This was amazing!!!! The Warm Hands of Ghosts is beautifully written—heartbreaking and haunting yet quietly hopeful all the way through. Katherine Arden has a gift for writing characters that you'll connect deeply with and desperately want healing for. I definitely almost cried a few times, yet there were also moments (sometime within the same chapter) where I was giggling and cheering.

I am absolutely looking forward to getting a physical copy of this once it's published!

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at reading this book. As someone who devoured the trilogy she had written prior for adult audiences, I like her writing. I really do, and I find that she is one of the best fantasy writers we have currently.

So Warm Hands of Ghosts.

I'm going to tell you, that if you're looking for something with a lot of character development or depth, you're not going to really find it in this book. It's a stand alone. A depressing one, too at that.

Reading this one while easy felt like a chore at times. You have two narratives - Laura and her brother, who may or may not be dead. Laura is a nurse, who was working on the front lines but was discharged when she was injured. You can tell she is struggling and wants to do more but at the same time she is set on trying to find her brother since the effects she got don't make sense.

Her brother, meanwhile, has found himself injured and stranded in No Man's Land with a German. They must trudge across the land, looking for help, each committing to one another to be their company's prisoner depending on who finds them. Who does find them is a mysterious fiddler with a house / inn that appears when you're not looking for it, tempting you of things you want. And, in exchange for a story, you forget yourself...

I guess I expected more. I felt like a window or a wall at times was being put up between me and the characters and moments when the characters passed by this window so to speak (mainly the interactions with the fiddler) did I feel the plot was moving somewhere. I didn't really care about the other characters - there was this girl who was constantly crying about her lost son, and this doctor that apparently starts having feelings for Laura. I was more interested in the fiddler who seemed much more interesting than any one.

Another thing I was saddened by is that the focus was on Laura, but she wasn't written to be that compelling of a protagonist to follow. I would have preferred the focus on the brother, since his chapters - because they dealt with the fiddler - were much more interesting.

At times it made me think of Labyrinth, the fiddler the mastermind, keeping Laura's brother in his world of turmoil and Laura must go rescue him. But, in terms of Labyrinth and Sarah growing up / changing / being a better person. Laura doesn't do much of anything of interest.

SO, overall. It's a great book, and some might rate it higher, but if I had to compare this book to the trilogy? I prefer the trilogy. This will be for people who aren't looking for character, they're looking for a feeling.

4.5 stars,

Utterly stunning and haunting. Longer review to come in a few days once I've sufficiently gathered my thoughts.

I WILL BE SENDING KATHERINE ARDEN THE BILL FOR MY NEXT THERAPY SESSION BECAUSE THIS BOOK HAS BROKEN ME. 5/5 stars. Just incredible. However, a warning that this book is a vast departure from her Winternight trilogy.

I am absolutely over the moon after receiving an advanced copy of this book! As a devoted fan of "The Bear and the Nightingale" trilogy, my excitement knows no bounds. I celebrated by dancing on the rooftops and proclaiming my love for this series to anyone who would listen.

My expectations for this book were astronomical, and rightfully so. Having been completely captivated by the author's previous works, I knew that she had the power to craft mind-blowing worlds and take readers on unforgettable journeys. Her ability to immerse readers in intricately detailed and breathtaking settings has always left me in awe.

This book, however, took my breath away in a different way. It is a shocking, dark, and profoundly heartbreaking tale. It is a tragic yet painfully realistic symphony that explores the devastating consequences of war, dragging people into a bleak world that lies somewhere between the realm of the living and the world of ghosts. As you read, you can almost feel the cold shiver of the lingering ghosts, their ethereal presence haunting your every step. You touch their spectral hands and are reminded that they are long gone, leaving nothing but echoes in their wake.

Katherine Arden masterfully transports us to the darkest and most harrowing corners of the battlefield. We find ourselves alongside soldiers trapped in cramped spaces, struggling to breathe as they are surrounded by the lifeless bodies of their comrades. Through her vivid prose, we navigate the darkness with them, making our way to the makeshift sanatoriums where wounded soldiers, plagued by gangrenous limbs and excruciating pain, cling to their last moments of life. The nurses who tend to them offer comfort and solace, writing heartfelt letters to their families in the midst of the chaos.

The narrative kicks off in January 1918, introducing us to Laura Iven, a former field nurse who returns home to Canada, to the city of Halifax, during the tumultuous times of the war. She witnesses the brutal death of her mother and loses her father in a devastating explosion. Laura finds herself seeking refuge in an eccentric household inhabited by three sisters who claim to communicate with spirits through seances. They make a living by taking money from gullible individuals seeking solace. Laura reluctantly participates in their seances, all while harboring doubts about the authenticity of their spiritual connections. During one of these seances, she receives a startling message from the spirits: her brother Freddie, presumed dead in the war, is alive. Alongside this mysterious revelation, she receives an enigmatic note promising to reunite her with her brother, but the message becomes indecipherable toward the end.

Determined to uncover the truth, Laura decides to enlist the help of Mary Burton, a close friend of Ms. Shaw, who can facilitate Laura's employment in a Belgian nursery. This job opportunity may lead her to the Forbidden Zone, where she hopes to investigate her brother's disappearance. Pim Shaw, another grieving mother haunted by the loss of her son, agrees to accompany Laura on this journey to find closure.

Their arduous journey introduces them to a peculiar hotel where they encounter a mysterious violinist who shares his wine and a magical mirror capable of revealing one's deepest desires. The question arises: could this enigmatic figure be the fiddler, the elusive and sinister character mentioned in the stories of soldiers who claim to have encountered him just before descending into madness?

The narrative also takes us back in time to November 1917, following Freddie Iven, Laura's brother, who finds himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a German soldier named Hans Winter. As they struggle for survival in the pitch-black darkness, they manage to find a way out. Freddie chooses to take Winter as his prisoner but makes a solemn promise to protect him. Their bond deepens in the face of impending doom, transcending the boundaries of war.

As the story unfolds, the world around the siblings deteriorates into apocalyptic chaos. Desperation, starvation, violence, and deprivation become the grim reality. The characters face the looming threat of losing all hope, their memories slipping away as they become mere husks of their former selves, consumed by rage and madness.

This book is a masterpiece that not only blew my mind but also shattered my heart and shook me to my core. It stands as one of the most powerful, poignant, and achingly real war stories I have ever had the privilege of reading. The author's portrayal of individuals fighting for survival while losing pieces of their hope and sanity is hauntingly authentic.

In conclusion, this book not only met my already high expectations but exceeded them in every way. I proudly and wholeheartedly award it a blazing five stars, and without a doubt, I declare this reading experience as one of the absolute best books of 2024!

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Del Rey for generously providing me with a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. This literary journey will forever hold a special place in my heart.

4.75 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
When the world is ending, and everything they thought they knew was gone, what remains?
Katherine Arden is a master of timing. She intricately weaves the story through the characters and the setting of war. The puzzle she’s creating is intricate, with pieces placed so artfully that it feels as though the reader is living and breathing alongside the characters.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts tells the stories of Laura Iven and Freddy Iven, siblings separated by war and its consequences. We alternate between their points of view throughout the book, getting to know them each, along with the people surrounding them.
It’s impossible to put this book down. Arden clearly cares so deeply about the history, and her characters feel as though they could walk off the page. Every story beat is simultaneously a surprise, and it had me smacking myself in the head wondering how I didn’t realize it sooner. I couldn’t get enough.

Oh boy! Where to begin.
First, thanks you netgalley for providing me with an early ecopy of this book, I am so happy. This was my most anticipated book of 2024.
Did I binge this in a day? Well, yes, of course I did.

So, I love Katherine Arden, and I went pretty blind on this one, I knew she was writing it, and I just knew I had to read it. The only information I had was World War I and historical fiction, which in honesty are not my usual genres.

But as I received this arc, I went right in.
And was not disappointed. This book was absolutely fantastic.
Katherine Arden keeps her beautiful writing style while changing the fantasy worlds to a more realistic storyline with a dash of magic here and then.
I could not put this book down.
Again, it was beautifully written and heartbreaking. This was a book I never thought I wanted or needed.

We follow Laura Iven a nurse who is told her brother is dead but something seems off and so, Laura goes back to find out what happened to her brother and we follow hers and his point of view in the story. The family love the mystery, the magic, the reality of a war, and how it affected our world. It's the realism and the fantasy that makes you want to know what is going on. What's going to happen next?.
That's all I want to give away. There's no reason to spoil but to enjoy it.

Five stars, and I highly recommend. Please read this. You will not be disappointed.

I finished the book last night, and I'm still wrapping my head around it. You can clearly tell Katherine Arden is passionate about this story and the history of World War I. As someone fascinated by the First World War (thanks to Downton Abbey), I was eager to pick this book up because I knew Katherine would weave another fantastic tale. I was not disappointed. While I didn't love The Warm Hands of Ghosts as much as The Winternight trilogy, I think there's something special about this book. Honestly, it is hard to compete since Winternight is one of my all-time favorite series (if you haven't read it, you should do so :)). Much like Winternight, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is strongest in its relationships. The bond between Laura and her brother, Freddie, and her determination to find him tugged at my heartstrings. The relationship between Freddie and the German soldier, Hans Winter, he was trapped with did not go how I expected it to, but I was rooting for them to find a safe harbor. Katherine beautifully captured their deep bond through their shared trauma and their dependency on each other with compassion.

There were moments I kept wishing for more (what?), but I'm taking that as a sign of how much I enjoyed it.

And no one writes timeless, immortal beings quite like Katherine Arden.

This wasn’t my usual genre of books but I picked it up purely for the author as I really enjoyed her winternight trilogy, and boy am I glad I did, this was so hauntingly good!

A harrowing, beautifully written story following 2 siblings trying to find each other during the awful events World War 1 in 1917. I loved the characters in this and the way the author portrayed them but did find it quite slow paced. I also think the villain is the war personified but I may have gotten that wrong.

Haunting and melancholy, The Warm Hands of Ghosts weaves an evocative tale of the everyday and otherworldly angels and demons existing during World War One.

Receiving word of her brothers death,retired war nurse, Laura Iven, is lured back to the front lines to find answers about his final days. As the great war wages on, Laura works tirelessly to heal it's victims and sift through rumor and fact to find her beloved brother.

In ways reading this was akin to a fever dream. The story left me frantic and a bit frayed at the edges. It isn't one I will soon forget. Arden fans will easily fall into her atmospheric and thorough storytelling while noticing a little less flourish. The more utilitarian writing style works brilliantly with the subject matter and Arden expertly builds an all encompassing sense of dread with the style choice. I suspect that some readers may find this offering on the slower side but for my liking the methodical pacing was the crux that made this world positively transportative. The Warm Hands of Ghost offers a a compelling and otherworldly story while honoring a moment of time that is to often forgotten. It has easily won a top spot on my 2023 reading list.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for giving me access to this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Katherine Arden delivers a story contemplating what war does to humanity, with cinematic imagery and rich atmosphere.

We follow a brother and a sister, Laura and Freddie Iven, who have been separated by circumstances of war. Laura is a war-hardened field nurse just returned home from the front. She learns her brother has gone missing and is likely dead but must find out for herself. In Freddie’s chapters, we time-jump back a few months and follow his harrowing experiences at the battle of Passchendaele.

Although the book has a rather mysterious and manic magical element, I think the tone, themes, and plot lean more toward literary fiction or historical fiction with a magical element. Arden puts in light but adequate historical context for World War I. She focuses on the emotional toll and moral culpability of war taken on by the masses but specifically on the average person involuntarily dragged into it. These themes and thought-provoking questions are woven seamlessly into dialogue and characters’ experiences.

The readability and propulsiveness of the book is a testament to Arden’s masterful writing. Sometimes wartime fiction can drag because of the depressing topic, the wealth of history on which to draw, or the multitude of other books existing in this space. However, the chapters are relatively short. The protagonists are compelling and determined individuals, who sometimes make frustrating decisions. The alternating POVs create a juxtaposition between who Laura and brother Freddie are fundamentally as human beings. Where Laura is tough and practical, Freddie is naive and artistic. The great mystery of what happens and has happened to Freddie that drives along the plot. Finally, while the book deals with the somber and the gritty, Arden gives us hope in the form of human connection and the love we have for each other.

I highly recommend to people who like wartime historical fiction, fairytale-esque magical stories, or want to read about the human spirit that prevails even in humanity’s darkest hours.

4.5 stars

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is the first book I’ve read by Katherine Aden, and surprisingly, it made an enormous impact on me. Although starting slow, the ending is well worth the wait and will leave readers with a new perspective on life.

A hauntingly beautiful story dissecting the horrors of war and the aftermath that follows, the unwanted temptations of the devil, and the courageous lengths a sister will go to discover the truth.

Arden transports readers to the Great War, where we meet characters you can’t help but instantly sympathize with. In particular, I deeply felt for Freddie and the intrusive corruption of the devil he dealt with. I think all readers, in some aspect, will be able to connect with this and hopefully understand the strength lying within them.

Laura, the fierce sister who never gives up hope, is determined to make sense of what happened to Freddie, and I routed for her until the very last page, truly admiring her bravery.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is perfect for all readers who enjoy historical fiction with a dash of paranormal elements.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In the final year of World War 1, a field nurse returns to the war front in Belgium in search of her missing brother who is presumed dead. In another timeline, two soldiers from opposite sides encounter a mysterious fiddler and his glamorous hotel, seemingly untouched by the bloodshed happening outside. Katherine Arden returns to adult fantasy with an evocative, haunting book about two siblings in the midst of one of the deadliest conflicts in history. Through the eyes of the characters we see the trenches as the man made hell they were, a hell where the devil himself seems innocuous. Historical details, religious motifs and moral questions all contribute to this question threaded into the narrative, who will be by your side when the world ends?

A hauntingly beautiful tale of hope and despair in World War I. Arden has written on loss and love by following a pair of Canadian siblings anxious to reunite on the hellscape of France in 1918.

Arden's ending notes talk of her years spent on this novel - on how the world had changed so drastically but was still so effortlessly violent - from flying machines and phonographs to machine guns and poison gas. It was a time of technological advancement both fanciful and horrifying. She mentions how America presses more stock onto the damage from World War II, while she crafts a brutal reminder of how the 1910s set everything else in motion. The Warm Hands of Ghosts is not a book you feel good reading, but I think the story Arden has built is one readers do not want to look away from - at the end I had goosebumps and tears. She has empowered woman characters on the front lines and running the show, just as she shows the weakness of men in a time it was not permitted/expected. She shows the battle many faced of good vs evil, enemy vs friend, bravery vs fear. Arden masterfully weaves magical realism into the story.

An excellent addition to her reportoire, The Warm Hands of Ghosts will stay with me asI continue to unknot the layers of Arden's characters and story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for an e-arc of "The Warm Hands of Ghosts" in exchange for an honest review


This was not my favorite. I think it may be a me thing, but i had a hard time getting into it..

The Winternight trilogy is one of my all time favorites and I will say that Katherine Arden has once again transported readers through space and time and woven a story that feels both painfully real and magically hopeful. This story is harsh and unrelenting, as the war time setting is presented so vividly it feels at times as though you’re standing alongside the characters, but at the same time keeps you hopeful for a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for these characters living through one of history’s darkest, and often overlooked, times.

I rarely write reviews but it felt necessary for this one, as I know I’m going to be thinking about it for a long time.