I loved this book. I’ve read all of Katherine Arden’s books so as soon as I saw this was coming out I new I had to read it.

I’m actually not the biggest historical fiction fan nor books set in war time but this book is just so well written that I was hooked from the start. It’s beautiful and you can tell just how much research was done to get this just right. It’s a story of love and loss and I couldn’t recommend it more.

Following the lives of Laura and her brother Freddie during WWI, this dual timeline novel is unflinching in the depiction if the horrors of war - both in the trenches, military hospitals and for the soldiers loved ones. Katherine's writing is of course well known for being poetic and beautiful - so this a brutal, but rewarding read with elements of the supernatural alongside the historical aspects.

I‘ve read all of Arden‘s previous work so it was obvious I‘d want to read The Warm Hands of Ghosts as well. I‘m usually a bit weary of WW stories (too many history classes) but I decided to go in as blind as possible, i.e. only looked at a very short and general plot synopsis. And I‘m glad I did.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. It was moving and had me captivated throughout. I loved the supernatural touch. As always, Arden has definitely done her homework researching her topic and the story benefits from it. This one is obviously different from her Winternight trilogy but I loved the characters just as much.

In November 1917, Freddie Iven awakens in darkness. He is trapped under an overturned pillbox, and he is not alone. Trapped with him is a German soldier by the name of Winter, who quickly becomes his sole means of survival. But where can the two of them go once they finally claw their way out, where they won’t be killed as enemy soldiers or deserters? Meanwhile in January 1918, Freddie’s sister, Laura, receives word of Freddie’s death along with his uniform and tags. But if Freddie is missing, presumed dead, how has she been sent his things? Determined to find out what happened to her brother, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer nurse for a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers and stories of a mysterious fiddler who can give soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could this be what has happened to Freddie?

I’m not usually a big fan of WW1 or WW2 stories, but I am a huge fan of Katherine Arden so I decided immediately that I wanted to give this book a go, and I’m very glad I did. It is a moving and intriguing novel, with a fantasy/supernatural touch which actually fits incredibly well with a war theme. The historical elements seem very well researched and Arden manages not to get bogged down in the horrors of war whilst also not glossing over them.

I enjoyed the characters, particularly Laura, Winter and Jones (I didn’t particularly like Freddie but, in his traumatised state, I think we can forgive him), and I loved the tense, supernatural atmosphere throughout the story. It was very easy to understand why the soldiers had so many stories of ghosts and why so many of them would believe the rumours of the fiddler so, despite being a fantasy novel, it was very real and believable.

This book, in short, is one of the best historical fiction novels I have read in a long time. I read it in one sitting, so immersed I was in the world and characters.

The book follows two main characters - Wilfred (Freddie) who is a soldier on the frontlines in WW1 and his nurse sister Laura. We open with Wilfred being trapped in a pillbox in no-man’s land with an injured German soldier called Winter. The two save each others lives and navigate through dangerous terrain. They end up helped by the mysterious fiddler with an agenda of his own, that separates them and finds them struggle to reunite together. We also follow Laura in the wake of tragedy, receiving a box of her brothers effects and being told he is missing in action. We follow her as she finds her way back to the front to find out what has happened to him…

I found this to be both a rich historical fantasy and also a searing meditation on the nature of PTSD and grief. Literally, it’s a battle of wits with the devil, but you can also read it as the horrors of war and shell shock being the real danger. It is very thoughtfully done and I found myself loving the gentle evocative language. It is stronger when talking about Wilfred, I found Laura’s chapters more inspid, but overall this is a really good example of its genre.

4.45 stars!

When I first started this I didn't know what to expect, I went in blind and I'm glad I did because this book surprised me in ways I didn't expect. Ardens writing, at the same time, is different and not so different to her breathtaking Winternight trilogy, a blend of historical, the human condition and magical realism.

This story took me away to war-torn Europe, which learning about is usually quite bland to me. Rather than focusing on the outcome of the war, it focuses intimately on what war makes of people. The bonds it forms, desire, heartbreak, change, realising the person you have become and acknowledging what you no-longer recognise, no longer believe in. This story was painstakingly real, it revealed to me some of my own feelings I've carried along these past few months, making them sharp, poignant even. Overall, this is a heartfelt story absolutely worth being given a read.

I would also like to applaud Arden for the care and research she clearly put into writing this. It might be small, but I noticed a few nods to the standard of medical care and treatments used during the time the story is set (e.g. using wax to alleviate arthritis - my med-brain was like hah!).

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for giving me the chance to read this one early!!

4.5 Stars

Thank you Katherine Arden for breaking my DNF/flops streak x

The Warm Hands of Ghosts follows two narratives - Laura Iven and her brother, Wilfred (Freddie) Iven - during World War One and the battle of Passchendaele.
In November 1917, Freddie finds himself trapped in a collapsed pillbox in no man's land with Winter, a German soldier, and together they fight to get free and make their way to safety. Along the way they meet Faland, a mysterious musician and impossible legend among the soldiers in Ypres, and Freddie becomes entangled with him in an effort to help Winter.
In January 1918, Laura has lost both her parents in a ship explosion in Halifax, Canada. Upon hearing the news her brother is missing in combat, she returns as a nurse to the Western Front to search for him.

Can't express how much I loved this book! It's visceral and unflinching in its depiction of the horrors of war, but at its core, it's a tale of hope and love. I loved every character, I loved how no-nonsense Laura was and I loved the journey every character went through. The plot was gripping and I could barely put the book down, and I found it to be really well-paced. Something I struggle with with dual timelines is the switch back/forth can feel jarring, but this flowed naturally.

Thank you Century & Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Content warnings: war, death, violence, blood/gore, wounds/injuries, suicide, mental illness, loss of parents (content is graphic and frequent)

Thank you to Cornerstone and Random House UK for this ARC!
When Laura Iven, a decorated WWI nurse, returns to the front in search of information about her brother Freddie, she's expecting to face the horrors of war once again. What she's not expecting, however, is to be haunted and drawn in by the stories and ghosts that linger in the trenches. With rumours of something evil lurking around the soldiers, we follow Laura and her brother Freddie in two separate narratives as they try desperately to grasp onto the threads of life and memory in order to survive.
Katherine Arden has a knack for character and for setting - I first noticed this in 'The Bear and the Nightingale', and still am in awe of it now. Both Laura and Freddie are so distinct, their voices so well-honed, and I grew to love both of them. Laura's staunch grit and Freddie's lyrical despair offer two equally poignant POVs, and I especially enjoyed seeing the romance storylines play out in both narratives.
Arden's description of the front (the trenches, the medical and hospital sites, the empty villages) is both brutal and poetic in turn as we see it through both Laura and Freddie's eyes: the impossibility of the cruelty, the senseless nature of death, the fear of forgetting what makes you you, the necessity of companionship and staving off loneliness. Arden weaves the in-universe lore of the ghosts and the myth of the Fiddler in with the truth of WWI existence (reading her Author's Note really illuminated a lot of the inspiration and research that brought this novel to life), creating a historical fantasy that presses up against the borders of fact/history and imagination/myth. Balancing the literal and metaphorical darkness that war brings along with the vitality and light afforded by memory and love, Arden has written a book that I will struggle not to keep thinking about for the foreseeable future.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is, by some margin, the best historical novel I have read in a long time. The story of Laura, a First World War nurse, and her beloved soldier brother Freddie, hooked me from the first line. Like Faland's haunting violin music, Katherine Arden's expertly woven tale of evil and longing and love kept me enthralled, spellbound, utterly gripped. The story is steeped in the horror of the trenches, and the true-life accounts of ghostly apparitions and sightings by soldiers at death's door. Arden's story took me through that door, and into the mad, malevolent, darkly magic world of Faland, who may or may not be the Devil. Whoever he is, Faland survives by stealing the memories of soldiers, men so desperate they are willing to trade their souls for relief from the madness of war.
"Freddie...was trembling. He'd go mad if he gave that memory. He knew it suddenly and clearly. It was a cornerstone of the tottering edifice of his soul. All that he'd become was in that memory: fear and courage, darkness and kindness. Lose it and he'd collapse like a house of cards. He couldn't lose it. He couldn't bear it..."

Incredibly moving, achingly authentic, utterly brilliant.

I hadn’t read anything by this author before; what pulled me in was the mention of Halifax and the 1916 explosion which I learned about on holiday in Nova Scotia in 2019. I am also interested in Passchendaele as my great uncle was killed there in 1917. With so much of interest to me I was very disappointed with this book. None of the characters felt real to me, they were all rather flat and underdeveloped. Faland was unpleasant but so was so much else going on at the time. Right up to the last fifty pages it wouldn’t have bothered me if I hadn’t finished the book. Three stars for research.

3.5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for gifting me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

<b>“Wars are stark things, are they not? Black and white. Allies and enemies. Not this time. You will not know who your enemies are, nor will they reveal themselves as you expect. You will not know whom to trust, but you must trust regardless. Do you understand?”</b>

I was extremely thrilled about a new Katherine Arden book as she completely enchanted me with her Winternight trilogy.

<b>The Warm Hands of Ghosts</b> is a historical fiction taking us back to darker times when tragedy struck on a greater scale during the Great War in the 1910s.

Laura returns to Halifax after being discharged due to her leg injury, leaving behind her brother Freddie who is still fighting in the trenches of the War in Belgium. She eventually receives word that her brother had died in the War, but something is not clicking into place for Laura and so she decides to return to Belgium to as a volunteer at a private hospital and seek the truth of her brother's demise.

We follow two perspectives that transports us to different settings in the War, one is narrated through Laura's POV in the present time (1918) and the other is narrated in the past through Freddie's POV in (1917).

The characters forge unexpected bonds with both allies and enemies while navigating through a great bloody war that will forever alter humanity.

Themes of grief and hope are very prominent and they are what I consider to be the backbone of the book, and I admire the supernatural elements Arden wove into the story.

I found Freddie's chapters to be more compelling than Laura's as they were more heavy with emotions and witnessing what he had endured just made me more attached to him. Laura on the other hand was just okay, but it was Freddie who was the star of the book.

There is a small bit of romance (which I wish was a bit more prominent).

Overall, fans of historical fiction may enjoy this but don't dive into this book expecting it to be similar to Winternight as it's more fantastical and relies on Slavic fairytales whereas TWHOG has a completely different tone.

All I can say is that this book is a monster book!!!
And by that, I mean, it has the author’s soul all over it. Have you ever read a book that you knew was incredibly considered and meant so much to the author. For instance, many authors, arguably most, would say that they put their blood, sweat, and tears into their project, and you might believe them based on the sheer challenge of writing anything for any length of time. In Ghosts, you feel the impact of the writer’s care in every word, the punctuation, and every decision.
The flow of the book was like riding a gentle wave toward shore where you know you’re safe, moving toward the shore at a precise speed that will effortlessly land you in exactly the place you cared to end up the whole time. That is my experience with this book. Such a work of art, and what a story and oh my I will rave on.
My absolute favourite in a very, very long time.
Maybe I’m just in the mood for this type of novel set in this time and these places, with these characters, what can I say, it just worked for me on all levels and I think it’s going to work for a lot of people.

Thanks to netgalley or providing me with this ARC!

It’s January 1918 and Laura Iven has been discharged WW1 Combat nurse after sustaining a injury after the hospital has been bombed. She returns to her home in Halifax Canada. When she receives the personal effectives of her brother Freddie who is fighting in the war. She doesn’t believe that he is dead as some of his things are still missing. When she investigates, she finds out that he is not dead but missing. She decides to return to the war front on the hunt to find her missing brother.
I am a big fan of Katherine Arden’s Winter trilogy, especially ‘The bear and the Nightingale’ so I was looking forward to this.
The warm hands of ghosts is different to the authors previous works. Whereas the Winter trilogy is fantasy, this book is more historical fiction, with a touch of fantasy. Once again this is a well written and richly descriptive book and I found myself immersed in the writing and really enjoying the first half of the book. But as Laura returned to the front and we learn about Freddie in Farland’s clutches I started getting confused in what was going on and started struggling with it and I nearly gave up but continued in till the end. 3.5 stars from me.

📚 r e v i e w 📚

the warm hands of ghosts - katherine arden

if you’re familiar with katherine arden’s other works, namely the winter night trilogy, you’ll know why i was so excited to get my hands on a copy of her latest book.

the warm hands of ghosts have everything i love in a book:
- beautifully haunting writing
- historical fiction
- a hint of the paranormal
- resilient characters
- sibling love

what we have here is a haunting and in parts, horrific tale of life during ww1 and the ghosts we carry with us but at its heart, it is the story of the iven siblings, laura and freddie. they have always been close and so naturally, both of them sign up to fight for their countries, freddie becomes a soldier and laura a field nurse. both witness the true horrors of the war on the front lines and both embark on a journey to return to each other, travelling across europe in the search of answers.
much like with the winter night trilogy katherine arden manages to marry the realities of ww1 and the paranormal.
throughout their travels, both siblings encounter a mysterious hotelier, hear stories of haunted trenches and strange goings on, all set to the backdrop of bombings, trauma and the most deadly conflict in recent history.
if you love whimsical writing, historical fiction and a touch of the paranormal, you should pick up the warm hands of ghosts.

the warm hands of ghosts is out now.
thank you @netgalley for the advance copy.

I absolutely loved Katherine Arden’s ‘Winternight’ trilogy, and so I have been wondering for some time when Katherine Arden was going to publish another book. So of course I had to read ‘The Warm Hands of Ghosts’. It’s very different to her previous books, but I loved it just as much.
Briefly, Laura Iven is a Canadian nurse in France during World War One. Sent home to recover from injuries, she witnesses the devastating explosion of a ship in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which kills her parents. Her brother Freddie has been reported missing in action, and she returns to the Front to look for him. Her search, set against the appalling carnage of the Western Front, is the main theme of the book, but there are elements of magical realism (the Devil, who plays a violin, and three witchy sisters, who immediately reminded me of the Fates). These added to the all-pervasive unworldly, fearful atmosphere which permeates the book. The combination of realism and magical realism was, for me, unbeatable.
Although it is by no means the main theme of the book, there is even a tiny hint of romance, which I loved. Other readers may not agree, feeling it is unrealistic, but personally, whilst I don’t seek out ‘happy’ endings, I do like ‘satisfactory’ ones.
If you like Alice Winn’s ‘In Memoriam’, I highly recommend this.

I had really mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I loved the premise, the setting, the era chosen, the themes -- they all promised something really unlike what usually gets published as mainstream SFF. All of these things are there, but the way the tie together left me a bit underwhelmed. My attention was wavering as I read on, which surprised me, because it's not like I was disinterested in finding out what's next, it's just on a sentence level this wasn't gripping, or perhaps wasn't a style that resonates with me. In the interest of full transparency, I hadn't read the Bear & Nightingale trilogy - I was holding off until I could read a standalone of Ardens to make up my mind about whether the style (which many seem to adore) worked for me. Leaving this as a datapoint for the curious, YMMV.

THank you to the publisher for an advance copy of the ARC, all opinions my own.

"The Warm Hands of Ghosts" by Katherine Arden is a poignant and meticulously researched tale set amidst the harrowing backdrop of World War I. Arden masterfully weaves together elements of historical fiction with a speculative twist, crafting a haunting narrative that lingers in the mind long after the final page.

The characters are richly drawn, each grappling with the trauma and devastation of war in their own way. Laura's unwavering determination to uncover the truth about her brother's fate drives the narrative forward, while Freddie and Winter's unlikely bond serves as a poignant reminder of the humanity that endures even in the darkest of times.

Arden's portrayal of the war-torn landscapes of Flanders is both vivid and immersive, transporting readers to the heart of the conflict with stunning detail. Through her evocative prose, she sheds light on the untold stories of those who fought and perished in the trenches, offering a poignant tribute to their sacrifices.

"The Warm Hands of Ghosts" is a gripping and emotionally resonant read that seamlessly blends elements of history, fantasy, and human drama. It's a testament to the enduring power of love, loyalty, and resilience in the face of unimaginable adversity.

This was pretty well written. I've always wanted to read Arden but never made the jump. I now understand why so many people love her writing.

Having adored Katherine Arden's "The Bear and the Nightingale" trilogy, I knew I had to read her latest book in which she takes a rather different direction. This drips with darkness, spirits and ghosts, immersing the reader into a atmospheric, well researched and illuminating picture of the Great War. Haunting, and chillingly shocking, it pulsates with the horrors, and heartbreak of WW1 in Belgium in this historical fiction intertwined with its vibrant and memorable elements of the fantastical. The bleakness and harrowing terrors, of lives forever changed, the damaged souls, mental health issues, grief, death, and despair of war go hand in hand with shards of light and hope, in this emotionally affecting narrative of family and love, in all its multitude of forms.

Laura Iven, a skilled battlefield nurse goes home to Halifax, Canada after being injured, her parents killed after the largest boat explosion in the harbour. Now on her own, Laura misses her brother, Freddie, serving in the Canadian Army in Flanders, living in fear of what might happen, when she receives his belongings and tags. He is apparently dead, but after odd experiences, she believes he is still alive. Laura returns to Europe, determined and intent on finding Freddie and what really happened to him, hoping to enter the Forbidden Zone, coming across a strange hotel and stories from soldiers of the worrying and menacing figure of the fiddler. In 1917, Freddie comes to, in a German pill box, only to find himself buried with the enemy, a German soldier, Hans Winter. It makes little sense to exist in a state of conflict, so they co-operate in trying to free themselves.

Arden writes with humanity and compassion of the apocalyptic tragedy that was the Great War, of an unimaginable number of deaths, the toll it takes on sanity, the absolute desperation, madness, misery, brutality, the use of gas, lack of food, fear, ghosts, and the utter chaos of the battlefield. It is the connections that build and create paths through the murky quagmire of war in the fight for survival, familial, friendships, surprising relationships that spring that are transformative as they leap beyond conventional and dividing lines of war. This is a touching, powerful, if challenging, novel, plunging the reader into the best and worst of what people are capable of, the nightmare details of what war truly entails, we can never seem to learn though, as can be seen in the wars of our contemporary world today. An incredible read that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗦
—𝗸𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻 | 𝟯.𝟮𝟱🌟

“𝘈 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘨𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝙂𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘺. 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙮𝙚𝙩.”

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲:
✨Historical fiction
✨Elements of paranormal magical realism
✨Set during World War I
✨Set in Belgium/Canada
✨Dual POV

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀:
Laura, an army nurse who was honorably discharged back to Canada during the war due to a shell injury, finds out her brother is missing, presumed dead. Freddie, her brother, finds himself trapped with an injured German, both close to death, as they discover that death isn’t always the worst result of war. Laura and Freddie try to reach each other, across oceans and war torn land, with forces working against them.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓. She demonstrated that with one of my favourite fantasy trilogies ever: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺. And she further demonstrates it with this 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 and 𝗵𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 work of fiction that feels 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸, 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰, and 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱.

KA 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 to 𝘀𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 from the 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 of war and honestly, the 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮 is very real in this book. I think it’s because although this is historical fic, it feels so 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 with the Russian-Ukrainian and Israeli-Palestine conflicts currently ongoing. The 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 of war may have 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 but the 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 of it is a 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 and I couldn’t help but consistently apply the horror I was learning about in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 to the current world conflicts.

This has been labelled as a 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘆 but it doesn’t quite belong in that box. Historical, yes, for sure. However, the 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 are better described as 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 with the 𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 of 𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 and the 𝗼𝗱𝗱 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 of the 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 in the story, 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, who is based on 𝘞𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 from 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢 and is 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 of the 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹.

𝑺𝒐, 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝑰 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒓? The answer to that is 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗮𝗿, 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝑰 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈. I found the characters 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁, even though there was a 𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗢𝗩 with 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗰 𝘓𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢 and 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦, I didn’t feel as though I was 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 to them. I wonder whether it was the 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 of war that made me feel 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯 to any 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 and as this is more 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 than plot driven, that 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. To be honest, I don’t feel like my rating is set in stone as this is the kind of book that will take a while to process.

𝗸𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵 | 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗵 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆 📚🧚🏼‍♀️