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steffandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I have so many thoughts on this one, I don't even know where to start! The book left me reeling and speechless. I don't know whether I should cry happy or sad tears. This is a masterpiece and I am so mad at myself that I didn't read this sooner!
Not gonna lie though, I had a hard time getting into this because I was so confused with the world, like, literally nothing was being explained until page 100 or so when you finally get a few glimpses at the magic system and how the different kingdoms are interconnected. But then later, I realized, this is intentional and let's be honest, isn't every high fantasy book confusing in the beginning?
I am so in love with Kiva. She is such a great character, very strong female lead and very selfless. The well-beings of others always come first and although she doesn't trust easily, I couldn't blame her because she was thrown into prison when she was only 7 and had to survive somehow. We get glimpses of her past and what happened to her family and how she went through some difficult time by herself, being addicted to certain things and stuff but overcame that period of her time in prison as well. Like I said - she is such a strong character.
We also had so many plots intertwining into each other in this book, I loved it! You know when you sometimes read a book and there is one main plot? This was not the case here. While we think it focused mainly on the Trial by Ordeal, the normal prison life goes on as well and there are many challenges Kiva has to face and we focus on that in the book as well for some time, while going back to the Trial when it became time for the next Ordeal.
Side characters like Jaren, Naari, Tipp and Mot had me reeling. Jaren was so mysterious in the beginning that I didn't know what to think of him. I had a slight feeling what he was hiding, but in the end, didn't see it coming nonetheless. Naari has my full heart. She poses as a guard in the prison and while Kiva came to fear all guards, she slowly realized that Naari is different and she turns into a friend. I loved seeing how both, Jaren and Naari, just slowly made their way into Kiva's heart and she wasn't able to do anything about it. And Tipp! Oh boy, that sweet, sweet boy. I was sobbing for him and when I saw a fanart of the character? Man, now I wish I had my own younger brother.
The ending was just mind-blowing. I loved how Lynette just casually mentions the biggest plot twist in two solid sentences and then goes back to the "main story". Obviously, I have to pick up the next book immediately as I need to know what happens with all the characters and I can only hope that Kiva will stay true to herself based on what was revealed on the last page....
Not gonna lie though, I had a hard time getting into this because I was so confused with the world, like, literally nothing was being explained until page 100 or so when you finally get a few glimpses at the magic system and how the different kingdoms are interconnected. But then later, I realized, this is intentional and let's be honest, isn't every high fantasy book confusing in the beginning?
I am so in love with Kiva. She is such a great character, very strong female lead and very selfless. The well-beings of others always come first and although she doesn't trust easily, I couldn't blame her because she was thrown into prison when she was only 7 and had to survive somehow. We get glimpses of her past and what happened to her family and how she went through some difficult time by herself, being addicted to certain things and stuff but overcame that period of her time in prison as well. Like I said - she is such a strong character.
We also had so many plots intertwining into each other in this book, I loved it! You know when you sometimes read a book and there is one main plot? This was not the case here. While we think it focused mainly on the Trial by Ordeal, the normal prison life goes on as well and there are many challenges Kiva has to face and we focus on that in the book as well for some time, while going back to the Trial when it became time for the next Ordeal.
Side characters like Jaren, Naari, Tipp and Mot had me reeling. Jaren was so mysterious in the beginning that I didn't know what to think of him. I had a slight feeling what he was hiding, but in the end, didn't see it coming nonetheless. Naari has my full heart. She poses as a guard in the prison and while Kiva came to fear all guards, she slowly realized that Naari is different and she turns into a friend. I loved seeing how both, Jaren and Naari, just slowly made their way into Kiva's heart and she wasn't able to do anything about it. And Tipp! Oh boy, that sweet, sweet boy. I was sobbing for him and when I saw a fanart of the character? Man, now I wish I had my own younger brother.
The ending was just mind-blowing. I loved how Lynette just casually mentions the biggest plot twist in two solid sentences and then goes back to the "main story". Obviously, I have to pick up the next book immediately as I need to know what happens with all the characters and I can only hope that Kiva will stay true to herself based on what was revealed on the last page....
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Genocide, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Murder
Minor: Death, Vomit, and Death of parent
vmknmy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
perfection
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Murder
teiscool12's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War
mspilesofpaper's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Just no.
Utterly predictable (even for YA), has tons of questionable content for YA (rape, self-harm, abuse, drugs and overdosing, murder, torture etc).
Love interest and main character give me major Gary and Mary Sue vibes. Of course, they’re white and LI is the only one with a specific and rare eye colour. Blue/gold which gives me Maas' vibes (Aelin is described to have a similar eye colour, I think).
The logic of „if you’re a super dangerous criminal who might have magic, you’re forced to participate in this trial series that includes all four elements and if you survive, you can leave by law“ still baffles me. If you don’t have magic, you die. Spoiler: magic is super rare and belongs to the royals.
Irking extra: the maps are not ebook friendly. World-building is lacking as it is but the maps are also useless.
Utterly predictable (even for YA), has tons of questionable content for YA (rape, self-harm, abuse, drugs and overdosing, murder, torture etc).
Love interest and main character give me major Gary and Mary Sue vibes. Of course, they’re white and LI is the only one with a specific and rare eye colour. Blue/gold which gives me Maas' vibes (Aelin is described to have a similar eye colour, I think).
The logic of „if you’re a super dangerous criminal who might have magic, you’re forced to participate in this trial series that includes all four elements and if you survive, you can leave by law“ still baffles me. If you don’t have magic, you die. Spoiler: magic is super rare and belongs to the royals.
Irking extra: the maps are not ebook friendly. World-building is lacking as it is but the maps are also useless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Self harm, and Torture
Moderate: Death, Rape, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty
klc17's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
pumpkinspicebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
what the actual fuck was the last like 25% of this book. no but seriously, w h a t. I'm reading the dutch translations of this series and the last one won't come out until the end of august so I'm not gonna start the second one because I need to binge the last two in this trilogy for sure. holy damn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Addiction
rachelgart0n's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Self harm
foreverbookwandering's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Re-read 🥰
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
idkmangodffs's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Death and Sexual harassment
literarypenguin's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The Prison Healer follows Kiva, A healer imprisoned at the horrific death prison known as Zalindov. Kiva has been imprisoned here for ten years learning that you can only trust yourself and yourself only at this prison. When she gets a note from her family promising an escape for her from the prison, Kiva must heed her family’s instructions to protect the Rebel Queen to guarantee her freedom. But with the Rebel Queen due to undergo a series of trials that no one has survived, Kiva must endure these trials for the Rebel Queen and her safety and freedom. I picked up this book because of the praise I heard from various people and wanted to try it out for myself. After I finished this book I felt the need to read the second book just to find out what happens next. My expectations of this book were pretty good and I thought it was a good debut into the fantasy genre. It had a unique take on fantasy and I appreciated it. I liked how this book used magic and explained why only some people had magic and others didn’t. I feel like that is why this book is unique.
I felt like the writing was very good, not anything spectacular but still pretty good. It appealed to a lot of the senses and described the prison and its inhabitants very well. The pace was not too fast and not too slow, it took its time to pace out the story and have everything happen at the right time. I feel like it had to be this pace so that the events could unfold at the right time. It was consistent throughout the novel and it felt like stuff was happening at the same time Kiva was experiencing them. I liked that aspect of the writing and it made me enjoy the story even more.
The book follows Kiva as she tries to navigate her life in Zalindov, the harshest and most terrible prison in the kingdom. She receives a note from her family on the outside and must protect the Rebel Queen, a known rebellion leader, from harm to guarantee her freedom. Along the way, she must deal with her growing feelings for a new prisoner with secrets of his own to keep. The story wasn’t anything too new but I still was intrigued and found the characters quite enjoyable. Kiva having to protect a rebellion leader and try to discover a cure for a disease going around the prison was interesting to see. Kiva has to put herself in harm's way so that the Queen stays safe while learning more about her own abilities and what she can truly do. I liked how the story stayed in one location throughout and even though we didn’t see a lot of the prison because of Kiva being confined to the infirmary it was still an interesting location to explore. I think that is what made the story strong as well, it takes place in one place. I liked how Kiva did try to train herself for each trial and found ways to survive them besides her own skill. The twist at the end was equally the best part of the story for me, I did not see that ending coming at all!!
Kiva was an excellent main protagonist and I loved how she had to harden herself in order to survive the harsh environment of the prison. She came off as cold and closed off to people but inside she was truly suffering for all that she had to do and all that she had to endure. Jaren became a favorite character for me because of how much he grew to care about Kiva and how much he wanted to protect her and let her know that she was safe with him. Their relationship was very believable and their love for each other grew on me the more into the book that I read. I liked Tipp as a character and thought he was so cute. Naari was a good character too and I loved her growing friendship with Kiva! Kiva grew to trust people and let herself be vulnerable and Jaren learning to trust as well as let his guard down was great to see. Naari was the most interesting to read about because she had so many layers and had her own story and secrets that I hope to learn more about in the second book.
The book primarily takes place in Zalindov a very harsh and terrible prison that the worst of the worst prisoners go to. I feel like what the author did with the setting was very good even though we didn’t get to see much of the prison because of Kiva being confined to the infirmary. I wish that we could have had more worldbuilding but I am happy with what we got. It was very important that this place be built up as a scary and harsh place so that we can understand how hard Kiva has it growing up in a place like this. Since this is the only place we see in the book it is very important to the story that this place gets developed. I loved the different places that we did see especially the morgue where the dead prisoners were taken it seemed like a very dark place to be next to the tower where punishments were dealt out.
The book explores some themes of trauma and abandonment through Kiva losing her father and her brother in a brutal way. I felt like the themes were portrayed very well and shown in a mature way through her. How she would think back to her father and brother and protect Tipp with everything she has to make sure she doesn’t lose him too. It made sense for the type of story this was and with Jaren, he was the child of a person who was addicted to drugs and how he dealt with the addiction and how he felt toward drugs.
I hope people give this book a try and I hope that people enjoy this book as much as I did and find that this book will surprise them in more ways than one. I look forward to the sequel and can’t wait to see where it goes.
I felt like the writing was very good, not anything spectacular but still pretty good. It appealed to a lot of the senses and described the prison and its inhabitants very well. The pace was not too fast and not too slow, it took its time to pace out the story and have everything happen at the right time. I feel like it had to be this pace so that the events could unfold at the right time. It was consistent throughout the novel and it felt like stuff was happening at the same time Kiva was experiencing them. I liked that aspect of the writing and it made me enjoy the story even more.
The book follows Kiva as she tries to navigate her life in Zalindov, the harshest and most terrible prison in the kingdom. She receives a note from her family on the outside and must protect the Rebel Queen, a known rebellion leader, from harm to guarantee her freedom. Along the way, she must deal with her growing feelings for a new prisoner with secrets of his own to keep. The story wasn’t anything too new but I still was intrigued and found the characters quite enjoyable. Kiva having to protect a rebellion leader and try to discover a cure for a disease going around the prison was interesting to see. Kiva has to put herself in harm's way so that the Queen stays safe while learning more about her own abilities and what she can truly do. I liked how the story stayed in one location throughout and even though we didn’t see a lot of the prison because of Kiva being confined to the infirmary it was still an interesting location to explore. I think that is what made the story strong as well, it takes place in one place. I liked how Kiva did try to train herself for each trial and found ways to survive them besides her own skill. The twist at the end was equally the best part of the story for me, I did not see that ending coming at all!!
Kiva was an excellent main protagonist and I loved how she had to harden herself in order to survive the harsh environment of the prison. She came off as cold and closed off to people but inside she was truly suffering for all that she had to do and all that she had to endure. Jaren became a favorite character for me because of how much he grew to care about Kiva and how much he wanted to protect her and let her know that she was safe with him. Their relationship was very believable and their love for each other grew on me the more into the book that I read. I liked Tipp as a character and thought he was so cute. Naari was a good character too and I loved her growing friendship with Kiva! Kiva grew to trust people and let herself be vulnerable and Jaren learning to trust as well as let his guard down was great to see. Naari was the most interesting to read about because she had so many layers and had her own story and secrets that I hope to learn more about in the second book.
The book primarily takes place in Zalindov a very harsh and terrible prison that the worst of the worst prisoners go to. I feel like what the author did with the setting was very good even though we didn’t get to see much of the prison because of Kiva being confined to the infirmary. I wish that we could have had more worldbuilding but I am happy with what we got. It was very important that this place be built up as a scary and harsh place so that we can understand how hard Kiva has it growing up in a place like this. Since this is the only place we see in the book it is very important to the story that this place gets developed. I loved the different places that we did see especially the morgue where the dead prisoners were taken it seemed like a very dark place to be next to the tower where punishments were dealt out.
The book explores some themes of trauma and abandonment through Kiva losing her father and her brother in a brutal way. I felt like the themes were portrayed very well and shown in a mature way through her. How she would think back to her father and brother and protect Tipp with everything she has to make sure she doesn’t lose him too. It made sense for the type of story this was and with Jaren, he was the child of a person who was addicted to drugs and how he dealt with the addiction and how he felt toward drugs.
I hope people give this book a try and I hope that people enjoy this book as much as I did and find that this book will surprise them in more ways than one. I look forward to the sequel and can’t wait to see where it goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Addiction