“Why did you stay?”

“Can you ask? We were dead together, we were born together. I cannot live without you.”

Katherine Arden does it again!! I lived for the Winternight trilogy so a new adult book by Arden needed to be in my greedy little mitts immediately. I picked this book up as someone who is really NOT into historical fiction anymore (I binged historical fiction as teen and burnt myself out so bad) but also knowing that an Arden book couldn't do me wrong. And I was RIGHT!!!!!!!

Arden writes about a young brother and sister during WWI - one a combat nurse and one on the front lines. The author makes this book feel so deeply intimate that I thought less about WWI and more about War in general and the ravages of it.

One of my favorite things in books is when authors write about past and present from chapter to chapter, especially when it feels like the past tense is racing to meet our present tense chapters. We have Laura Iven in the present, going back to the war in the present after the death of her parents and the mysterious disappearance of her brother in hopes of finding that she has someone left. In the past, we have lost Freddie Iven, doing his best to hold on to himself and the people he loves with the help of the enemy (or enemies...). Arden writes beautifully dynamic characters full of complex emotions dealing with love and grief and hope and joy during a time that felt like Hell.

Speaking of Hell, we have our sprinkle of magic that always sets Arden's books even farther apart. Anywhere there are soldiers, there are stories of a man, an almost mystical violinist, who will ply you with wine for a night and make you forget. Once you leave him, you will never find him again. This man is nowhere and everywhere you might look for him and the Ivens become tied up with him from the beginning. The magic in this book is so believable, spiritual and mythological instead of feeling like any kind of fantasy.

On top of the gorgeous writing, intricate plot, and complex characters, Arden gives us these beautiful relationships throughout the book. The Ivens, Pim, Winter, Mary, Jones. I have so much love for all of these characters and I loved seeing the slow development of their care for each other.

I would recommend this book to EVERYONE but especially if you have liked Arden's previous books or something similar to The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!

I may have found my favorite book of the year, and it's only February!

I chose to read this book because I loved The Bear and the Nightingale by this author. However, I was also a little nervous because it's a very different type of book. I should not have worried. It was just wonderful.

Laura Iven was a battlefield nurse in World War I until an injury sends her home. She has now received word that her brother, Freddie, is either missing or dead. She needs to know what has happened to him and why there is confusion about it, so she heads back to the war as a volunteer nurse, to see if she can get answers. This all seems like a straight forward historical fiction, but there is also a supernatural element that adds another (pretty frightening) layer.

The story is told in two timelines. Laura's story begins in January 2018; Freddie's is from November 2017. Katherine Arden really helps the reader understand the horrors of war and the effects it has on everyone involved. Laura suffers from PTSD just like the soldiers do. You will find yourself pulled in and feeling everything alongside the characters.

I highly, highly recommend this book. Absolute perfection.

I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.

This is a perfect example of why it’s important to read outside of your preferred genre. I am NOT a fan of historical fiction. While there are definite fantastical elements in this story, I have read historical fiction mixed with fantasy and it is not always my jam. So this was a win.
This story is haunting, delicate, and gorgeous. The descriptions are poetic. The characters are beautiful and damaged. And everyone is just trying to decide if it’s worth it to keep living or should they just join their ghosts.
I went in blind because I heard good things about the author and I loved this cover/title. I’m honestly glad I did. So I will not give a summary in this review because I know I cannot do this story justice by talking about its plot when this book is so engrossing and much more than just a plot.

A big thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC for this book! It was stunning!

Taking place during WWI, Laura, a combat nurse who was discharged from her time as a nurse surgeon due to an injury, makes her way back to the war zones of Europe to find out what happened to her brother after receiving a package that leaves her with questions.

This story was heart-wrenching, haunting, and beautifully written. A fantastic read!

Is there anything that Katherine Arden CAN'T write? This had the same beauty was her winternight trilogy, and it is emotional and poignant, and will utterly wreck you. One of my top reads of the year!!!

I want to say thank you to Random House Ballantine/Del Rey for allowing me to have the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. I’ll start by saying I love Katherine Arden and so this review is really hard to write. I’m a huge fan of The Winternight Trilogy and I also read her MG books. I started reading this book in October, put it down thinking maybe it was just the timing but when I picked it up again – I realized that it wasn’t the timing – it’s me. Maybe I had too high of expectations because this book was really not something that I wanted to read. I had to force myself to read and finish it. There were a lot of things I didn’t like about the book but I won’t go into specifics. I won’t be posting a review on Goodreads. I will definitely read the next book Katherine Arden writes because I am hoping this is book was just an anomaly.

As a combat nurse stationed in Belgium during WWI, Laura Iven was familiar with death and dying. There were other types of trauma; physical and spiritual trauma. No one was immune from developing shell shock.

Experiencing a serious leg injury, Laura was discharged from the medical corps. After three years in the combat zone, she was sent home from Flanders, Belgium to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Tragically, her home life unraveled soon after when a munitions ship explosion killed both of her parents. Her only living family member was her brother, Freddie.

In November 1918, Laura received notice that Freddie was presumed dead after the Battle on Passchendaele Ridge in Flanders, although an enigmatic and unfinished message indicated that perhaps he was missing in action. Further complicating matters, Laura received Freddie's tags and soldier's uniform jacket. Wouldn't he have been laid to rest in his uniform? Requesting the assistance of Mary Borden who ran a Belgian hospital and Mrs. Pim Shaw whose son was also presumed dead, Laura signed on to return to Flanders and work at the Belgian hospital while searching for answers about Freddie's whereabouts. If he did indeed die, how did he die? Presented in a dual timeline, we are privy to Freddie's story on the Ridge in 1917 with the intertwining of Laura's story as we track the siblings.

How else could Freddie Iven and the German, Hans Winter have survived in the forbidden zone when they become trapped in a German pillbox, but to befriend one's enemy? They vacillated between hope and despair but forged a joint effort, promising to stay alive while creating a bond of protection. First and foremost in Freddie's mind, find Laura.

In the "haunted trenches", soldiers talked about a hotel where mysterious wine was served as a salve to soothe the souls of its visitors. "The man in the hotel-he's called the fiddler....but what they all say, every story, is those who've drank with him, heard the music, seen what he shows you, and then come back out here-well they're always pining for it... But you only see it once. You can't get back. They say men have gone mad...and no one ever sees that man again." Faland's eery fiddle music could be mellow, romantic or angry. When Freddie arrived at the hotel, control over him was profound as Faland tried to claim Freddie's memories. Freddie needed to stay strong in order to find Laura and fulfill his promise to Winter to stay alive. However, he was losing his grip on reality. He looked haunted, the shadow of the man he was before the war.

"The Warm Hands of Ghosts" by Katherine Arden is a historical fiction novel laced with fantasy as a brother and sister search for each other in war torn Belgium during WWI. Laura's efforts were intermittently buoyed through the assistance of her hospital friends, Pim Shaw, Mary Borden and Dr. Jones. Freddie's traumatic struggle was one example, among many, of the effects of shell shock. Would Freddie be able to claw his way out of the abyss or lose himself to Faland's promise of blissful forgetfulness? Highly recommended.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group- Dey Rey and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Laura Ivens was a nurse serving in WWII until she was injured and sent home to Canada. However, her brother is still out there fighting and she still feels the need to do something. While home in Canada, Laura receives a trunk of Freddie’s belongings but while at a neighbor’s house and on-going seance, the “spirits” seems to indicate Freddie isn’t dead and Laura needs to try and find him.

I give this book a genre of magical realism because there are points where it feels as though the lines between the real and the paranormal are blurred. The mysterious hotel of the fiddler and the dreams, and ghosts. There is subtle romance and longing. There are family ties and risking everything to save the ones you love.

Katherine Arden set a precedent when she wrote her beautiful Winternight Trilogy. Though different in content, it is no less beautiful, heartbreaking, and complex in the way she weaves her narrative. This book will take you on a powerful journey of survival where each character struggles to hold themselves together. I want to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy in return for my honest review and feedback. Arden has created another masterpiece of words and prose which flow through the lives of our characters.

I love Katherine Arden. Her writing is so strong-balancing historical aspects and magic just right. It’s hard to find writers like her!

And as much as I loved her Bear and the Nightingale trilogy, there was something about a WW1 setting with a bit of a supernatural twist that left me sure that she is one of my favorite writers. Arden just knows how to string a story together.

If you are a fan of Naomi Novak, or Juliet Mariller, you need to read Katherine Arden’s work

I usually avoid war tales, but I made an exception because I'll read anything Katherine Arden writes.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a story told from two perspectives: Laura Iven, a decorated war nurse, and Wilfred "Freddie" Iven, her brother and a Canadian soldier fighting in WWI. The storyline takes place during 1917-1918 and heavily emphasizes the battle of Passchendaele in Flanders (Belgium).

Laura receives the news on what seems to be the passing of Freddie, but something is not sitting well with her, and after a couple of incidents, she decides to go back to Belgium to find out what happened to Freddie. In the meantime, Freddie, who has gone through a traumatic experience on the battlefield, is faced with life-altering challenges and must make decisions that could have long-lasting effects.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is not just a war tale; it also has supernatural elements that add to the horror of war and provide those on the battlefield with opportunities to escape, if only for a price. The ghosts in the story are not just spooky apparitions but also a representation of the trauma and suffering the characters are experiencing. The ghosts offer a way out for some of the characters, but it comes at a cost, and the consequences of their decisions are not always apparent.

This tale is undeniably a dark story about a dark subject, but it's not all doom and gloom. Despite the heavy emphasis on the horrors of war, elements of hope and healing still shine through. The story shows how love can motivate people to do things that are out of character and how it can give them the strength to endure in the face of unimaginable hardship. The characters in the story are not perfect and make mistakes, but they are all driven by a desire to find a way to heal and move forward. Ultimately, it's a story about the resilience of the human spirit and the power of love to overcome even the darkest circumstances.

One of the only criticisms I have of The Warm Hands of Ghosts is that I would have liked more development of the personal relationships towards the end. However, I understand that a book can only go so long before it loses momentum. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a supernatural twist.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a slow-burn, literary fantasy set in WWI about a brother and sister determined to find one another through the terror and confusion of war. Though challenging, at times, it's a thought-provoking story that is full of heart. There are strong themes of grief and loss, but also of friendship and hope. If you enjoyed Divine Rivals but wanted a richer setting, more fantasy, and less romance, this book might be for you.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts was a very slow start for me but I'm so glad I stuck with it. I almost abandoned it but kept reminding myself how much I enjoyed other works by Katherine Arden. Around 40% it really picked up, but what made it slow in the beginning for me persisted throughout the whole book: I didn't feel a connection with Laura. So we get all this back story about Laura and her brother Freddie but it doesn't mean much, I'm not very invested in their story in the beginning. After we learn quite a bit about them and interesting things start to happen, I can't say I am 100% invested in them them but enough to be curious to know what happens to them.
This book is great. It's a unique story with a hint of magical realism and I really liked the dual timelines that eventually meet. It provokes reflection on the story and I think it would be a great one to discuss in a book club.
I was given a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Del Ray!

I really enjoyed Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale trilogy so I was very excited to read her newest novel. Oh my gosh! I was blown away. I read it in 3 days, and when I wasnt reading it- I was thinking about it. This is a beautifully written story about love, honor, fear, family bonds, and war. At the center is a wounded ( mentally and physically) WWI nurse, Laura, who goes back to the front in search of her younger brother, a soldier who was supposedly killed in battle. Arden describes despair, love, and hope so perfectly through her characters actions and words. While this could have just been a war novel, she deftly writes an undercurring storyline about a ghost-like figure who can give you your most desired wish but you must always pay him back in kind. Is he the devil? By mixing historical fiction with supernatural, Arden has given us a gift of a story.

First let me say: this book is about the Great War. There is a lot of war and death and darkness here which I was not expecting, but it was so well-written I was captivated. This book had me researching pillboxes and WWI nursing uniforms and the Halifax explosion (which did really happen and I did not know about!). I love a book that has be wrapped up in the plot, in the characters, AND the setting (which, in this case, was actual history). I know not everyone "likes" historical fiction, and war stories aren't for everyone, but we cannot forget the sacrifices of our past and the reason so many women and men risked or lost their lives. I absolutely plan to buy multiple editions of this book and read it again and highlight/annotate/tab the crap out of it...in the meantime though, I am going to read something a bit lighter and happier (because I am blessed with the freedom to do so).

The Warm Hands of Ghosts sounded so intriguing when I picked it up, and I honestly thought I would love it. A historical fiction around WWI, a touch of paranormal, strong characters - the set up was perfect. I have been thinking about this book for a couple days now, and I'm not 100% sure why it fell flat for me. Overall, it felt somewhat long, and I found it hard to completely connect with the characters. The setting being wartime was a dreary backdrop, but the characters did not shine through like I expected. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but this book was average. That said, I have been thinking about it for a couple of days, so I did enjoy it.

The nitty-gritty: A gruesome war story with surreal, ghostly elements, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is an emotional tale of a brother and sister during WWI.

I rarely read stories that take place during wartime—at least real wars, not fantasy or science fiction wars—so I was not prepared for the level of emotions I experienced while reading The Warm Hands of Ghosts, which takes place in 1917-1918 during World War I. Katherine Arden states in her author’s notes that she spent years working on this book, trying to get everything just right, and all that research and time paid off. I felt like I was in the trenches myself, living the horrors of war first hand. This is an immersive, emotional story that offers up moments of brightness despite the heavy subject matter, and I’m so glad I had the chance to read it.

In dual timelines, we are introduced to two main characters, sister and brother Laura and Freddie Iven. Both are serving in the war: Freddie has enlisted and ends up fighting at Passchendaele Ridge in Belgium, but word is he died during an attack. Laura is a field nurse but was badly injured when her hospital at Brandhoek was attacked and destroyed. After being discharged for her injury, Laura is back in Halifax recovering with friends, when she receives word of Freddie’s demise. Someone has sent her a package containing Freddie’s military jacket and tags, but the accompanying note is vague and doesn’t explain what happened to him.

A strange experience during a seance at her hosts’ home—a Ouija board sends a message that Freddie is actually alive—convinces Laura to return to Belgium to find her brother. Laura joins Mary Borden, who owns a field hospital in Flanders, and Pim Shaw, a distraught woman whose son Jimmy has died in the war, and together the three women make the transatlantic journey to help in Mary’s hospital.

In alternating chapters we follow Freddie, who has been trapped in a pillbox with an injured German soldier. With no way out except to work together, Freddie and the German, Hans Winter, form an unusual alliance in order to survive.

And in both timelines, a mysterious man named Faland bargains for stories and memories, turning them into haunting melodies on his violin. Faland will show you your heart’s desire, but his price is steep. Laura and Freddie both encounter Faland as they desperately try to find each other and survive the war.

This is a complex tale that weaves back and forth between Laura and Freddie, as their stories gradually come together, although it takes many detours along the way. It’s the relationships that keep the story going, as we follow Laura and Freddie, who are both trying to find each other (and neither one knows for sure that the other is alive). Then there’s Pim, who can barely go on without her son Jimmy and is driven to do unthinkable things in order to make peace with his death. 

My favorite relationship, though, was the one between Freddie and Winter, two men on opposite sides of the war who decide to keep each other alive and risk being branded as fugitives. Their story was so emotional and harrowing, as Arden describes their time in the pillbox, finally escaping, and then making a long journey by foot, both of them weak and injured, to find Laura, who Freddie is convinced with help them.

At the center of all this drama is Faland, a man who may or may not be the devil, and might not even be real. Some of my favorite scenes were set in Faland’s bar and hotel, where he lures desperate people with false promises, and then steals from them. It was so hard watching Freddie and Pim especially agree to Faland’s terms and then find themselves trapped with no way out. Faland and his horrible violin (you’ll understand when you read the story) seem to be a metaphor for the war itself, and I thought adding this weird, supernatural element was a brilliant idea.

And as you might guess from the title, the story is also populated by ghosts, both real and imagined. Laura sees her dead mother everywhere she goes (the way she died is horrifying, and I won’t reveal it here), and other characters claim to see dead loved ones as well. Despite the awful setting, Arden’s prose has a dreamy, magical quality to it that makes you wonder what is real and what isn’t. 

Arden does a great job of dropping other real life events into her story, like the famous Halifax explosion of 1917, as well as some medical advances during the time, which I found fascinating. She even includes mentions of the Titanic disaster of 1911, which seven years later is still fresh in people’s minds. The specifics of war in the trenches are painfully described, and as hard as it was to read at times, I have to applaud the author for pulling off such an immersive reading experience. And do make sure to read her author’s note at the end, in which she explains her themes and inspirations.

My only hesitation in giving this a full five stars is the way it ended. Arden gives readers an almost perfect happy ending, perhaps as an antidote to all the suffering the characters went through. But I wonder if the story would have had even more impact on me with a more open ended, not so neatly tied up finale. Still, I’m so happy this was my first Katherine Arden book, and it certainly won’t be my last.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Katherine Arden is a favourite author of mine, and while the Great War isn’t a setting I usually enjoy I had faith that Arden would be able to make me forget that. I’m very pleased to report that it was the perfect setting for this story and I take back my reservations about the setting and time period.

This is by far the darkest of Arden’s books that I’ve read. Usually my issue with historical fiction/fantasy set in the World Wars is the inevitable romanticisation of the war and what people went through on the front lines. Arden instead shows the darker side, the people who didn’t want to fight, the ends people went to just to be able to survive, and the absolute horrors that those on the front lines faced. I found my heart breaking as I read The Warm Hands of Ghosts and I felt true horror at so much of what Arden shows.

Following brother and sister, Freddie and Laura, as they both search for each other after Freddie is believed dead on the front line. Freddie’s story is set slightly earlier than Laura’s but eventually the timelines start to merge and get closer to each other. It’s masterful storytelling as it feels like you experience some events twice, and it makes them twice as devastating as you see events from both perspectives. Going in blind is the absolute best way to experience this book, so I don’t want to spoil any more.

There’s a mysterious hotelier who drives the fantastical part of this story. You never quite know who he is or why he can do what he does. But there’s enough hints within the book that you reach your own conclusions by the end. While he’s supposed to be the antagonist of the story, and while I do think it is a necessary and great part of the narrative, I still think the Great War itself is the true horror hidden within the pages. The hotelier helps mix in the fantastical with the brutal realities of the setting, while keeping the darkness of the real world.

Go in blind and expect to feel the horror in The Warm Hands of Ghosts. It’s Arden’s darkest work and my new favourite of hers.

3.5 stars

1918, Laura a combat nurse who served in Belgium is back in Canada after being injured. Her parents just died in an explosion when she receives a package with her brother Freddie’s belongings. He is her last surviving family member. She must find out what happened to him.

The book really picked up for me at around the 45% mark. Then I was like oohh I’m interested. Before that it was a slug to get through.

Arden carries a metaphor of how war tears men apart memory by memory until they are shells of themselves - ghosts - burdened and wanting. She used Laura’s brother Freddie and a little magical realism to paint a picture we’ll never truly understand having never been in war ourselves.

The love the character of Jones. He was like this force that kept breaking Laura out of the magical spell Faland cast. I actually laughed at one point because he just shows up, says “what the hell?”, and brings Laura back to reality. The Americanism of him is so apparent.

The relationship between Winter and Freddie was beautiful until it took a turn. I don’t think that was necessary. Why can’t two people rely on each other and love each other platonically?

This is a lovely story about WW1 and the loss of self set in a fantasy setting. It is a little strange but the characters are fascinating. We alternate POV between a brother and a sister not realizing the timelines are not the same. The relationships really pull you in along with the darkness of the forbidden zone. Still thinking about this book days later

I enjoyed this book so so much! The imagery and detail and just overall atmosphere of this book is phenomenal. I have not read many historical fictions books because they tend to bore me but this one was great. The twists and turns were honestly shocking to me. 10/10 recommend.