Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

38 reviews

kirtreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This book took me over two months to read because it is raw, emotional, dark, and does not throw punches. I had to listen in bits and then process and then come back. I can understand why the author calls this “the fiend”. I normally hate war fiction but this felt so raw and real, and I actually cared about the characters. 

This novel isn’t sad for the sake of being sad. I think Kathrine Arden actually does a great job of capturing the inexplicable and crazy hope that people can have in their darkest moments. However, it still is dark. The ending will crush you, but it is so worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Xenophobia, Suicide, Abandonment, Body horror, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Mental illness, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

not_another_ana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Armageddon was a fire in the harbor, a box delivered on a cold day. It wasn't one great tragedy, but ten million tiny ones, and everyone faced theirs alone.

Laura Iven has been honorably discharged from her position in the medical corps after an injury, and has now returned home where sadly the tragedies don't stop. After losing her parents in a tragic accident she receives notice that her brother, and last living relative, Freddie has perished in combat. However, something doesn't seem right, and these discrepancies drive Laura to return to the front and find out what really happened to Freddie and what supernatural perils haunt the trenches. A year prior, Freddie Iven finds himself trapped after an explosion and his only possible ally, and lifeline, is an enemy soldier. Deciding to trust each other, both men will do anything to survive the battlefield and protect the bond they formed while under the extreme conditions of war, but the road is long, the obstacles insurmountable, and there's a mysterious figure haunting the path with an offer of salvation.

I felt like this book was suffering some sort of identity crisis. At times it was a tale about the horrors of warfare, the hopelessness of the battlefield, and a critique of war. At others, it was a supernatural tale about a mysterious man and this mirage of a hotel that trapped soldiers by offering them a respite from the agony of the trenches. Mixed in there was a tale of family love and the bonds created by living through these kind of situations, plus some sort of religious ideas about the end of the world. It was too much, I was connecting the pieces of what felt like three very different puzzles. This book needed to pick a struggle and stick to it.

The dual POVs only served to cut any tension, the situation would get more high stakes with Freddie and suddenly we were back with Laura who was still wondering if she should head back to the front. This also cause me to form no connection to any of the characters. I was also more invested in Freddie's story than Laura's, and thus all her chapters felt like such a chore to get through. Plus, nothing really happened during her chapters plot wise until around 70% of the book, I was dying for some sort of action. If this had been a book about an unlikely alliance during World War I that critiqued war and exposed its pointlessness with no supernatural elements, I would have eaten it all up. The author does a wonderful job constructing the battlefield and exposing Freddie's moral conundrum, and it's sad when it is pushed aside by this confusing plot with Faland.

I get it, he was the devil etc. etc. yet he didn't have anything interesting to say, nor was he the imposing character I would expect literal Satan to be.

Laura had nothing to do and barely a trace of personality. Her plot line was the worst because things just happened to her, it never seemed like her actions were her own. For someone who was supposed to be headstrong and hardened by the war, she let herself be led by the fates a little too much. Everything in this plot was always too convenient. Being always in the right place, with the right connections, with the right people. Things were solved so easily it left me feeling like there was no point in reading the book.

For example, when the doctor manages to easily and quickly get them all fake IDs and passage back to Canada like it was no big deal even though Winter was wanted for espionage and everyone knew his face, plus he was quite obviously German.

There was also some romance in there that made little to no sense and came out of nowhere, adding to the already crowded plot yet providing little of interest.

I would have loved Freddie and Winter together if they had interacted for longer. I understand that the situation they found themselves in can cause extreme feelings to manifest out of nothing, but it came across as more of a trauma bond instead of a romance. Not only that but the jump to romance was odd as both were men of that era with zero previous indications of being queer in any way. Laura's start of a romance was worse because they had no chemistry and barely any scenes together, I didn't get it or like it.

I would just skip this one and go straight to the Winternight trilogy if you want to read something great by this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Grief, Medical content, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Descriptions of World War I

knatreads501's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• 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: Suicide attempt, War, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

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

dunecello's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Absorbing read with likeable characters and heartwrenching imagery. Loved the ending. My only complaint is it dragged a bit in the middle and there was a bit of unrealistic characterization. Overall worth reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent and Grief

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

readingonfordearlife's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Mental illness

bnashley's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Using WWI and the Halifax Explosion of 1917 as a setting, The Warm Hands of Ghosts explored trauma, PTSD, grief, and the question of “self” through the lens of magical realism. 

The premise was interesting and well done, but it relied on some very common themes that made the book predictable/low stakes/thin. However, it was very touchingly written, and I cared a great deal about the characters, who were well done.

I did get the impression that the author had a much bigger story to tell but couldn’t quite incorporate everything into a cohesive narrative and pared the story down significantly. This was unfortunately very distracting because I kept imagining the missing pieces. 

I really enjoyed the care taken with the the setting. The historical setting and time-based language is accurate and detailed, and the author includes the kinds of little tidbits/trivia that make the setting feel alive. There were a few places where the prose got clunky/repetitive but it did not detract from the overall affect.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Murder, Grief, Violence, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, War, Addiction, Death, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

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

bookdrunkard78's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Medical content, Toxic friendship, War, and Violence