I absolutely loved Arden’s Winternight trilogy and was so excited to read this new book by her.

I was not disappointed! Arden has definitely become an author who I will instantly buy any of their books.

4.5 ⭐

I devoured this audiobook in one day - this story took me completely by surprise with how much I enjoy it. There are multiple references to the Bible and religion. I don't usually care for this, but this ties the story together from just a war story to something a bit supernatural and a bit more. If you want something that gives a similar feeling to Addie LaRue, this is it!

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a story showing the dark side of war mixed with supernatural elements. I do not usually read stories of real-life wars, however, for Katherine Arden I was willing to make an exception. This takes place during 1917/1918 during World War I, following dual timelines of siblings that are trying to get back to each other: Laura and Freddie Iven.

During the alternating chapters following each sibling, we see themes of struggling for survival and the perseverance to achieve their goals. Though my heart hurts from the story of war, grief and loss, there is so much love within it.

🌹 Dual POV & timelines
🌹 World War 1
🌹 Grief & Hope
🌹 Heart aching story
🌹 Surpernatural figure
🌹 (Very minor) romance

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the eARC of The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden.

I've read Katherin Arden's writing before. I thought it was beautiful, but the story wasn't my cup of tea. This book, on the other hand, was so beautifully written that I couldn't help myself. I loved the plot and the relationship that was between the brother and sister was really interesting to see. I liked that we were experiencing the plot at different times and the fact that there's just a hint of fantasy in this story really makes it that much better to read.

I read on NetGalley and listened to this on audible and the narration was very well done- multiple narrators and accents for different characters. This is the story of a combat nurse-Laura-who is wounded and returns to her home in Canada. While home she mourns her brother Freddie, who is presumed dead. All his belongings are returned to her but she is not convinced he is dead. She returns to Belgium to search for him. Then she hear whispers of the violinist who is a ghost? A monster? A way to escape from the world? She is convinced he has something to do with Freddie’s disappearance.
Freddie’s story is compelling- he is in Flanders fighting, then wakes up in the dark in an overturned pillbox. Next to him in the dark is a wounded German soldier named Hans. Together the men escape from the pillbox but don’t want to return to the battlefield. They meet the famed hotelier and violinist who helps them forget their trauma. But once with the violin man can they ever leave? This book is dark, magical and full of secrets. I loved the historical elements which were meticulously researched and very interesting. The setting was bleak and portrayed the horrors of the Great War. While I enjoyed this book, it didn’t hold me the way the bear and the nightingale series did. it was much slower paste and didn’t really pick up until the second half of the book. All in all, a worthwhile read.

Atmosphere and strong sense of place - check
Fierce, no-nonsense heroine - check
Beautiful sibling relationship - check
Magic - check
Romance - check

Must be a Katherine Arden historical fiction fantasy! I have pressed The Bear and the Nightingale into so many of my people's hands. I was refreshing Netgalley daily waiting for this one to drop after Arden announced it. It is sumptuous, spooky, and raw. I adored it. I love Laura and Freddie - I just want to bundle them up in a soft, warm blanket and take care of them. Not that either would be likely to let me. This book is dark and painful in many ways, but I think readers of the Winternight trilogy are comfortable with that style in their books. It was also great to get a war book about WWI and from a Canadian perspective, a refreshing change from the constant WWII books cropping up everywhere in the last decade.
Since reading, I've gotten to sample the audiobook and I highly recommend it as well!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC.

A dark tale of siblings trying to find their way back to each other during the great war. One a soldier and one a nurse. Each all the other has left & each so changed and scarred by their experiences they can never be the same.
The writing is raw and horribly beautiful. Freddie's story is heartbreaking and desperate. Laura's is built in strength and determination. There are minor romances that happen along the way but are in no way the main focus of the book. Its even hard to call the other characters "supporting" because their storylines are so important to the climax of the book. A great read for historical fiction & Katherine Arden fans.

What an interesting way to tell a war story. I don’t know if it’s wholly unique but I liked the way this played out and how we were introduced to the horror and fantastical elements. Our main character Laura is back in Canada after being injured as a nurse in Europe. She hasn’t heard from her brother and receives news about him. She doesn’t know if he’s alive or dead but she returns to Europe to find out. At first this was reading as just a historical fiction novel but slowly we see the other elements take shape. I really enjoyed the alternating timelines between Laura and her brother, Freddie. It kept me wanting to read more to see if they ever overlap and find each other. This is a novel about war and how it affects everyone. Soldiers, their loved ones, healthcare workers, etc. the fantastical element adds another layer to the pain and suffering caused by war. I did think this was a bit too long and I wished we had more time with some characters together to allow their connections to develop more on page. Still enjoyed this.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is about the Great War and how a combat nurse searches for her brother who she believes died in the trenches despite eerie signs that say otherwise. This book was sadly not one I loved because it was slow, depressing and for me it was hard to read at times. The characters were decent and overall the author wrote this good. I would suggest this historical fiction book to readers so that they may give this one a try to read since I just did not enjoy but other readers have. Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for this book in exchange of my honest review of The Warm Hands of Ghosts.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts had a totally different vibe than other books that I have read by Arden, but I enjoyed it just the same. The time period is one that I haven’t read much from, but it was really interesting to examine the events of World War I, and the Halifax explosion in a work of fiction. Most books that I have read that choose a World War focus on World War II.

Freddie’s perspective was a lot more gripping at the start than Laura’s, but as the story progressed, both were equally compelling. Freddie’s was a stark examination of war and the bonds that are formed while trying to survive while Laura’s look at her struggles to integrate back into normal life after the events she witnessed. Arden wrote both so beautifully. She captured the internal struggles these characters faced, while balancing the fantastical elements that make her stories so unique.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine/Del Rey, and Katherine Arden for the e-arc of The Warm Hands of Ghosts in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

And with this, Katherine Arden has solidified as an auto-buy author for me.

I’m not usually a historical fiction person and I usually stay away from war books but I of course had to read Arden’s newest book and I am so glad I did. Arden’s writing is so immersive, making you feel things so vividly and deeply. Arden weaves present and past POVs, reality with the fantastical, in a way that was seamless. Arden writes about the dark, harrowing parts of war in a painfully realistic way. The story is heartbreaking but also hopeful. The characters push through to the end, reminding us that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Arden takes great care in writing accurate portrayals of the soldiers, nurses, doctors, families and everyone affected by the real life events that happen in the book. You will feel all the emotions while reading this book which is, simply, a masterpiece.

This story fell flat for me and i had so many high hopes. The premise sounded amazing and I struggled throughout the entire book. I didn’t connect with the characters and i didn’t feel like they were fleshed out well. The story left several plot holes and overall I hate to say it but I just didn’t enjoy it

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read other books from this author and I couldn't wait to get my hands on something new. I went into this story completely blind and I think that did me a disservice.

This was a beautifully written story with complex characters and lots of twists and turns. But it isn't the kind of story I would normally pick up.

I am happy I read this book even if it isn't something I would normally have picked out for myself.

Oh my God, am I in love with this book, Katherine Arden has outdone herself again in this book that evokes history, magic, mysticism and universal human experiences of love, loss and hope on every single page, Laura, Freddie, Winter, Faland and the entire scape of World War I felt so close as I read on. I felt myself scared in the pillbox, and determined to save lives in the hospital, but most of all, I felt like I knew these characters, like they were real people living and struggling just around the corner. That made me so invested in the story, and kept me going to the satisfying conclusion that whatever I hoped for these characters will come to pass. Plus what an awesome and ironic title!

Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden is a profoundly moving story of love and loss.

I have read most of Katherine Arden's other works, and I loved this one just as much. It felt dark and gritty, which felt so authentic to experience of the characters going through WWI. I loved the supernatural elements, as well, which also felt so appropriate...I could imagine ghosts floating above decimated battlefields.

Laura Iven, a nurse injured during the course of the war, goes on the search of her brother--an assumed dead soldier. Laura knows Freddie is still alive, and both siblings embark on the journey of a lifetime.

Arden does such a beautiful job with the writing of this novel. The atmosphere was immaculate. I will remember the first scene where we meet Freddie for a long time. It was a gorgeous and gritty depiction of war, and will stay with readers long after they have finished it.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden is a moving work of historical fiction set during the horrors of World War 1. It revolves around the siblings Laura and Freddie Iven, who grapple with the war. Laura, a former member of the Canadian Nursing Force, was forced to retire after sustaining a severe injury in Belgium. Freddie, a private in the Canadian army, embarks on a dangerous mission in The Forbidden Zone to capture Passchendaele Ridge. When Laura receives a box with Freddie's personal effects one day, she can scarcely believe it—his tags and jacket with a German postcard concealed in the lining. So begins the journey of both siblings! Enjoy the speculative and touching elements of this story.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC!

No longer interested, I don't even know why I'm requesting books with heterosexual couples with a romance subplot - if I have a romance subplot I rarely enjoy straight pairings, I love my queer girlies.

Arden did a hell of a job bringing World War I to life here. It's gruesome and dark and filled with compelling characters. I loved Laura basically from the jump, and pretty much everyone her storyline acquired was amazing (Jones, in particular, was great as the no-nonsense bringer of hope. Like I got so ridiculously excited when his blood transfusion worked.). Faland's whole bit was also really interesting, although I was less drawn in by Freddie. The early sections of his story (particularly the way they were framed against Laura's) were really great. But the bits where he starts to linger with Faland, and is basically doing nothing, was too Hamlet for me. A lot of hand-wringing, and too little action. Beautifully written, like the rest of the book, but eh. They slowed down what was otherwise a really nicely paced story, and Laura's more action-y sections made them even duller by comparison.

Past that I also could've done without the bombastic chapter titles. From roughly chapter one we already know the characters are seeing this war as a kind of End Times, and the writing of the story itself does enough to convey the attendant bleakness and desperation of that. Adding in the chapter titles felt like gilding the lily.

Other than that though, this is a really engaging read, and I would definitely recommend it.

Katherine Arden had such a talent for writing descriptive and beautiful stories. The Warm Hands Of Ghosts is no exception!

I was so intrigued by the synopsis and it did not take long for me to get swept away into the story. Her writing is warm and inviting, even when it deals with such heavy topics as war and the devil.

I can’t recommend this enough. My only wish was that we got more in depth with the villain Faland.

Katherine Arden has once again proven why she is one of my favorite authors (if not my favorite author). This felt like listening to a ghost story around a fire. If one slight sound or crackle of leaves interrupted the tale, it would leave my heart racing and my eyes darting through the darkness. The characters were so compelling, and the relationships that Laura and Freddie build wrenched at my heart. While gruesome and depressing at times, this was so comforting to read. I could imagine myself in every scenario, whether I wanted to or not. No one can write magic like this, and this book has gotten me out of my slump of 3 star reviews.

As an avid admirer of the Winternight trilogy, with its enchanting ambiance and richly drawn characters, I eagerly awaited Katherine Arden's latest adult novel ever since its announcement. However, upon delving into the initial chapters, I realized the necessity of adjusting my expectations to fully appreciate this new work. While The Warm Hands of Ghosts does contain elements of speculation, it primarily unfolds as a historical narrative set against the backdrop of World War I. It's essential, in my view, not to approach this book anticipating a narrative akin to Vasya's tale. Such parallels are absent. Arden's prose here is characterized by a rawness and directness that, while perfectly suited to the story, is undeniably distinct from her previous style.

Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly recommend delving into this novel.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts possesses a haunting beauty, blending eerie atmospherics with a stark realism that immerses the reader completely. It confronts the horrors of war unflinchingly, at times with graphic detail, yet the infusion of magical elements serves not to diminish the bleakness but to amplify it, rendering the surreal nature of warfare all the more palpable. I found myself deeply invested in the characters, drawn into their plight with a profound sense of empathy. Though the pacing may be leisurely, it never veers into tedium, maintaining a firm grip on my attention throughout.

If I have any critique, it lies in the somewhat tidy resolution at the story's conclusion. Yet, how can I fault an ending that left me feeling so immensely satisfied? Indeed, in the spirit of avoiding hypocrisy, I must acknowledge that any reservations are ultimately overshadowed by my overwhelming contentment. While the romantic subplots may have warranted further development, I found myself rooting for them wholeheartedly—they simply... worked.

This narrative is one that will linger in my thoughts for the foreseeable future. I wholeheartedly recommend it to aficionados of historical fiction.