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A review by onthesamepage
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I could not have predicted how deep this story would settle into my heart. My experience with historical fiction, specifically anything centered on Europe and/or the two World Wars, has been really lackluster in recent years. But I was curious about the synopsis, and I'm so glad I decided to pick this up.
What The Warm Hands of Ghosts does differently compared to other books centered on WWI or II is that, while the story takes place during the war, the core of the story isn't about the war, just tangentially related to it. Instead, this is all about the characters, and the bonds between them. Where most war books have the main character involved deep in the war, with the progression of the war being a huge part of the story, this book focuses on a sister trying to find out what happened to her last remaining family, and her brother, a few months earlier, trapped in a box with a German soldier. The war happens around them, and they interact with it sometimes, but that's about it, and this is the balance I apparently prefer.
The book is written as a dual timeline, but the gap between the timelines is only a few months, and they come together about halfway through. Since we follow different characters in each, it didn't feel like it slowed down the pace for me, and it kept me interested.
It helps that I was invested very quickly in the characters. The dynamic between Freddie and Winter hooked me right away. Being stuck together forces them from enemies to allies in order to survive, and the places the author takes this, and how far they go for each other, made me feel all the things. I don't want to say much more than this, but it went exactly where I was hoping it would go, and I loved every second of it.
Then, on the flip side, there was Laura, determined to go back to the front despite a previous injury, because she wanted to know what happened to Freddie. She thinks he's dead, she just wants to know how he died, and where. She ends up working at a hospital again, where she meets Jones, an American doctor, and that was another relationship that I really loved. They're both feeling each other out at the beginning—Jones does experimental procedures that Laura doesn't approve of, and Jones thinks she might not go along with some of his choices when it comes to not letting people suffer needlessly. But despite his gruff demeanor, it's clear that he quickly comes to respect Laura.
Both relationships don't have big moments that made my heart ache, but there were so many small moments, and the tiny details really did it for me.
The story explores grief, and PTSD, and how people deal with that in different ways. It's beautifully written, exquisitely sad and tender, and it's one that's going to stay with me for a while.
I could not have predicted how deep this story would settle into my heart. My experience with historical fiction, specifically anything centered on Europe and/or the two World Wars, has been really lackluster in recent years. But I was curious about the synopsis, and I'm so glad I decided to pick this up.
What The Warm Hands of Ghosts does differently compared to other books centered on WWI or II is that, while the story takes place during the war, the core of the story isn't about the war, just tangentially related to it. Instead, this is all about the characters, and the bonds between them. Where most war books have the main character involved deep in the war, with the progression of the war being a huge part of the story, this book focuses on a sister trying to find out what happened to her last remaining family, and her brother, a few months earlier, trapped in a box with a German soldier. The war happens around them, and they interact with it sometimes, but that's about it, and this is the balance I apparently prefer.
The book is written as a dual timeline, but the gap between the timelines is only a few months, and they come together about halfway through. Since we follow different characters in each, it didn't feel like it slowed down the pace for me, and it kept me interested.
It helps that I was invested very quickly in the characters. The dynamic between Freddie and Winter hooked me right away. Being stuck together forces them from enemies to allies in order to survive, and the places the author takes this, and how far they go for each other, made me feel all the things. I don't want to say much more than this, but it went exactly where I was hoping it would go, and I loved every second of it.
Then, on the flip side, there was Laura, determined to go back to the front despite a previous injury, because she wanted to know what happened to Freddie. She thinks he's dead, she just wants to know how he died, and where. She ends up working at a hospital again, where she meets Jones, an American doctor, and that was another relationship that I really loved. They're both feeling each other out at the beginning—Jones does experimental procedures that Laura doesn't approve of, and Jones thinks she might not go along with some of his choices when it comes to not letting people suffer needlessly. But despite his gruff demeanor, it's clear that he quickly comes to respect Laura.
Both relationships don't have big moments that made my heart ache, but there were so many small moments, and the tiny details really did it for me.
The story explores grief, and PTSD, and how people deal with that in different ways. It's beautifully written, exquisitely sad and tender, and it's one that's going to stay with me for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and War
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Cannibalism