This was amazing! It's a new favorite! There's just so many little elements that Katherine Arden mixes together to create something magical. Obviously, the element of war and the absolute hellish chaos that it contains, plus elements of slow burn romance, and add elements of the supernatural and we've almost got The Warm Hands of Ghosts. Plus, the novel has so much more that I implore you to read it if you're at all interested in in. Seriously, pick it up!

Also, I want to say, I usually don't pay much attention to author's notes, but this one was 5/5. It gave me a lot of insight into the authors thought process as well as insight into the novel itself and information about WWI that was very interesting and makes me want to learn more.

Now if this were just a review based on the merit of Katherine Arden's prose alone, this would certainly be five stars. Her lyrical writing is just as impactful here as it was in the Winternight Trilogy. However, fans of that trilogy (like myself) who enjoyed the seamless blend of fantasy and history, might be disappointed that this one is a lot more history than fantasy. What fantasy we get is really cool though and, while it has a very slow start, once the plot picks up it's impossible to put down.

We follow both Laura, an injured combat nurse who has gone back to the battlefields to find her missing or perhaps dead brother, and her brother Freddie. The way the two different POVs interact and eventually converge is beautiful. The descriptions of battle and especially its aftermath are bleak and brutal. I had to put the book down for a bit at some of the scenes because I'm a bit squeamish. The ending is bittersweet and wraps things up nicely without trying to put a shiny bow on a tough situation. While not a light read, I would definitely recommend for fans of her previous work.

3.5 stars - Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is set towards the end of WW1. Laura is serving as a nurse, but gets discharged due to a leg injury. She then gets word that her brother, Freddie who is fighting at Flanders, is missing and is presumed dead. With her unanswered questions about his whereabouts, she volunteers at a private hospital in order to find the truth about Freddie.

We follow two perspectives throughout the book: Laura’s during the present time (1918) and Freddie’s (1917), a year before Laura’s POV. As we progress, both sides will eventually intertwine and reveal the full story.

This one was completely out of my comfort zone as I don’t gravitate towards historical fantasy nor any works that are set during a war. Despite that, I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the overall book since I struggled to get into the beginning.

I found myself more immersed with Freddie’s perspective over Laura’s. Her POV fell flat for me towards the middle and I struggled to stay in engaged because of it.

The buildup did its job on keeping me at the edge of my seat and I was completely satisfied with the conclusion. There is also a subplot of romance that is sprinkled here and there, but it’s not the main focus of the story.

The book was beautifully written and I would highly recommend it to those who are already interested in the premise.

- Subgenre: Historical Fantasy
- Features: Faustian Bargain, Ghosts, Graphic Depictions of War, Multiple POV, Sibling Dynamics, Third Person POV, Queer, World War I
- Series Length: Standalone

Set during World War I, The Warm Hands of Ghosts follows a combat nurse as she searches for her missing brother. Beautiful and horrible, this novel depicts the nightmare of war - and how hope can still arise from the trenches.

I will break down this review into world-building, characters, plot, and writing.

- World-Building -

Historical fantasy offers the unique challenge of weaving the fantastical with the factual, and Arden does an amazing job. The Warm Hands of Ghosts brings the terror and trauma of war to life, completely sucking readers into the damp, cold world of trenches and medical tents.

The fantasy elements truly enhance the story, adding depth to the mystery, danger, and longing felt by the characters. When soldiers report seeing ghosts or hearing "the fiddler," it feels just as real and meaningful as everything else. Overall, Arden takes the facts of The Great War, and transforms them into something transcendent.

- Characters -

Split between the past and present, The Warm Hands of Ghosts follows Freddie (the past) - believed dead - and Laura (the present), searching for the truth of what happened.

Laura is a total badass. Her fearlessness, determination, compassion, and wit make her both fearsome and delightful to read. Her struggles with survivors guilt and PTSD make her relatable. She's both a hero and deeply human, and the world needs more Lauras.

On the other hand, I think Freddie embodies most of us - good-hearted, but weak. He shows enormous courage and kindness, but the war gradually breaks him down, until he has nothing left. His narrative is an equally crucial story about being human.

Perhaps the most fascinating character is Faland. I'm not going to elaborate much because of spoilers, but his role is really thought-provoking. It's worthwhile to read the afterword and learn Arden's thought process in creating him.

- Plot -

This plot had me by the throat! I read this book in 15 hours. With Freddie in the past and Laura in the present, there's no way to know if he's alive, or what became of him, and I couldn't get the story fast enough. Personally, I love stories told in flashbacks, so this really worked for me.

I did feel the ending tied everything up a little too neatly, but otherwise I have no complaints. Also, while romance is minimal, Freddie and Laura both have very sweet romance subplots.

- Writing -

I generally don't analyze books on a sentence level, but Arden's writing deserves mention. It's sophisticated but still accessible, and poetic without being pretentious. She conveys themes and atmosphere with subtlety, and I reread several sentences because of their poignancy. One of the recurring motifs is the apocalypse, and the way Arden uses language really injects that theme into every page.

= Conclusion -

Obviously I loved this. So far, it's my favorite book of 2024. I think there are some ideas that Arden didn't fully capture, and some plot points didn't quite land, but this is an absolutely beautiful book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC. Review will be posted to idleinkbooks.com on Friday, February 23rd.

Laura is a nurse on the front lines of WW1. She ends up going home, but she gets an odd package in the mail and tries to track down her brother who is/was serving on the front. The point of view alternates between Laura and her brother. There are ghosts involved; but no further plot spoilers!

Debating between 4&5 stars and choosing to round up.

My grandma had a saying about giving gifts with Warm Hands (meaning that giving possessions away when you are alive means so much more than giving things after you have passed away). So I couldn't pass by this title. This saying didn't come up in the book; hoped it might come up, but didn't think it would.

Many thanks to NetGalley for introducing me to (another) "new-to-me" author. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to review the advance read copy of The Warm Hands of Ghosts in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 13 Feb 2024.

Wow, I think Katherine Arden has become an auto-buy author - what a beautifully written story! The writing it beautiful, the story is appropriately paced, I would say do yourself a favor and go into this book blind. even if you have no knowledge of WWI, this story paints such a horribly beautiful picture of the devastation the war caused and the people who were caught up in it. From family members to the men fighting, it's horrible - awful - and crushing but at the same time balanced with beauty and wonderfully written prose. This book made me think i'm actually a fan of magical realism. I highly recommend.

A beautiful metaphor for what is lost (and gained) in war. Historical fiction with a touch of fantasy, this novel wasn’t quite what I expected but I can already tell that this story will stick with me.

Set in World War I, just before US troops entered the fight, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is told from the viewpoint of an often-overlooked transition in global history, from the Victorian Era to the modern age.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

While I don’t normally gravitate towards historical fiction, even when it has a speculative element to it, I do really adore Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy so I wanted to see what magic she would weave with The Warm Hands of Ghosts.

Arden’s arresting storytelling, from word choices down to narrative structure, made this book a slow burn experience for me. I started off uncertain that I would experience the “click” you always hope for when you start a new book, but finished feeling like I’d been drawn into a concerto up until the very last note rang in the air (and yes, the music metaphor is deliberate). It’s true that this didn’t quite hit my novel sweet spot in the end, and also true that there were parts that I didn’t love (like the romantic elements)x But I did find myself fascinated by the way Arden wove magic through the blind spots and blank spaces of real, tumultuous, terrible historical events through the perspectives of two siblings who are just trying to survive. The themes, the vibes — those bits certainly worked well too. All in all, this is still a good book and another solid read from this author.

High expectations were pretty normal for this author as her previous works are truly marvelous. But having said that, this felt slightly on a different track from the rest be it writing style or her character developments which might not work for some readers though. The depiction of war time in Europe and the effects on families is depicted beautifully and also shows the gut-wrenching truths with an added element of paranormal which is clearly a great premise. It is hauntingly beautiful and I felt more empathy for Freddie as he bares his emotions all the time compared to Laura. Only issue was the ending went a bit fast and didn't feel that satisfying.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early. As someone who enjoyed Arden’s previous work I was a bit disappointed by this book. I thought overall it was dragging throughout which caused the end to be a bit rushed.

I honestly feel that there was more time for development for these characters that we did not get. I felt Prim’s character could have more substance and her revenge could have been fleshed out.

Also, I felt the story dragged and got repetitive when we were with Freddie in the hotel. We had a lot of time of him wondering around and with his crisis of morality. But then it came out of nowhere that him and winter were in love? I got some “read in between the lines” moments where there was a lot tension between them. That moment could have had more build up but because Freddie’s story stops in the hotel it felt thrown in as part of their storyline.

Lastly, I would like to say I did love Laura’s story which felt more fleshed out with her romance with Dr. Jones and her growth to start relying on others. But again there was no satisfying conclusion to the loose ends left in the story.

This story, set during World War I, of Laura, an injured nurse grieving her parents and searching for her missing soldier brother while being trailed by the ghosts of her loved ones, completely mesmerized me.

Add in the fantastical fiddle player luring soldiers to his facade of a luxurious hotel who exacts a terrible price from his guests, and you have a perfect setup for a haunting and unforgettable story.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this story after loving The Winternight Trilogy as much as I do, but I was so happy to see that I was every bit as swept away in the lives of these characters as I was for Vasya and Morozko.

My only complaint is the ending wrapped up a bit too quickly and easy, and this book had a more hopeless feel than the very hopeful Winternight series. 4.5 rounded up!

I think historical fiction novels with a dash of supernatural elements are what will save me from my reading slumps.

This is not a book to tear through quickly, you need to take your time and to be honest, Katherine Arden deserves that because you can tell she took hers.

This book jumped out to me because I will read ANYTHING to do with ghosts but when I saw Arden’s name on the cover, I knew I was in for a good time. The story follows siblings as they attempt to find their way back to each other (without losing themselves) in the throes of World War 1.

You get history, you get myth, you get spirits, you get a range of feelings from fear to hope to love. I just really loved this book. Another great story from Katherine Arden.

This was my first Katherine Arden book, but won't be my last. It was so wonderfully written, and I felt all the feelings. This story follows Laura, a nurse in WWI, who finds out her brother is missing in the war. She returns to the war, after initially being injured and sent back home,to find out what happened to her brother. She meets old friends and follows clues, some of which are purely fantastical and can't possibly be true, all to find out what happened to Freddie.

Katherine Arden’s work, The Warm Hands of Ghosts, is a powerful and emotional exploration of war and trauma that will resonate with readers. It is haunting in its realistic portrayal of World War I and the devastation the war wrought on soldiers and civilians alike. Katherine Arden brings the time period to life with rich depth and amazing details that will grab readers attention. But it is the characters that will keep you reading.
Both Freddie, in his pain and his connection to the soldier Winter will move you almost to tears as you hope he can find a way to move past his pain and find happiness. And Laura, as she searches for Freddie, is a strong and charismatic voice, compelling and vivid. I love the secondary characters as well, Mary, Dr. Jones, and Pim. All of the characters have depth and a complexity that will make you feel like they are real people to you. Of course, Mary is a historical figure. I especially love the Parkey sisters at the beginning of the novel, they feel very much like a stand-in for the 3 wise women or the Morai of Greek mythology. In either case, I found them fascinating. The story truly explores the price of war, the ghosts that haunt us and loss. It is a beautiful dark story that is powerful and emotional.
If you like dark stories based in history with rich details, ghosts, and the idea of loss and war, this novel is compelling and dynamic. The characters are rich in depth and resonated with me. I love the resolution, that while not perfect, still gave hope in the end. If you like powerful and emotional stories, I highly recommend you check this novel out.

I was a big fan of Katherine Arden’s WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY and ended my review of that series by saying I was greatly looking forward to seeing what she did next. Well, what’s next is The Warm Hands of Ghosts, a standalone historical novel set in the horrors of WWI that happily mostly maintains the high bar of quality Arden set with that earlier trilogy, though I had a few issues with some elements. Minor spoilers to follow, though I’d say all are heavily foreshadowed early on and thus aren’t really spoilery.

Arden’s narrative follows two plotlines, both set toward the end of WWI though slightly separated in time. In one, beginning in January 1918, former battlefront nurse Laura Iven has been living back home in Halifax, Novia Scotia after being discharged with a medal and a serious injury. Early on in the book, she receives a box containing some personal items of her brother Freddie, who was serving in Belgium and is not missing and presumed dead. For various reasons, though, Laura believes Freddie may still be alive, but even if that remains unlikely, she wants to learn more about what may have happened to him. She thus heads back to the front along with two other women: Mary Borden, who runs a private hospital behind the lines, and Penelope Shaw (“Pim”), whose son has also gone missing in Belgium.

The other timeline (begun some months before in November 1917) follows Freddie, who is not dead but had been buried below ground in an exploded German pillbox along with a wounded German named Winter. The two eventually make their way back above ground but get separated after a harrowing journey back to “civilization”. Freddie (who in name and poetic bent may be meant to echo Wilfred Owen, the young poet who died in the War) takes apparent refuge with a mysterious fiddler named Faland, who appears periodically to soldiers who can enter his surprisingly intact and posh hotel, with his strange violin music and a mirror said to show those who look into it their deepest desire.

As the novel moves forward, the two plots eventually converge as Laura seeks out Freddie on the warfront (encountering Faland as well), and Freddie sinks ever deeper into the isolating and life-draining “refuge” of Faland’s hotel. Whether Laura will find Freddie in time is the driving force of the novel, and it remains a tense question throughout.

That overriding tension is one of the many strengths of the book. Another is Arden’s grimly vivid and sometimes lyrical depiction of the WWI hellscape, whether describing the trenches, the blasted-out land, the ruins, the wounds, the infuriating dichotomy between the soldiers in the field and their leaders in the châteaus sending them out to die, and more. Calling it a “hellscape” is semi-literal here, as Arden uses the surreal nature of the war, as well as its otherworldly nature, to graft her more supernatural elements onto the story. Often called the first “modern” war, WWI marked a turning point from one world into another, though one that is less a step through a doorway from the old to the new and more a layering over, for a while, of the two together, one atop the other. It was, after all, a war where soldiers in plumed hats rode horses at the same time other soldiers crept forward inside tanks, where infantry with bayonets marched in close order against machine guns, where the skies were filled with airplanes dropping bombs and also passenger pigeons carrying communications. Add in the miles upon miles of trenches and barbed wire, the craters from artillery, and the green clouds of mustard gas and “surreal”/”hellish” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Pulling off one of my favorite elements of fantasy — making the metaphoric literal — Arden drops into this landscape (minor spoiler to follow) the one character who would (perhaps) feel at home. I call this a minor spoiler because I’d say it’s made pretty clear early on who Faland is meant to be, to the reader if not the characters. Even, I’d argue in a minor quibble, a little too clear too early, with his mismatched eyes lighting up “with unholy laughter,” his fiddle on which he plays “flawless music,” his “damned mirror,” and his name that, depending on one’s pronunciation, could be read as either “Foul Land” or “Fey Land.” Not to mention of course the chapter titles from Paradise Lost and The Book of Revelation. Beyond the unnecessarily (and unsuccessful) coyness regarding his true nature, Faland slots nicely into the same type of immortal creature we saw in the WINTERNIGHT trilogy with the Frost King Morozko. Not that the two are similar as characters but in the way Arden does such a great job, and sadly a relatively rare one, of presenting these immortal beings as truly different from you and I rather than simply long-lived humans. Faland is not, nor should he be, “relatable,” nor is he truly understandable. Just a fey being should be.

The scenes with Faland and Freddie are easily my favorite: for the surreal, fantastical nature of them; for the intensity of Freddie’s guilt and shame and fear; for the unholy bargain he considers that is, unlike Faland, wholly understandable even as it is also horrific and tragic; for the ever increasing dread and tension; and finally for the thematic question at their core: what do our traumas make of us and are we ourselves if we choose to give them up?

The scenes with Laura share a similar theme of loss, guilt, and trauma, of being haunted by the past (and here again Arden literalizes the metaphor), though they didn’t quite land with the same impact as Freddie’s storyline. Part of it is her story feels more external than internal. Another part is things fall in line a bit too easily for you, possible obstacles slid out of the way sometimes before they even arise, as when she needs to get back to the front, and she’s given a method immediately via Mary Borden. Similar easings of her path occur, but I won’t go into detail so as to avoid spoilers.

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.