I’m extremely frustrated that I was not enjoying this book. It had everything set up for me to like it but I just did not care for any of the characters and anything that was happening.

I think at a different time I would come back to this, but not in the near future. It just was not for me.

DNF @20%

Not my favorite Katherine Arden book, but wonderful nonetheless. This book is hauntingly sad and poignant and yet simultaneously breathtakingly beautiful. It is the story of survival and human hope, and what better story can there be?

I do not normally enjoy something so historical but this was well written and a beautiful story. I enjoyed all the characters and the ending. The setting was beautiful. very interesting premise that really kept me engaged.

A lyrical and heartfelt dive into wartorn Europe and the struggles of a sister searching for her proclaimed dead brother. Equal parts endearing and dark, The Warm Hands of Ghosts delivers a wonderfully written story that will keep you interested from start to finish. While I'm not typically a fan of historical fiction, this captivating story had me entranced from the beginning, the riveting prose and harrowing twists continuously keeping me eager to find out what came next.

I went into The Warm Hands of Ghosts expecting a historical novel with some elements of magical realism, but I could not have been more mistaken. Arden weaves a tale that is equal parts haunting and enchanting. From the point of view of both Freddie and Laura we are enveloped into the world of of WWI and right along with them we are enticed by the magic of a man who can take away all the atrocities from their minds. While the first couple of chapters are slow going, but you soon find yourself cocooned among the songs of souls. I absolutely loved everything about this book and will be going back to Katherine Arden's backlist (which I own but haven't read yet) to hopefully find a story just as enrapturing.

Katherine Arden’s writing shines in this new historic fiction that stole my heart. Laura a discharged combat nurse from the Great War finds herself in Halifax after the great fire caring for patients. During the great fire Laura lost her parents and was waiting for her brother to make it back from the front. That is until she receives notice her brother has died too. That is what Laura thinks until she is sent on a hunt to find her brother by a deceased soldiers spirit. Laura joins the army as a combat nurse once more to find out what the spirits were trying to tell her. When she arrives she hears mysterious tales of a fiddler who you can only find once with a magic mirror. Wondering if this mysterious man has something to do with her missing brother Laura try’s to find all she can.

This stark harrowing tale intertwined with folklore is so rooted in reality it almost makes you believe maybe magic can be real. Katherine’s Arden’s writing does not disappoint in this beautifully written magical realism historical fiction. While this book had a completely different feeling to it than the Winternight Trilogy I was still completely sucked in by this book. This story comes off the pages with its fairy tale vibes it reminded me The Shadow of the Wind. The characters were amazing I was so invested in what happened to Laura and her brother Freddie. The tales about Fallon the violinist was so mysterious and had me wanting to know more. Katherine Arden is becoming one of my favorite authors and can’t wait to read more from this author in the future. I would like to thank net galley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

Told from alternate viewpoints and a year of difference, this is the story of Nurse Laura Iven and her brother, Freddie, claimed dead during WWI. Laura suffered an injury while a nurse on the front and has returned to Halifax to recover. But not long after her return, she is informed that her brother Freddie has been killed during combat. However, something about this does not sit right with Laura and so she returns to the front to uncover the truth, while working at a private hospital. Once there, she hears whispers of strange occurrences and haunted soldiers, a violin player and disappearing hotels. Laura is determined to find out the connection between these rumors and what happened to her brother.

A beautiful portrayal of sibling love and a new take on a war novel - haunting and well written, this gripped me from the start.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

This story is told in third person dual timelines that follow siblings Freddie and Laura during the First World War. Laura returned home to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1918 after being injured while working as a nurse on the frontlines and is dismayed when she receives her brother’s things indicating that he was missing in action, presumed dead. She travels back to Europe with a group intent on finding Freddie while they run much needed hospitals. The other timeline follows Freddie in the trenches as he escapes a near miss and befriends an enemy German soldier before getting caught up with an enigmatic man known as The Fiddler.

I struggled with this book. I enjoyed reading about the harrowing escape that Freddie and Winter endured from the trenches and their subsequent journey. However, the ambiguity of the Fiddler lost me a bit at times. I understood the concept but just didn’t connect with the fantasy part of this story. In contract, Laura’s journey to finding her brother fell flat for me. I didn’t find her character compelling or feel anything for her travails like I thought I should. Maybe this was a case of this story was just not for me. I absolutely recommend the Winternight Trilogy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

It's been nearly a week since I turned the final page of "The Warm Hands of Ghosts," yet I find myself still entranced by its haunting beauty. Katherine Arden, celebrated for her captivating storytelling in "Winternight trilogy," once again demonstrates her mastery with this historical novel imbued with a tantalizing touch of the supernatural.

Set against the backdrop of World War I, she deftly intertwines elements of romance, mystery, and magic, weaving a tapestry of intrigue with meticulous attention to historical detail that immerses readers in the chilling realities of war, painting a vivid portrait of an era defined by sacrifice and survival.

While Arden's acclaimed Winternight Trilogy exudes a certain "forestcore" aesthetic, a love letter to Russian folklore, "Warm Hands" delves deeper into the emotional terrain of sibling relationships and the lengths one would go to for family. Laura's unwavering determination to find her brother resonates with a profound sense of longing and loyalty, underscoring the timeless bond between siblings amidst the chaos of war.

The atmosphere Arden invites her readers to is nothing short of mesmerizing, shrouded in an ethereal veil that blurs the lines between reality and the supernatural. From magical hotels to lies that acts as currency, Arden's prose drips with an eerie beauty, casts a haunting spell that lingers.

This book was honestly I have no words. It was heartbreakingly beautiful and attention grabbing. The atmosphere was incredible and intense. 10/10 recommend

Thank you to Net Galley and Del Rey for this ARC!

I was so torn between how I felt about this book almost the entire ride through it… There were times I wanted to give it two stars and DNF, and at the end I was closer to thinking about four stars but then I remembered how long it took me to slug through Almost half of it at the beginning before I even found myself invested in any of the characters—and settled on three.

I think this book was possibly Miss marketed, as I really anticipated it being more of a Gothic novel, and having more fantasy than it did. It was primarily a war novel… I love historical fiction, but if I read one more World War II novel I might explode.

I appreciated that there were at least new and relevant themes, such as a queer love story, as well as some kind of folklore/fantasy. Overall, I don’t know that I would necessarily recommend this out to anybody, but I could definitely see this being adapted into a film and appealing to the large masses.

I am a huge fan of the Winternight trilogy so I was thrilled when I saw Katherine Arden was coming out with a new book for adults! The Warm Hands of Ghosts was definitely different than her previous work but I found myself absorbed in the story just the same. The slow reveal of what exactly Faland is up to was suitably horrifying and devastating. I also really connected with Laura and her quest to find Freddie - I'm also an older sister and I would do anything for my brother so she had me from the jump

I was so excited for this book as I loved The Winternight Trilogy and it did not disappoint. This book is a lot different than Winternight, but awesome in it's own right. It is a WWI book with a kind of "Hotel California" vibe. I love the darkness that is entwined throughout the story. Using fantasy to process the darkness of war - and particularly WWI - works really well in this book. This book gives the hellishness of the war a personification and the characters living through the war wish to trade their humanity for oblivion. Sometimes the horrors of man's inhumanity to man is just too much. 5 stars for this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for an advance copy of this book for review.

A blending of supernatural and historical fiction, this one follows a WWI nurse who returns to Europe to try to find her missing brother.

I was really intrigued by this one because of the supernatural elements, but I just don’t think this author’s style is for me. I didn’t really love The Bear and Nightingale but people who did will enjoy this one more than I did!

There are no words for how much I loved this book. It is dark, heartbreaking, absolutely destroyed me, and was transformative in so many ways. I loved the Armageddon imagery (chapter titles are from Revelations) her accurate and very human portrayal of WWI and the experience of the soldiers, their families, and people living in the war zones. I think that the magical realism in this book absolutely works and is what softened the most difficult subject matter enough for it to be digestible and bearable. I love how allegorical it was, how she used the biblical references to represent how it must have felt for people living during that time. It took a while for me to get into it, the pace is slow but consistent, but I am so glad to have experienced this book. I think the timing of it's release at another time when the world is changing dramatically made this book even more relevant for 2024 readers. Thank you Katherine Arden for this perfectly crafted book that opened up a unique perspective of the past that can help us process the present and future.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book!

I rated this 3.75 stars. In this historical fiction based off the Great War, we follow a combat nurse who is searching for her brother who’s in the military and fighting in the war after being told he’s dead. The things she was told weren’t adding up, so she didn’t believe it to be true and went searching herself with a few others she met along the way. During her search, she meets a magical man who steals your memories and turns them into songs for others to hear, and that’s how you repay him for giving you shelter and feeding you. In my opinion, I believe historical fiction works about war aren’t necessarily my favorite, so I only took off the 1.25 stars just because the talk of war pulled me out of the magical and beautifully written story i was reading, even though it’s based on war. Its definitely a me thing, not an author thing.

Laura Iven is a Great War combat nurse, home in Canada after receiving battle injuries when an explosion levels her house and kills her parents. A reading from a physic-someone that Laura normally has no time for- reveals that her younger brother Freddie may not have died in the war. Laura decides to venture back to Belgium to look for her missing brother. A secondary timeline follows her brother's previous exploits. Being a fan of the author's previous Bear and the Nightingale series, I knew coming into this that the world building would be extravagant and it was. The Great War as Laura and Freddie experience it is horrible and tragic and weaving in the supernatural is a great fit.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest albeit late review.

It’s 1918 in the midst of World War I and Laura Ives believes her brother Freddie has died in the trenches. That is until the day she receives a box of his personal effects and something doesn’t add up. She hears rumors of strange man who runs a hotel few have ever seen, where those that do come back are forever changed. Leaving her home in Halifax, Canada, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital to find out what happened to her brother.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is quite a departure from Arden’s Winternight trilogy. In the Winternight trilogy, I fell in love with the author’s lush, fairy tale-esque writing. Her descriptions of the setting and viivd atmosphere made the reading experience especially rich for me. And while Warm Hands of Ghosts is also atmospheric and there are occasional glimpses of that same ethereal beauty in the writing, this is a very different project and writing style from Arden’s fantasy trilogy.

It has a speculative, fantastical element to the plot for sure, but it’s a much more historical tale, focusing on the horrors of war, the trauma of the men and women serving, and how war forever changes a person, how you can never go back to who you were. I still felt rooted in the setting and could immerse myself in the story, but this novel is more focused on exploring character growth and development instead of its descriptive settings or leaning into the fantasy elements.

The author’s note as the end was almost more enjoyable for me than the novel! It discussed the themes and ideas in a way that I wished had been incorporated even more into the story. I also wish the metaphor of the ghosts would have been more explicitly described in the book.

It’s a story worth reading, and I’d still recommend it especially if you enjoy historical fiction, appreciate discussions of war and trauma and like a speculative element to your historical fiction.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books/Del Rey for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.

THE 411...

It's 1918, Laura Iven has been honorably discharged from the Medical Corps as a highly decorated field nurse. Wounded while on the field, Laura returns to Canada where she receives word of her brother Freddie's presumed death in combat. A box is delivered to her with his personal effects, Freddy is presumed to be dead because his body was never recovered. How then, have his belongings made it to her doorstep? Laura decides she must go back to active duty in Belgium if only to be closer to the front lines and get answers/certain proof of Freddie's demise. What she isn't anticipating is to be met with an alternate possibility. A man who has deserted the battlefield and is caught is then executed by the military. Did Freddy leave the battlefield? or could he still be alive? and is his fate worse than if he had been killed in the field? 

Told in dual point of view and past/present timelines between 1917 and 1918, we get Freddy's account as he is trapped in a ditch created by one of the many explosives dropped. In this ditch is also a German soldier who has been severely wounded. Hans Winter should be his enemy but in these presumed final hours, he is a comfort. Together they help each other get out of that hole but are unsure of which way to go once out. They both can't fathom the thought of returning to their respective front lines. In the chaos of raining shells and gunfire they meet a mysterious man who owns a hotel and has a penchant for creating music. The type of tunes that can make you forget the misery that surrounds you. An escape from the violence and senseless killings they've witnessed. For some soldiers the escapism being offered was too good to pass up. 

This was not the book I thought we'd get next from one of my favorite authors and yet this story will remain with me for years to come. Full transparency, I am never the one to pick up books set during WWI or WWII. That being said, it's Katherine Arden! she can write the hell of a story and creates characters who leave their mark. If you love books with a speculative touch then this one is for you! it is slow paced within reason, every time I opened this book I felt instantly transported to the front lines and it terrified me. Heavily researched (notes and photos included in the Barnes & Noble special edition) and delivered by a skilled pen, it is haunting and feels like a story that needed to be told. In her author's note Arden speaks of the juxtaposition of nurses in corsets while wearing gas masks while cavalry charged at tanks. It really doesn't get any more real than that. It was the author's note and photos of the graves she visited that hit hard and make for a powerful read. It's a story about times of war but also hope where there's none to be found. Grief and trauma as well as remembrance. There are feelings of repressed rage we see play out in characters like the mysterious hotel owner. The same rage Arden says can be felt to this day while walking alongside the final resting place of many French and German. A powerful read for fans of Arden who were patiently waiting for her next spellbinding tale.

Review scheduled for 8AM 3/26/2024