A review by lory_enterenchanted
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

dark emotional informative sad tense

4.0

What would the Devil do in a hell created by humans? That is the question at the heart of this story, which starts out with extreme gruesomeness based in the horrors of WWI, and gradually shows a more tender side. War certainly shows the worst in human beings, but also brings out the best: their capacity for self-sacrificing love. The Devil wants to rob us of the emotions that both bring us pain and teach us of our indelible spiritual connections; he offers us oblivion to soothe the first, but in so doing breaks the second. With her images and events based in the experiences of war, Arden brings the situation to life and makes us think about how we would choose.