“The Warm Hands of Ghosts” by Katherine Arden - 5,217 stars) (Pub Date: Out Now!) is one of the most astounding books I’ve ever read. Ever. With its unflinching depiction of the hell that was the first World War, its evocation of skin-crawling’ly believable ghosts, and finally its completely unique portrayal of evil, it defies genre categorization. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I closed the cover.

Good Things: Everything. Everything about this book is phenomenal. Spot on historical accuracy? Check. Flawed characters with intrinsically likable personalities and responses? Check. Gutting trench warfare realism? Check. Ghosts I hope to never see, but also hope exist? Check. Evil incarnate, as the last morose drunk at the proverbial bar before closing time, lamenting the changing times? CHECK. I have been a student of history, I have a college degree in History, and I have been reading Historical Fiction since the age of 6 (Little House anyone?)...and I had to stop reading multiple times, and go learn more about several key pieces of the story because I read them and thought to myself “is that how it really happened, holy god, it couldn’t have been that awful”...and it was. For those of you who study history, this book's absolute no-holds-barred dedication to the pure realism of war as hell is a punch in the face. I honestly had to pause in the early chapters and clench my jaw, do some deep breathing, look up photos from the time, and then…at the advice of my husband, watch the opening scenes of the most recent version of All Quiet on the Western Front, before I could resolve myself to continue, knowing better what I was marching into. I spent an inordinate amount of time reading through write ups on a remembered passage from Book 8 of the Anne of Green Gables series (Rilla of Ingleside) where Rilla’s brother Walter writes the great poem of The War about The Piper, describing the ghosts of those fallen to fight alongside the living as they prepare to ‘go over the top’. I read up about the Pied Piper, the actual poem “The Piper”, and yes, the Devil. I looked at maps of the battlefields, pictures of nurses, soldiers, and hospitals. I read details and viewed stills from the explosion in Halifax that kicks off the story. So much history blended with so much terror, left me spent and astounded.

Opportunities: I both wanted, and didn’t want, more ghosts. And I both wanted, and didn’t want more about the Violinist. And I wanted to continue to feel the cold chills of “omg, this is an amazing book” but also to not have newly concrete imagery in my head that I cannot remove now, of how the no-man’s land in Belgium, in 1918 is quite possibly worse than modern humanity can actually imagine. It is easier now, after this book, to believe in the Devil and that’s not actually something I set out to do…so, trigger warning maybe? But Ms. Arden, if you read this…you really really did good here. Like, potentially life-perspective altering for me.

Final Thoughts: Read it. Everyone should read it, Religious people, military history buffs, historical fiction/romance fans, science fiction and fantasy readers, horror fans…this literally defies all genre categorization. But be prepared to be rocked. Because it isn’t a light and frothy ghost story.

I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read of this story by netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey. The opinions in this review are expressly those of ButIDigressBookClub and are intended for use by my followers and friends when choosing their next book. #butidigress #butidigressbookclub #thewarmhandsofghosts #katherinearden #holycrap #WW1 #thedevil #horror #historicalfiction #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #arc #arcs

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Review Shared on Goodreads - www.goodreads.com/leah_cyphert_butidigressbookclub
Publishing Review 4/7/2024

Set during WWI, Laura Iven, a highly respected field nurse seriously wounded and released from service, returns to her native Halifax, Canada. While working at a hospital back home, she receives a cryptic message about whether her brother, a Canadian soldier serving in France, has died in combat. This mysterious message prompts Laura to return to France with a couple friends. Under the guise of working at a field hospital, Laura seeks to determine if her brother died, and if so, the circumstances that led to his demise. Amid an ongoing stream of patients, Laura searches for her brother among the living, the dead, and a nefarious individual who seeks to manipulate both.

A spectacular storyteller, Katherine Arden delivers a novel with unanticipated plot twists, unique characters, comical dialog, and a creative blending of history and the supernatural.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Warm Hands of Ghosts and found Lauren Iven to be a woman of compassion, conviction, quippy responses, and at times brazen decisions. The book had a slow start and aspects of the ending were predictable, but the characters and plot development maintained my interest. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical fiction and magical realism.

4.5
Its not a folktale! I had kind of wished it could have been contorted into one. It is instead, exactly what it says it is. A war novel about a sister and a brother. But it’s a lot more than that too. And if you want to read it, be aware that (very on-brand for M Arden) there are fantastical elements in the story. Most of it is historical fiction. And then there are…ghosts and devils.

This story is about Laura Iven - Canadian WWI nurse, and her brother Wilfred, who is a soldier at Passchendaele (a real battle, one of the bloodiest of the 20th century, and maybe the most futile). The book opens with the explosion of the SS Mont-Blanc at Halifax which, I found out later, was the largest human made explosion at that time - all structures within an 800m radius were *obliterated*, a tsunami followed, 1700 died and 9000 were injured. A First Nations community was literally extinguished by the tsunami.

And this was like, page 1-10 guys. You’re gonna learn a lot about WWI, Mary Borden’s women-run hospital, the invention of successful transfusions, why nurses had scarred hands, what the hell the battle of Passchendaele was and why it was so (in) significant. But you’ll also learn about the human cost of the war. How it might have FELT to be a mother, a sister, a nurse. You don’t see a lot of ACTION in this book, but we do see a lot of CONSEQUENCES. And what are ghosts and tempting devils if not the living (or…not living) incarnations of those things? Be prepared for some fantasy with your wonderfully well-researched historical fiction, friends!

Recommended to adults with a pretty strong stomach. This book describes horrifying wartime realities in detail, and feels ripe for some trigger warnings. Amputations, murder, war, buried alive, some light religion, themes of suicide, mass murder, guns of all sizes and shapes, mental illness, PTSD, ghosts…

Published on Goodreads!

3.8 / 5.0

I really enjoyed the mystery and overall plot of this book. It lagged in places and sometimes the POVs were confusing, but overall I got through it in a timely manner. The magical realism was interesting in the world building and the characters were well written.

U til Next Time,
MC

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this ARC.

I've been highly anticipating this book for YEARS. I devoured Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy. Although this book was different, it was told in a similar Arden style. I really admire this author's writing style - it's so polished and insightful while not being boring or dry. The plot was a little bit above me, but it was so beautifully written - both in terms of style and also plot, the latter of which was woven together so well. I feel like I will need to reread this at least one or two more times to really start to appreciate the work that went into writing this.

4.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was slightly nervous to read this book because The Bear and the Nightingale wasn't my favorite. There were things I enjoyed about it but in the end, it made me not want to continue with the series. But when I saw the cover for The Warm Hands of Ghosts and heard it was a historical fantasy, I just had to try it out.

I am so happy that I read it because I loved it. It was beautiful. The relationship between the siblings was beautiful to read about and I was happy with how their stories ended.

🪖 Laura, a WWI nurse, receives an odd letter about her brother’s death prompting her to go to France to find out what actually happened to him. 🪖

I expected this book to be a creepy, ghost story set during WWI. Instead I would categorize it as a dry historical fiction with a supernatural subplot.

I DNFed this book around 70%. It’s getting 2 stars because maybe with different expectations I would’ve enjoyed it more? Maybe I will even go back and finish one day.

The author’s note made me interested to read more about WWI, but I thought this book was much less interesting than the setting she described.

Have you read this one? I’ve heard is very different than Arden’s other books. I’m hoping to read those later this year.

I’m extremely frustrated that I was not enjoying this book. It had everything set up for me to like it but I just did not care for any of the characters and anything that was happening.

I think at a different time I would come back to this, but not in the near future. It just was not for me.

DNF @20%

Not my favorite Katherine Arden book, but wonderful nonetheless. This book is hauntingly sad and poignant and yet simultaneously breathtakingly beautiful. It is the story of survival and human hope, and what better story can there be?

I do not normally enjoy something so historical but this was well written and a beautiful story. I enjoyed all the characters and the ending. The setting was beautiful. very interesting premise that really kept me engaged.

A lyrical and heartfelt dive into wartorn Europe and the struggles of a sister searching for her proclaimed dead brother. Equal parts endearing and dark, The Warm Hands of Ghosts delivers a wonderfully written story that will keep you interested from start to finish. While I'm not typically a fan of historical fiction, this captivating story had me entranced from the beginning, the riveting prose and harrowing twists continuously keeping me eager to find out what came next.

I went into The Warm Hands of Ghosts expecting a historical novel with some elements of magical realism, but I could not have been more mistaken. Arden weaves a tale that is equal parts haunting and enchanting. From the point of view of both Freddie and Laura we are enveloped into the world of of WWI and right along with them we are enticed by the magic of a man who can take away all the atrocities from their minds. While the first couple of chapters are slow going, but you soon find yourself cocooned among the songs of souls. I absolutely loved everything about this book and will be going back to Katherine Arden's backlist (which I own but haven't read yet) to hopefully find a story just as enrapturing.

Katherine Arden’s writing shines in this new historic fiction that stole my heart. Laura a discharged combat nurse from the Great War finds herself in Halifax after the great fire caring for patients. During the great fire Laura lost her parents and was waiting for her brother to make it back from the front. That is until she receives notice her brother has died too. That is what Laura thinks until she is sent on a hunt to find her brother by a deceased soldiers spirit. Laura joins the army as a combat nurse once more to find out what the spirits were trying to tell her. When she arrives she hears mysterious tales of a fiddler who you can only find once with a magic mirror. Wondering if this mysterious man has something to do with her missing brother Laura try’s to find all she can.

This stark harrowing tale intertwined with folklore is so rooted in reality it almost makes you believe maybe magic can be real. Katherine’s Arden’s writing does not disappoint in this beautifully written magical realism historical fiction. While this book had a completely different feeling to it than the Winternight Trilogy I was still completely sucked in by this book. This story comes off the pages with its fairy tale vibes it reminded me The Shadow of the Wind. The characters were amazing I was so invested in what happened to Laura and her brother Freddie. The tales about Fallon the violinist was so mysterious and had me wanting to know more. Katherine Arden is becoming one of my favorite authors and can’t wait to read more from this author in the future. I would like to thank net galley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

Told from alternate viewpoints and a year of difference, this is the story of Nurse Laura Iven and her brother, Freddie, claimed dead during WWI. Laura suffered an injury while a nurse on the front and has returned to Halifax to recover. But not long after her return, she is informed that her brother Freddie has been killed during combat. However, something about this does not sit right with Laura and so she returns to the front to uncover the truth, while working at a private hospital. Once there, she hears whispers of strange occurrences and haunted soldiers, a violin player and disappearing hotels. Laura is determined to find out the connection between these rumors and what happened to her brother.

A beautiful portrayal of sibling love and a new take on a war novel - haunting and well written, this gripped me from the start.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

This story is told in third person dual timelines that follow siblings Freddie and Laura during the First World War. Laura returned home to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1918 after being injured while working as a nurse on the frontlines and is dismayed when she receives her brother’s things indicating that he was missing in action, presumed dead. She travels back to Europe with a group intent on finding Freddie while they run much needed hospitals. The other timeline follows Freddie in the trenches as he escapes a near miss and befriends an enemy German soldier before getting caught up with an enigmatic man known as The Fiddler.

I struggled with this book. I enjoyed reading about the harrowing escape that Freddie and Winter endured from the trenches and their subsequent journey. However, the ambiguity of the Fiddler lost me a bit at times. I understood the concept but just didn’t connect with the fantasy part of this story. In contract, Laura’s journey to finding her brother fell flat for me. I didn’t find her character compelling or feel anything for her travails like I thought I should. Maybe this was a case of this story was just not for me. I absolutely recommend the Winternight Trilogy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

It's been nearly a week since I turned the final page of "The Warm Hands of Ghosts," yet I find myself still entranced by its haunting beauty. Katherine Arden, celebrated for her captivating storytelling in "Winternight trilogy," once again demonstrates her mastery with this historical novel imbued with a tantalizing touch of the supernatural.

Set against the backdrop of World War I, she deftly intertwines elements of romance, mystery, and magic, weaving a tapestry of intrigue with meticulous attention to historical detail that immerses readers in the chilling realities of war, painting a vivid portrait of an era defined by sacrifice and survival.

While Arden's acclaimed Winternight Trilogy exudes a certain "forestcore" aesthetic, a love letter to Russian folklore, "Warm Hands" delves deeper into the emotional terrain of sibling relationships and the lengths one would go to for family. Laura's unwavering determination to find her brother resonates with a profound sense of longing and loyalty, underscoring the timeless bond between siblings amidst the chaos of war.

The atmosphere Arden invites her readers to is nothing short of mesmerizing, shrouded in an ethereal veil that blurs the lines between reality and the supernatural. From magical hotels to lies that acts as currency, Arden's prose drips with an eerie beauty, casts a haunting spell that lingers.

This book was honestly I have no words. It was heartbreakingly beautiful and attention grabbing. The atmosphere was incredible and intense. 10/10 recommend

Thank you to Net Galley and Del Rey for this ARC!

I was so torn between how I felt about this book almost the entire ride through it… There were times I wanted to give it two stars and DNF, and at the end I was closer to thinking about four stars but then I remembered how long it took me to slug through Almost half of it at the beginning before I even found myself invested in any of the characters—and settled on three.

I think this book was possibly Miss marketed, as I really anticipated it being more of a Gothic novel, and having more fantasy than it did. It was primarily a war novel… I love historical fiction, but if I read one more World War II novel I might explode.

I appreciated that there were at least new and relevant themes, such as a queer love story, as well as some kind of folklore/fantasy. Overall, I don’t know that I would necessarily recommend this out to anybody, but I could definitely see this being adapted into a film and appealing to the large masses.

I am a huge fan of the Winternight trilogy so I was thrilled when I saw Katherine Arden was coming out with a new book for adults! The Warm Hands of Ghosts was definitely different than her previous work but I found myself absorbed in the story just the same. The slow reveal of what exactly Faland is up to was suitably horrifying and devastating. I also really connected with Laura and her quest to find Freddie - I'm also an older sister and I would do anything for my brother so she had me from the jump