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.