Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

10 reviews

courtknee_bee's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

5 stars

A phenomenal, awe-inspiring book. Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale] trilogy is one of my favorites, so I had very high expectations for The Warm Hands of Ghosts. This is much a different novel: bleaker and sadder, as one might expect from a book about WWI. But there was so much hope, too. There are magical elements, Paradise Lost allegories, and maybe even some references to the Bear trilogy if you squint. 

This isn't exactly an escapism book, but the story is so moving. There's hints of romance, but this book is about familial love at its core. I loved it. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content

Moderate: Blood and Fire/Fire injury

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, War, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Gore, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Terminal illness, Vomit, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Classism, Cursing, Deportation, and Sexism

lauriej's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Medical content, Torture, War, Murder, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

sarasreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This was an intense read for sure. Very different from the Winternight trilogy, but equally beautiful. Her writing is entrancing and visceral, which I absolutely loved. 

This would almost be a 5 star read for me, but I wasn't as invested in the present-time storyline as much as the one from the past. The latter was absolutely riveting and I was on the edge of my seat with all of the plot and relational tension, meanwhile the present POV was mostly uneventful travel for a good portion. 

In the end, I was deeply moved by this book, and it's going to stick with me for a long time. I may eventually bump it up to 5 stars if I can't stop thinking about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, War, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

katiewhocanread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Gore

mtnest's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, War, Violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Grief

luckykosmos's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This is about the pain in remembering those you loved, because of the grief that comes with it. It's made of complicated people making hard decisions - do we remember war and the pain that comes with it because it makes who we are, or do we choose to forget it because the pain is too much? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death of parent, War, and Medical content

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Gun violence

megatza's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Katherine Arden is a master of the atmospheric. The atmosphere of this book is war, terror, devastation and the ghosts of World War I, from the horrors of Passchendaele to the explosion in Halifax to the losses from influenza. The Warm Hands of Ghosts is dark. Arden never shies away from the grittiness of what she calls the "time travel" of the experience in WWI - with weapons of immense destructive powers and nurses running onto battlefields in corsets and gas masks, the perfect juxtaposition of their old world and the new. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

pixie23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, War, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, and Grief

madlyreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Gore, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders