that I would knock off a star, as the first half could use a bit more intrigue. All in all an enjoyable read.

I can't honestly say that I am disappointed by this book, because I knew going in that it wasn't going to be what I wanted. (Something more akin to the Winternight trilogy.) And having read the blurb, I was fairly certain it wasn't going to be that.

The fact that I read this book at all is based on two words on the cover: Katherine Arden. She's a brilliant writer, and her skill is really the only reason I finished. If this book finds its proper audience (not Winternight fans, and not really me), it will do well.

It has depth and vivid descriptions and a unique depiction of a terrible time in history. And it has characters who I cared about, almost in spite of myself (Jones was a particular favorite)

Will I read this again? No. But I am sort of glad I read it once. Though it may prompt some uneasy dreams.

This book is so good! I loved all the characters and the setting and the plot! It was all breathtaking and haunting! So so good!!!

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

This is one of my most anticipated reads for 2024. Ardens Winternight Trilogy is much beloved by myself and I have been waiting ever so patiently for her next book, when I first got news of this book I knew I had to beg, borrow or steal to get myself an ARC.

Well I am here to tell you I didn’t have to do any of that because the wonderful people at @delray sent me a copy and it absolutely lived up to all my expectations.

This is not The Winternight trilogy, so don’t read this expecting that. This book is wholly its own, it is dark, mysterious, haunting and woven with the finest threads of love, honour, and healing.

Reading this was a bit of an evolution, it took some time to find the mystery that was lurking, Arden took me through the experiences of two siblings and the people tied to them as they dug through the darkest of miseries and scenery, to battle against evil, and to reunite themselves with the light. The journey became so expansive from the first chapter to the last, I felt like with each passing page the light slowly crept back into the story and its occupants. So to say it was an evolution it really was, of spirit, of mind and of body.

When I closed the last page, I felt overcome, the way she described war and those in it I would of believed she had first hand experience, but then she puts in her magical touch of something ethereal and you get this ghost story of the past. It’s impossible to describe and I suggest going on the journey yourself.

This book is for those who believe there is light even in the darkest of nights.

Wow. I have never read a book quite like this one. I don't read a lot of war books, especially ones so detailed. Arden is not afraid to get into the nitty gritty details and realities ofwar. If you are squeamish about medical content and blood, skip this book, but you are missing out. This book is haunting and heavy; I had to take breaks to breathe and remember that I am not in the trenches, fearing for my life. Descriptions of the trenches and battleground made me think of the movie 1917. Arden really made me feel like I was there. I also appreciated that she addressed the injustice of those in command not having to pay the true cost of the war.
If you liked Divine Rivals but want more focus on the war, read this book. If you like war stories but wish they had fantasy elements, this book is for you.
I highly, highly recommend this book.

I absolutely adore Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy, so when I heard about 'Warm Hands of Ghosts' I jumped at the chance to review it. It did not disappoint. The characters are compelling and the writing easy to fall into.

This is a war time tale that picks up in the midst of WW1. We follow siblings Laura and Freddie Iven, a Canadian nurse and soldier, their story sucks you in. They're so very relatable and their characters so real that the war itself, although very present, fades into the background as the reader sees life through their eyes. I absolutely loved this book. If you're a historical fiction fan preorder this one.

TW: scenes of war