The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey

Date of Publication: February 13th, 2024

Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Adult, Paranormal, Historical Fantasy, Horror, World War I, Ghosts

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

During the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise, in this hauntingly beautiful historical novel with a speculative twist from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, she receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about haunted trenches, and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else?

November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German by the name of Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two men form an alliance and succeed in clawing their way out. Unable to bear the thought of returning to the killing fields, especially on opposite sides, they take refuge with a mysterious man who seems to have the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear.

As shells rain down on Flanders, and ghosts move among those yet living, Laura’s and Freddie’s deepest traumas are reawakened. Now they must decide whether their world is worth salvaging—or better left behind entirely.

First Line:

Freddie’s clothes ca me to Veith Street instead of Blackthorn House, and the telegram that ought to have preceded them didn’t reach Laura at all.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

Important things you need to know about the book:

Pace: Slow to medium. Once the author explained the backstories, the pacing slowed way down, almost to a snail’s pace. That caused the storyline to drag in some spots. The pace did pick up to medium at the end of the book.

POV: 3rd person (told by Laura, Freddie, and occasionally Hans Winter).

Trigger Warnings: There are scenes involving war themes & military violence (on-page), death (on and off page), blood (on page), death of parents (off page but how Laura found her mother was on-page), violence (on page), medical content (on page), injury & injury detail (on and off page), gore (on page), grief (on page), medical trauma (on page), body horror (on page), panic attacks (on page), murder (on page), gaslighting (on page), gun violence (on page), confinement (on page), suicidal thoughts (on page), xenophobia (on and off page), fire and fire injury (on page), post traumatic stress disorder (on page), alcohol consumption (on page), dead bodies & body parts (on and off page), needles (on page), physical injuries (on and off page), scars (on page), disappearance of a loved one (on page), explosions (on page), knife violence (on page), chemical gassing & warfare (on and off page), and riot (on page). If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book.

Language: There is little to no swearing used in The Warm Hands of Ghosts. There is language used that could be offensive to some people.

Setting: The Warm Hands of Ghosts is primarily set in WWI-era Belgium. There are several chapters set in Halifax, Nova Scotia. There are also stops in England and France.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

Laura, a renowned WWI nurse, had been sent home when she sustained an injury to her leg. While she is recuperating, a horrific explosion of a ship kills and injures hundreds of people. Her mother was killed, and her father was presumed dead (he was at ground zero for the attack). Several days after the explosion, Laura receives a package containing her brother Wilfred’s (a.k .a. Freddie’s) personal effects. However, several things do not make sense or are missing. So Laura and her friend Pim travel to Belgium to help in a hospital in The Forbidden Zone. But Laura is also there to look into her brother’s death/disappearance. What she uncovers defies any sense of reason, and when she finds out that Freddie is caught up in that web, Laura will move heaven and earth to save him.

Characters:

The two main characters in The Warm Hands of Ghosts are the Iven siblings, Laura and Freddie. I liked that the author showcased their strong relationship on top of creating well-rounded, well-written characters. These characters were well fleshed out, and I was able to form a connection with both of them. I connected with Laura more than Freddie, but that was because she was in the book more.

Numerous other secondary characters added depth to the main storylines. But the ones that stood out the most to me were Pim, Winters, and Faland. Pim, because she was devastated and haunted by the death of her only son in this war. She was clinging to a fragile hope that he was still alive. Winters, because he was the strongest out of all the characters. His bond with Freddie transcended anything, and I liked that he saw Faland for who he was and was ready to move mountains to get Freddie back. And lastly, Faland. I will leave a minor spoiler here (because otherwise, my references wouldn’t make sense), but Faland was an aspect of the devil. He dealt with stealing souls and secrets. His entire character was contrasts.

My review:

I had eagerly waited for Katherine Arden to release her newest adult novel since The Winter of the Witch was published. I had read her middle-grade series, Small Spaces, and while it was good, it wasn’t what I wanted to read from her. So, when I saw that Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine/Del Rey had The Warm Hands of Ghosts as a wish on NetGalley, I immediately clicked that button. And I was thrilled when I saw that they had granted my wish. This book is one of my top choices for February.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts has dual storylines. Freddie’s storyline starts in November 1917 when he and Winters are trapped in a pillbox. Laura’s storyline begins in January 1918, right after the Halifax Explosion. Both storylines were well-written and well-fleshed out. The storyline did drag once Laura arrived in Belgium and went to The Forbidden Zone. But it picked back up when Winters connected with Laura. Once the storylines merged, the book flowed better but kept up that same medium-slow pace until the end.

I do have a trigger warning list above, but I want to reiterate that this book takes place on the battlefield. There are explosions, people dying, body parts, and people suffering from mental trauma portrayed in the book. This book also takes place during WWI, when chemical warfare was widely used and the effects from the chemicals were awful. It makes for a sad and often frightening background. I didn’t mind it and thought it only accentuated Freddie’s time with Faland and Laura’s quest to find him. But some people might be triggered. So, go into reading this book with care.

The fantasy angle of The Warm Hands of Ghosts was exciting and, at the same time, a little scary. Freddie got sucked into something that was beyond him, and when Winters left (unwillingly, might I add), his sense of time got hazy. I liked how the author connected music to the magic that Faland did and a mirror that showed your true heart’s desire. The haziness of Freddie’s recollections and the music make for an almost dreamlike state that Freddie lived in.

The end of The Warm Hands of Ghosts was bittersweet. I won’t get into it, but the damage that was done by the war was immense. That’s all I can say without giving away spoilers. I liked Laura’s spot of happiness on the last page.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey, NetGalley, and Katherine Arden for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The Warm Hands of Ghosts. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoy reading books similar to The Warm Hands of Ghosts, then you will enjoy these books:

Other books by Katherine Arden

Suggested Playlist (feel free to add songs or remove songs)

“Holocene” – Bon Iver
“The Night We Met” – Lord Huron
“Wandering” – Radical Face
“To Build a Home” – The Cinematic Orchestra
“The Wolves (Act I and II)” – Bon Iver
“Samsa’s Song” – Agnes Obel
“The Lighthouse” – Patrick Watson
“Your Hand in Mine” – Explosions in the Sky
“Run Boy Run” – Woodkid
“Sorrow” – The National
“Black Flies” – Ben Howard
“From the Dining Table” – Harry Styles

Small Spaces (Small Spaces: Book 1) by Katherine Arden

3 Stars

Publisher: Penguin Group, Penguin Young Readers Group, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Date of publication: September 25th, 2018

Genre: Horror, Middle Grade

Series: Small Spaces

Small Spaces—Book 1

Dead Voices—Book 2 (expected publication: August 27th, 2019)

Where you can find Small Spaces: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Bestselling adult author of The Bear and the Nightingale makes her middle grade debut with a creepy, spellbinding ghost story destined to become a classic

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think–she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.

Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn’t have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: “Best get moving. At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.” Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie’s previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.

Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver’s warning. As the trio head out into the woods–bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them–the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.”

And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

First Line:

October in East Evansburg, and the last warm sun of the year, slanted red through the sugar maples.
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

My Review:

When I saw that Katherine Arden wrote Small Spaces, I knew I had to read it. I was a massive fan of the Winternight Trilogy, and I had high expectations of Small Spaces. Unfortunately, it fell short for me.

Ollie is an eleven-year-old who suffered a tragic loss. Refusing to talk about what happened, Ollie shut herself from the world. Her only solace was reading. After defending a new student from bullies, Ollie goes to her secret reading area. There she meets a deranged woman about to throw a book in a stream. Stealing the book, Ollie reads a story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who loved her, and the smiling man. The next day, Ollie takes a field trip to Smoke Hollow, where she notices something strange about the scarecrows. When the bus breaks down on the way home, Ollie’s teacher goes back to the farm to get help. The bus driver warns Ollie and her friends to start running. Then he says, “Avoid large places, keep to small.” After that, her watch, the last physical thing her mother was wearing the day she died, spells out the word “Run.” That’s when the adventure begins. What will happen to Ollie and her friends? Who is the smiling man? How is he connected to what was happening to Ollie? And what exactly does the bus driver mean?

I thought Small Spaces storyline was fantastic. It was creepy enough for upper elementary/middle school-aged children.

I did like the characters, but I felt that there was not a lot of depth to them. Ollie was the loner with a tragic past, Brian was the jock who had a hidden side to him, and Coco was the new girl who was trying too hard to fit in. The author did try to make them more fleshed out. Brian quoting Alice in Wonderland did surprise me. As did Coco revealing that she used to rock climb before she moved to Evansburg. But other than that, I didn’t get a connection with them.

Revealing Ollie’s tragic past sooner would have been an asset to the book. I did guess at what happened early on in the book, but it took forever for it come out. I wanted to reach into the book and hug her.

I did have an issue with the formatting what reading Small Spaces. I would be reading a paragraph, and then random numbers would appear (example: running in the 1. woods). It made it hard for me to read the book and did take away from my enjoyment of it. It also affected my rating.

I also thought that paranormal/horror angle of the book was almost too understated for me. I am an adult and used to more scares. But, as I said above, this would be a perfect book for middle-grade kids. But for adults, no.

The end of the book left me feeling unfulfilled. While I liked what Ollie did, I was left wanting more. There is a book 2, which I would like to read.

I would give Small Spaces a Tween rating. There is no sex. There is no language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 13 read this book.

I would reread Small Spaces. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy: Book 3) by Katherine Arden

The Winter of the Witch: A Novel (Winternight Trilogy Book 3) by [Arden, Katherine]

4.5 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Ray

Date of publication: January 8th, 2019

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Series: Winternight Trilogy

The Bear and the Nightingale—Book 1 (review here)

The Girl in the Tower—Book 2 (review here)

The Winter of the Witch—Book 3

Where you can find The Winter of the Witch: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Bookbub

Synopsis:

Following their adventures in The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, Vasya and Morozko return in this stunning conclusion to the bestselling Winternight Trilogy, battling enemies mortal and magical to save both Russias, the seen and the unseen.

Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.

My review:

I had a mix of emotion when I started reading The Winter of the Witch. I was happy because this book was out. I was apprehensive because of the blurb. I was sad because the trilogy was ending. My feelings were validated for The Winter of the Witch. I never get emotional reading a book. But I did for this one.

Vasya was one of my favorite people in The Winter of the Witch. Even when pushed to her limits, she was one of the strongest people in the book. What she endured in this book would have killed lesser people. Instead, it made her a stronger person. It fueled her desire to bind Bear. I was worried about what was going to happen to her after Bear was bound. I was worried that the story was going to flounder.

Morozko is one of my favorite characters to date. He stole every single scene that he was in. The fight scene with Bear, his twin, was one of the best supernatural fight scenes that I have read to date. His scenes with Vasya after that were touching. I mean, he did follow her to summer. If that doesn’t tell anyone how he felt, that I don’t know what would. My only complaint is that he refused to get involved in the war. But I understood why.

Vasya’s rise to power in this book was amazing to read. I knew that something was going to happen when she was thrust into Midnight. I was thrown for a surprise when it was revealed who her grandmother was. I remember shaking my head and saying “Well, that explains a lot”. I liked how Vasya was able to keep her promise to the chyerti. There were points in the book, after her journey to Midnight, where I thought that she was failed. I have never been more happy to be proved wrong!!

There were several deaths in The Winter of the Witch. The death of Solovey, at the beginning of the book, broke my heart. Vasya never recovered from it. There was one death where I cheered. The other notable death was at the end of the book. I was crushed at that person’s death. Freaking crushed. I did cry. No shame here in admitting that.

The end of The Winter of the Witch was an emotional read for me. I am not going to give away spoilers but I was thrilled with how it ended. I was also thrilled with the other thing that happened. That came out of left field for me. I was happy. I might have done a fist pump and say “Yes!!“.

I want to add that the Author’s Note was a welcome surprise. I liked that the author used an actual battle as the backdrop of the one that took place at the end of the book. The Grand Prince and Sasha were actual people. She admitted to tweaking parts of the battle (which I expected). She pointed out something interesting about Russia that ended with the Revolution. Made me go “Hmmmm“. As was her fitting reference about the guardians of Russia.

What I loved was that she included a glossary. She also included a note on Russian names. Both were helpful!!

I would give The Winter of the Witch an Older Teen rating. There are mentions of sex (not graphic). There is no language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would reread The Winter of the Witch. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Winter of the Witch.

All opinions stated in this review of The Winter of the Witch are mine.

The Girl in the Tower is now in paperback

Yes, you read that right. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden is now in paperback. So run, not walk, to your computer and grab it. It’s well worth the read!!!

Where you can find The Girl in the Tower: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

My review of The Girl in the Tower – here

The Girl in the Tower (The Winternight Trilogy: Book 2) by Katherine Arden

The Girl in the Tower (The Bear and the Nightingale #2)

5 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey

Date of publication: December 5th, 2017

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Number of pages: 384

POV: 3rd person

Series: The Winternight Trilogy

The Bear and The Nightingale – Book 1 (review here)

The Girl in the Tower – Book 2

Where you can find The Girl in the Tower: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The magical adventure began in The Bear and the Nightingale continues as brave Vasya, now a young woman is forced to choose between marriage or life in a convent and instead flees her home—but soon finds herself called upon to help defend the city of Moscow when it comes under siege.

Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to live in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop.

Trigger Warning: None

Continue reading “The Girl in the Tower (The Winternight Trilogy: Book 2) by Katherine Arden” →

The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden

The Bear and the Nightingale: A Novel (Winternight Trilogy Book 1) by [Arden, Katherine]

5 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine, Del Ray

Date of publication: January 10th, 2017

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Winternight Trilogy

The Bear and the Nightingale—Book 1

The Girl in the Tower—Book 2

The Winter of the Witch—Book 3

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.

Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.

But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

My review:

The book starts on a late winter night in northern Rus’ (Russia) in Pytor Vladimirovich’s house. Dunya and the children were gathered around the oven. Dunya was about to tell the children a folktale about the frost-demon, the winter-king Karachun, when their mother, Marina, came in and joined in listening. Pytor was outside, assisting a ewe in giving birth. When he came in, Marina told him her news. She was expecting another child. This child would be like her mother, who was known as a witch-woman and had mysterious powers. She could tame animals, dream the future and summon rain. Pytor was worried about the news. Marina wasn’t a young woman, and he was afraid that she wouldn’t be strong enough for birth.

He was right. Marina died shortly after giving birth to Vasilisa (Vasya), and what she predicted came true. Vasya was a headstrong, willful, and almost feral. She also inherited her grandmother’s powers.

When she was six years old, she got lost in the forest outside her house and came upon an older man sleeping in the roots of a tree. Thinking that she could wake him up and he would know the way to her father’s house, she shook him. Only to find out that he is a hideously disfigured man. One eye was missing, with the socket sewn shut and with hideous scars on that side of her face. Still, she invites him back to her house if he can take her home. Then a genuinely supernatural thing happens, as she goes to take this stranger’s hand, a man on a white horse comes thundering to where they were, makes the older man go back to sleep and frightens Vasya, who ends up being found by Sascha, her beloved older brother.

After that escapade that Pytor decides to head to Moscow and get a wife for himself. He takes Sasha and Kolya with him. While he was there, he meets a mysterious stranger who gives him a beautiful jewel and tells him to hold on to it until Vasya gets older. If he doesn’t, this strange man will come after and kill Kolya.

Pytor does find a wife while in Moscow. His late wife’s half brother’s daughter, who sees demons and is classified as mad by her father, stepmother, and servants. Anna is her name, and she becomes my least favorite person in the book. After discovering that Vasya can talk to the household spirits and non-household spirits, Anna would beat her to get her repent. Not that it did any good. Vasya only became more feral, more headstrong.

When Vasya turns fourteen, a new priest is sent to her village since the old one has died. Anna begs the Metropolitan to send a new one, and they did. A young priest named Konstantin Nikonovich, who is considered somewhat of an upstart, is sent there to straighten him out. Anna is thrilled because he is driving out the demons (aka the household spirits) that she sees. Vasya, not so much, and she resorts to leaving offerings for them where her stepmother can’t see them or in rooms where she doesn’t go.

It is during that time that the mysterious man makes an appearance in Dunya’s dream, and he demands that she give Vasya the necklace. Dunya makes a bargain with him to wait another year to give it to her. In that year, everything that can go wrong does go wrong.

I loved Vasya. She was a spunky girl who called it like it was and wasn’t afraid to stand up to anyone or anything. I did think, at one point, that her spunkiness was going to get her killed, but it didn’t.

The end of the book is a must-read. It was fantastic. The very end of the book, though, is what got me, and it made me smile.

I would give The Bear and The Nightingale an Adult rating. There is no sex. There is no language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Bear and The Nightingale. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

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