“Her conviction, born of long days and longer nights, was that if the world contained magic at all, then it could not also contain their war.”

the warm hands of ghosts is a story set during world war 1, following a combat nurse who has recently returned home after the hospital she was working at was bombed. now, back in halifax canada, another explosion has happened and all she has left is her brother, who is still in german occupied france fighting in the forbidden zone. but when a package reaches her with some of his items and a note saying he is missing, she knows she must get back to france and see if she can find out any information about the only person she has left in this world. And a beautiful story, within two stories, is crafted about love, faith, and sacrifice as we switch perspective of these two siblings encountering a force this world has always known. (and the speculative element involving a magical inn that is described as a “faerie revels that end at sunrise”? yeah, 11/10 for me and my reading wheelhouse.)

i know a lot of you were really curious about my thoughts on this book, because the winternight trilogy is one of my favorite stories, and it really does mean a great deal to me. comparing that to this book feels so impossible, because the stories are so vastly differently, but i still really enjoyed this book and was completely swept away by katherine arden’s prose and storycrafting and heart.

i am just not the biggest historical reader, and i am also not the biggest fan of reading war stories, but i knew if anyone could make me enjoy a story with a backdrop like this, it would be katherine arden. but i did find myself very much enjoying laura’s pov of traveling and healing and discovering what was going on way more than freddies trapped within this war pov (which seems to be a very not popular opinion according to early reviews)! but even despite this book being very catered not to my tastes, there is just something so magical about katherine’s writing, and ability to tell a story. and the way she handled the different evils in this book was really perfect in my opinion. plus, you all know i love a good big sister and little brother story always!

i really don’t want to give away too much of the plot, because it really is cool to discover everything right alongside laura and freddie, but my favorite part of this book is actually the title. just this idea sparking that our own hands can become unusable because of the brutal acts of men (and how women are trying to heal from many of those acts against all odds), and how we can be having our hands guided by ghosts (some ghosts, some angels, some… a little bit of dark entities) was just really thought provoking and so very profound to me. very very galaxy brain. also the theme of how it is easier to blame one person, one thing, rather than a completely broken system that needs to be dismantled and rebuilt. i know this is a world war 1 story, but it feels extra heartbreaking how much of this felt so very relevant in 2024. maybe we need our hands guided a lot more by ghosts and not leaders who still don’t want to view human lives equally 100 years later.

“It was so much easier to hate a man than a system: vast, inhuman, bloodstained.”

this book also puts a very heavy emphasis on hope and how important it is to have a north star to keep that hope alive, keep you having faith, making it easier for you to believe in something and maybe, in turn, believe in yourself. This book really showcases that in a lot of ways - through anger, though sacrifice, though a never waning belief of hope back in that very same person. And also shows the beauty of realizing that you are able to hope in something new, which can also be a safe harbor when the world feels unnavigable by yourself.

also this book has a very big central theme of pairings within the characters. This old and new world that so many of these characters fall into and you can see them having a harder or easier time depending on what way they fall. i feel we (americans) are taught around 8th grade the literary juxtaposition of the 20s and of old and new with gatsby (and at such an annoying length), but this really made me think that maybe this was a heightened view that people were really discussing and feeling during and after the great war (pre jazz era/roaring twenties… listen, i am an sff reader and reviewer not a historical one hahaha but this really was thought provoking for me). but i just really love the element of pairings and how everyone kind of has a co-something counterpart within this story as well. i enjoy it as a reader and also as a type a virgo.

okay i think i am finally able to let you in on the secret reading of this book (i can’t even believe i am about to type this!) I was able to have the opportunity to buddy read this with katherine arden (and a bunch of amazing booksellers and book content creators!) and the amount of research and respect and heart that she put into this novel is so very felt, but i really was lucky enough to experience that so much deeper. i was speechless at how much she knew and how much she dug deeper to learn so many personal stories of families during this time. it allowed me to have an even deeper level of empathy and just taught me so much in regard to understanding what life was really like during this time period all around the world.

i also want to let you know because this was such a magical experience for me, there could potentially be some bias going on, or simply that i just read this book with a different lens compared to if i read it all by myself. You know, it feels a little fated to even write this because the reason i picked up the bear and the nightingale in 2017 was because it was gifted to me by the goodreads staff, which they all wrote sweet things in, and it is forever one of my favorite books in my collection. so maybe i am just destined to have really unique reading experiences with katherin arden.

overall, this was a really heartfelt story and an entire experience that meant a lot to me. it was a true honor reading this, and laura is a character who will stay in my heart forever. i absolutely am already begging for whatever katherine arden does next and this book really helped solidify her as a favorite author of all time.

trigger + content warnings: the whole setting being world war 1, a constant talk and imagery of war, halifax harbor explosion, battle of passchendaele mentions, mentions of chemical gassing warfare, prisoner of war, death, murder, gun violence, so many hospital settings, violence, gore, blood, blood transfusions, needles, surgery, talk of medical conditions and illness constantly, missing loved one, a lot of talk of loss of loved ones (including parents, children, partners, friends), captivity, claustrophobic scenes, extreme ptsd, extreme nightmares, smoking and drinking, crowd crush scene, talk of suicide, suicide ideation.

I absolutely loved the author’s Winternight Trilogy, this Warm Hands is not one of those lovely books. For me, this was a difficult read, you really have to pay attention, it is not a book to be listened to, needs to be read slowly.

I found it hard to keep track of what was happening with Freddie and Winter, what was real and what was what they thought was real. Laura was a bit easier but still confusing. I know the fiddler had a lot to do with this. You need to be in the right frame of mind and be devoted to reading with concentration. Maybe if I had read in just a few settings it may have helped, unfortunately I had to stop and start many times.

Yes, I was expecting another Bear and the Nightingale, they were wonderful. I still love Ms. Arden, just not this one.

Random House and NetGalley provided this Galley edition for no requirement other than my offer to provide an unbiased review. This one comes in with 4 stars.

Ahoy there me mateys!  This novel takes place in WWI.  The author's note claims that the word Arden had in mind while writing this book was "steampunk" in the sense that she wanted to show the clashing of old and new world technologies and morals.  This is a historical fiction novel with supernatural elements.

The book begins in Halifax, Canada in 1918.  Laura, a retired field nurse, receives word of her brother's death.  Only Laura's experience shows her that something about his death is not as it seems.  She volunteers to go back to Flanders determined to find out the truth.

The greatest strength of the book lies in its dual narrative structure.  The first part deals with Laura in 1918.  The second deals with Freddie beginning in November 1917 in the trenches.  The mystery and supernatural elements have immense tension because of this set-up.  Laura is trying to find the truth in the present while the reader slowly learns the truth in the past as well.  The timelines eventually merge while never lessening the suspense.

The ghosts of the title deal with trauma, memory, and human relationships.  I don't want to get into more about the supernatural elements because those are part of the mystery.  I really thought this was a successful novel overall.  The idea of the old world changing into something new and unknown was extremely clear.  The showcasing of the war through field surgery and soldiers had a poignant juxtaposition.  And of course, war is shown to be messy and wasteful.  This novel is really more about ideas and concepts in the long run.

The minor problem I had with the novel was at the end of the book when the characters are fleeing Europe and where the characters end up.  Like always money seems to solve a lot.  The romance elements didn't work for me as there was not enough insight into how the characters really came to fall in love.  I would have preferred the romance to come out altogether.  Personal preference really.

While I enjoyed this book, it kinda makes me want to go back and reread All Quiet on the Western Front.  Arrrr!

Although loaded with imagery that evokes the sorrow of the Great War, the story feels slow and only some of the characters really shine.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden is a fantasy historical fiction that dusts the story with paranormal elements set in midst of World War 1. Arden does her signature work of weaving the grounded history into the fantastical with this story. You follow the paths of a sister and brother, one who was sent home from nursing on the front due to injury straight into a new tragedy at home and the other who is presumed KIA on the front in another meaningless grab for ground and waste of soldiers' lives that was so common in WWI.

This is not a happy story. There are moments of great compassion and true human connection, however there is a great deal more sorrow, listlessness, and general despair with the lack of control that the 2 main characters have over their lives during this story. There is also the evil of apathy that the officers embody paired with the literal Devil that lurks in fog of war on the front. However, the interesting parts - the parts on the front with the brother and his German companion with the fiend who plays the violin - take forever to get going and when they do, they are chopped up by the sister's story which isn't nearly as interesting and full of lots of coincidences to get her plot where it needs to be.

I was a little disappointed by the fantastical elements in this story since Arden's Winternight Trilogy is so good at inserting myth into history. It felt like there wasn't a commitment to one type of myth or theology - there were some Christian elements and references to "the end of days" and Revelations, but sometimes it felt like there was supposed to be some European folklore? And while The Warm Hands of Ghosts makes for a gripping title, it was kind of a let down. The past was what was doing most of the haunting here.

I don't feel like I wasted my time with this story though. Arden uses a brutal, unforgiving style of writing in this story. However, the intimate moments are given that much more care because they are taking place outside of the war. I do wish the scenes in Faland's hotel were more otherworldly. Again, I don't think the fantastical elements were taken far enough. But the scenes between Freddie and Winter were excellent - I kept craving more of those and blowing through the parts with Laura and her companions.

This would be a hard book for me to recommend. I think it is going to be for historical fiction fans more than anyone else. I think if you're going into this story thinking it is going to be like the Winternight Trilogy, you will be disappointed. For me, I wanted more focus on the fable and fantastic, the deals with the devil and how much humans are willing to sacrifice to save those they love, and what they lose when they survive.

Laura Iven never thought she'd return to the front lines of the Great War. A combat nurse wounded during a shelling attack, she was honorably discharged and sent home to Halifax. But when word arrives that her brother Freddie is missing, presumed dead, Laura gets the feeling that no one is telling her the whole story. She finds a way to join a medical team returning to Flanders and sets about investigating the events surrounding her brother's last days. It isn't long before she realizes that he may not be dead at all. His disappearance may be tied to rumors of a mysterious hotel that allows soldiers to forget the horrors of war - if they're willing to pay the price.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a gripping tale where the horrors of the supernatural pale in comparison to the horrors of war. Arden wrote in her afterword that she was trying to get across the surreal feeling unique to WWI, where the "old world" was fast crashing into the new one as advances in technology were starting to accelerate. Arden captures the odd juxtaposition of a war where bayonets and gasmasks existed side by side and posits the question of what a dark spirit of the old world would make of itself in this changing landscape.

As a result, there are less fantasy elements to be found here than in Arden's previous Winter Knight trilogy. Instead, her evocative language is lent to painting the heightened nightmare of No Man's Land and other aspects of the war. There are still ghosts, dark bargains, and buildings that come and go at a whim, but those elements overall felt more in the background. They're there to support the central question: are all the horrible things in your life that you've witnessed and committed worth remembering?

The story of The Warm Hands of Ghosts is tackled from two converging points in the story. The first is from early 1918, when retired combat nurse Laura receives word that her brother Freddie is missing, presumed dead, and she sets out on a quest to find out what really happened. The other timeline is from Freddie's point of view a few months earlier, as we see the events that led to his disappearance. The result is incredible tension as you begin to connect the dots of what happened and as characters begin to appear in both timelines. The finale is a real pressure cooker as the fates of multiple characters hang in the balance, and you find yourself willing certain people to find each other. I raced through the last third of the book, urged on by a sense of foreboding, thoroughly sucked into seeing how it would all play out.

CONCLUSION: The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a book of subtle magic in the face of apocalyptic devastation. This is not a flashy fantasy story, but it certainly draws you in with the mystery of Freddie's disappearance and Laura's dogged determination to find the truth. All in all, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a captivating historical fantasy that reminds you of the importance of remembering even when you would far rather forget.

A beautifully written, quietly devastating, emotional gut-punch of a book. This book reaches a hand into your chest and squeezes - I doubt it will be letting go anytime soon.

Arden has a way of writing heroines that are so fiercely competent, strong, and take-no-shit in such an understated way, with no affectation or pretention. They just are, and I adore them so much for it.

Katherine Arden, I will follow you anywhere 🫡 (but preferably not to a WWI trench).

I became a fan of Katherine Arden’s writing after reading her Winternight trilogy. When I saw her announce her next adult novel, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it—especially when I learned ghosts and a magical hotel were involved. However, my expectations for this book were very different from the reality.

I never felt connected to the characters; nothing caused me to disliek them, but neither was there anything that endeared them to me. None of the characters were developed into three-dimensional characters. They read as flat to me. In addition to feeling a lack of connection with the characters and story, the pacing was very slow. The story didn’t feel like it started until almost the 70% mark.

I appreciate what Arden was going for with this book. She shines a light on WWI and how brutal it was for everyone: soldiers, nurses, and their families. She shows how ghosts, of what haunts us in the night, who we used to be, lost loved ones, and what we have done, follow us throughout our lives.

At the end of the day, this book wasn’t for me, but it may be right for you. If you’re interested in the premise, you should check it out!

This is very different from Arden's previous adult fantasy, "the Winternight Trilogy." Although it involves different themes and settings, she still manages to build such layered characters that have complicated relationships with their circumstances. The dual POV was a great choice and it felt like I was able to see through both sides of Falaman's mirror.

4.25

I have the seemingly unpopular opinion of not really enjoying The Bear and the Nightingale, so I was hesitant going into Arden’s newest release but I’ve been loving historical fantasy lately and loved the idea of exploring World War I and all the ways the world changed during that era.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts got off to a rocky start for me. It took a couple of chapters to get into the writing style and find the sense of place, but at about 15% I was completely immersed. The book follows two siblings, Laura and Freddie in a sort of dual timeline. They were both on the front in 1917 when Laura was injured and returned to Canada and Freddie went missing, presumed dead. The book starts in 1918 for Laura and I’m the assault where Freddie goes missing for Freddie, and I really liked the way the two timelines bled together.

Thematically, I think this is doing a lot in regards to the exploration of the era. In the author’s note, Arden talks about how WWI is often overshadowed in U.S. history by WWII, but the amount of technological and societal change during WWI is frankly quite jarring. Arden does a great job exploring grief and PTSD and the horrors of war.

I had some minor qualms with this book. There were a couple of relationships I wanted to see more development from, there were some transitions that I thought could be smoother, but overall I had a great time with this and have not been able to stop thinking about it since I started it.

During the Great War, Laura a combat nurse, sets out searching for her brother Freddie, believed to be dead. But haunting signs say he’s not. Freddie awakens in a pit of dead and wounded bodies. He’s too scared to go back into combat, so he hides himself with a mysterious man.

This story is deep and full of haunting pasts coming out. This isn’t a dark tale, more of a story of heartbreak and tragedy. We find ourselves caught up in the eyes of a brother and sister taking on two sides of a war, that leaves you sort of awestruck. The journey of these siblings takes us from battle to an odd hotel to an even odder owner. All in all, it tells of sacrifices and that breath we hold while standing almost on the brink of death to be reeled back.

This whole story was breath taking and just raw. I don’t know how else to explain it only that you must read it.

This really was a truly stunning novel. Arden is known for her beautiful historical fantasy world in The Bear and The Nightingale trilogy, and she brings much of the same beauty, harshness, and whimsy to this story. Set during WWI, we follow siblings as they face the realities of the war.

The fantastical elements were wonderfully depicted. Without giving too much away, the “hotel” and Faland really stole the show on this front. The descriptions and imagery surrounding these two were so evocative and captivating. I really adored this portion of the storyline. Ghosts play a part as well, but not in a cliche sense. Beautiful storytelling, but I don’t think any of us expect any less from Katherine Arden.

There was heartbreak and so much emotion sprinkled throughout but the ending was beautiful. Can’t recommend this enough to fans of both historical fiction and fantasy and anyone who loves beautiful words.

I just loved this book. It was definitely a different kind of story than Arden’s Russian folktales but it still has the same enchanting feel. A wonderful story of love and loss. This is a must read for historical fiction lovers.

I really liked this book. It was dark, and sometimes grueling, but the heart of the story was the love shared between Laura, Freddie, and Winter. An excellent depiction of the horror of war.

Wow, Just Wow! There are truly no words to explain how amazing this book is. Katherine Arden put everything she had into and it truly shows. I love the light she shed on the in despicable horrors of war. The Warm Hands of Ghost will forever hold a spot on my Top 10 list. It’s beautifully written and hauntingly addictive. Hats off to Katherine!

The Warm Hands of Ghosts opens with nurse Laura Iven working in a hospital in World War I Canada. She's all that's left of her family except for her brother, Freddie, who's been fighting in Europe and who she hasn't heard from in a long time. She receives a package that has her traveling overseas to try and find him and the story begins.

I'll preface this review by saying I absolutely loved Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy, I ate it up so fast! When I saw she was coming out with a new adult book, I instantly added it to my tbr. I did it not knowing what the book was about and that it wouldn't be like The Bear and the Nightingale but to keep an open mind. What I didn't think would happen is that I'd be bored....after reading a little bit, I knew this book wasn't for me but I kept going to finish it. I've seen rave reviews about this book and I'm sure it works for lots of people but I couldn't get into it. Historical fiction is a very popular genre at our library so we're definitely ordering a copy it just didn't work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

For how short it was, this took me quite a while to get through. I’m not sure why, since there wasn’t anything I could put my finger on that I didn’t like, but I took my time meandering through this one. Until the last 50 pages, which I cried through.

There was a lot packed in here, from sibling devotion, the horrors of war, the inequalities of war, to finding redemption and love again. Plus it was all done both literally and metaphorically!

It was really good, and it made me cry (which doesn’t often happen), so take that for what you will.

Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

It took me some time to immerse myself in this book, because it's a genre I don't typically gravitate towards. However, by the halfway mark, I was engaged in the story. Katherine Arden is a writer that I previously really enjoyed, with The Winternight Trilogy being one of my favorite series, and so I was exited to see what she would write in the future.

"The Warm Hands of Ghosts" follows Laura and Freddie Iven at the time of World War I. The narrative unfolds through dual POVS, alternating between the siblings: Laura, grappling with the belief that Freddie is dead, and Freddie, revealing the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

Arden's athmospheric prose captures the essence of the era, unflinchingly portraying the reality and horrors of the Great War. While I liked the characters, overall something about it fell a little flat for me. It's possible that I simply wasn't the intended audience for this book. Nonetheless, I admire the care put into it and and how it was written. [3.5 stars round up to 4.]

A combat nurse searches for her brother during the Great War while a darker strange force intercepts him. The story is set during the Great War and follows Laura Iven and her brother Freddie Iven. Laura is a combat nurse who was discharged from the corp while her brother was still fighting in the front. She's living in Halifax, Canada but receives word of her brother's death along with a few of his things yet something doesn't ring true to her. Laura is determined to find her brother and what actually happened to him, and that begins with her journeying to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. While there she begins to hear a strange rumor about a strange hotelier who's wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion and Laura just knows he is connected to her brother somehow. While Laura's story takes place in 1918, we also follow Freddie's story set in 1917, where we get to see what has happened to him. Freddie wakes up after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German man named Hans Winter. Freddie and Winter work together and form an alliance as they find a way to escape. Yet their escape is short lived as they soon find refuge with a strange man who has the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear... Can Laura find Freddie before it's too late? This is a beautifully written story that really captures the PTSD and trauma of war. Despite that, this one definitely was not for me. I was expecting something a bit more, yet this was really slow and honestly, not for me because I found myself getting bored over and over. I adored Arden's previous books but this one just did not work for me personally at all. I think if you enjoy war time stories this would be for you, as someone who does not, and was expecting a bit more paranormal/magical elements in the story this one was definitely less magic and more historical. The story focuses on trauma and sibling relationships and the historical war time, and if you enjoy quiet slow burn stories then give it a go, I feel like it would work for you. I just didn't find myself all that invested in the story and the characters felt flat to me. About the 30% mark had me just not caring all that much about what was happening and finishing the book felt a bit like a slog. I will continue to read Arden's books though because the author has a really beautiful way of writing and I look forward to what she comes up with next.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thanks to netgalley for the E-arc.
This was a DNF for me. I could not connect with the story, the writing was great, but I was not feeling the story, it was boring.
Laura was not a likable character. I could not empathize with her, because she was not showing any feelings, or emotions to connect with her. Is like she was an empty shell there was nothing in her to like her and her chapters, she was just boring.
Now Freddie's POV, were better, but it was not enough for me to keep going.
I'm glad I got to read it so I could cancel my pre-order and a monthly box with this book.
DNF 26%

Slow start but the more I sit here and ponder, I realize this book is one that I will treasure. The more I mull over the details, the more I become awed with the story. We follow dual POVs of Laura and Freddie, sister and brother lost at war during World War I.

Katherine Arden does an incredible job of describing the hellscape that is war. The gory imagery of the battle field and working the frontlines as a nurse sounds unimaginable.

I also loved the supernatural aspect of this story. It meshed in perfectly. The hotel was a liminal space that soldiers dreamed of, if only to forget their nightmares. The ones who escaped, only wished to return. That’s what brought me to tears at the end. The pain that both Laura and Freddie had to face.

This feels very different from Arden’s previous work but made sense and was well done.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!