Love the idea that ghosts have warm hands. Such a beautiful thought…
Freddie is a soldier during World War I. One fateful day, during a horrific battle, he ends up trapped under an overturned pillbox with a German soldier called Winter.
Somehow, they manage to escape and a very strong bond between them emerges.
During their struggle to evade other soldiers, they encounter Faland the fiddler, who is most certainly not who he seems. Winter spots him straight away, but Freddie falls head first into his trap.
We then meet Laura, Freddie’s sister, who is sure Freddie is not dead, as she was suspiciously told. Laura, being a front line nurse, heads out to The No Man’s Zone to try and find out what happened to his beloved brother.
This is an absolute gem of a book. You can feel the cold, the despair, the love, the longing and the horrors that World War I brought to humankind. Beautifully told, you can truly feel yourself standing there, on the dark battlefield with Freddie and Winter.
Absolutely loved it. ( )

Katherine Arden is a consummate storyteller who makes the writing appear so effortless, and yet my own words fail me when it comes to doing this novel justice. This is an extraordinary book, imbued with an enormous sense of compassion and humanity in spite of the horrors surrounding the characters, both at home in Canada and abroad; in one of the most poignant moments even the fiddler – a person to whom people are drawn and who is feared in equal measure – is briefly shown with his vulnerability exposed. Highly recommended. ( )

A young Canadian nurse, wounded out of WWI service and orphaned by the explosion in Halifax harbor, relieves her brother's effects. Because two tags are returned and he is reported missing, she knows that information is being withheld. Her brother is experiencing the entire hell of war and then some, as we follow his viewpoint in tandem. The grim toll of war saturates this book, so it is the characters and their involvement that provide motive through the chapters of this Tam-Lin adjacent story. A new dark mythos for the dark age ushered in by mass warfare. ( )

This was really good! I have been a huge fan of Katherine Arden’s work since I first read her work so I was excited to read this book. This book was very different than her previous work and I love the versatility of her writing. This book was the perfect blend of historical fiction and magic which I found captivating.

This story is set during World War I and is told from two main points of view, Laura and her brother Freddie. Laura worked as a nurse during the war until she was discharged after being wounded. When she receives a package containing her brother’s personal items, she fears that he has lost his life fighting the war. Months earlier, Freddie finds himself in a terrible situation and things look grim. Things become even more interesting when both siblings encounter a mysterious stranger.

Michael Crouch and January LaVoy did a wonderful job with the narration of this book. I have had a lot of luck with both of these narrators in the past and I thought their voices complimented each other’s nicely. They were both able to bring their characters to life by bringing just the right amount of emotion to their reading. I am certain that their narration added to my overall enjoyment of this book.

I would recommend this book to others. I quickly became attached to this wonderful cast of characters and wanted to see things work out for each one of them. I look forward to reading more of this talented author’s work in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Del Rey and Penguin Random House Audio. ( )

I was convinced after the first few pages that this book would be slow-moving and nothing that really moved me emotionally. How wrong I was! The pace never did pick up all, but wow. This was a masterful look at the horrors of World War I, not to mention the "Blizzard of Glass" with the Halifax ship collision. The supernatural elements added a layer of otherworldliness that ties in with the surrealism that comes from people killing each other under the banner of war. I tried explaining this to my family after I finished reading, but I don't think I did it justice. This is a book to be experienced, not to hear about in conversation or in a book review online. I can only encourage others to read it too. ( )