The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
The Warm Hands of Ghosts
by Katherine Arden
Historical Fiction | Fantasy
322 Pages
Released 2021
Rating: ★★★
Goodreads
Content Warnings
I really loved the Bear and the Nightingale series (one of my favorites of all time!) but dragged my feet on picking up this book due to the plot. I was wary of the war theme and ultimately right in my concern — it just wasn’t my type of book.
This book follows two siblings Laura and Freddie. Laura was a combat nurse in the war, recently sent home after sustaining injuries in the line of duty. But when she hears about her brother’s disappearance on the battlefield, Laura immediately returns to the war zone to track down her missing brother. But finding him may prove more difficult than she thought, especially after hearing rumors of a strange and fantastical man and his enchanted hotel.
I had high hopes that this book would surprise me. I generally don’t read historical fiction, and especially not war-related fiction but I really wanted to love this one despite the premise.
I thought the characters were interesting, but I had a hard time feeling connected to any of them. When we jump into the story, we never get the opportunity to see Laura and Freddie as siblings, so I had no sense of their bond. I enjoyed Laura’s friends (though not enough to remember their names, apparently) but also never really felt very connected to them either. I did enjoy the interaction between Laura and the doctor but those moments were very few. I also felt intrigued by the “Fiddler” but he remains pretty mysterious for most of the book. Funnily enough, the characters I enjoyed the most, the three sisters at the beginning of the book, were the least-mentioned characters of the bunch.
The plot was ok, it felt meandering at times and I almost feel it would have better served as a novella. The beginning and ending were interesting and well-paced but the middle fell flat and felt largely like filler. It felt somewhat repetitive at times as well and there were several moments where I felt the urge to skim-read. Unfortunately there were also some deus ex machina moments which I was not a fan of. Ultimately it ended a bit too nice and cleanly which didn’t really feel like it fit the story.
Katherine Arden’s writing, as always, was lovely but it was the plot that ultimately made book not as enjoyable to read. That said, if you are a big historical fiction fan that is light on romance and has some fantasy elements throughout, I think you’ll like this one!