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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
tkatt20's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A warning for anyone looking to read this: this is a very trigger heavy book, if there are sensitive topics that you need to avoid i would probably avoid this one since pertty much everything is brought up at least once. Please check content warnings before reading.
Im kind of lost on what I feel about this book. It was good, but I tend to be a detective when reading, so I was searching for every plot twist and I solved 90% of this book within the first 50 or so pages. That didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book, it just made it seem very slow paced for me when I usually like quicker fantasy novels. The premise and the storyline was very interesting, I lost a little on the world building, but considering the entire book is set in a prison that the MC arrived at when she was 7, it kind of makes sense. The characters were interesting enough to hold my attention, and for being only 17, the MC was very mature and resourceful. I would have loved to see more of the side characters and some of the little details of the Prison more fleshed out but it was alright. Everything was mostly saved by the ending in my opinion.
If you're the type of person who doesn't search for plot twists and just wants a fun and quick read then this would be perfect for you. This checks off all the boxes of a basic YA fantasy and it was definitely worth the time. The ending was amazing and I hope the next one does more in terms of world building.
Im kind of lost on what I feel about this book. It was good, but I tend to be a detective when reading, so I was searching for every plot twist and I solved 90% of this book within the first 50 or so pages. That didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book, it just made it seem very slow paced for me when I usually like quicker fantasy novels. The premise and the storyline was very interesting, I lost a little on the world building, but considering the entire book is set in a prison that the MC arrived at when she was 7, it kind of makes sense. The characters were interesting enough to hold my attention, and for being only 17, the MC was very mature and resourceful. I would have loved to see more of the side characters and some of the little details of the Prison more fleshed out but it was alright. Everything was mostly saved by the ending in my opinion.
If you're the type of person who doesn't search for plot twists and just wants a fun and quick read then this would be perfect for you. This checks off all the boxes of a basic YA fantasy and it was definitely worth the time. The ending was amazing and I hope the next one does more in terms of world building.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, and Sexism
stephaniemcuervo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual harassment, and War
alexandragriffin's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, and Torture
Moderate: Drug abuse and Self harm
Holocaust, crematoriumskassidyreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction and Drug use
izzy_mckeough's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Written by Lynette Noni, one of my favourite fantasy authors, I had very high expectations for this book. I have to say, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of compelling plot and very slow pace. However, the book did have good characters who were believable and 3-dimensional (my favourite being Naari). The last few pages also revealed some huge plot twists which confused me at the time, but thinking back on it there was some (very subtle) foreshadowing. Overall, in my opinion one of Noni's weakest books but I'll persevere through to the second novel and hope it can add some more interesting plot to a fairly well-developed setting with good characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Medical content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
sarahsbookss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
chamaeleontis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
This book was great. It had so many amazing, and natural plot twists. I only guessed 1 of them, and part of 2 others. Nothing was set up that wasn't followed through on. The characters are all 3D, and morally realistic, which I personally really enjoyed. That's not even to mention the writing. Lynette Noni's style is spectacular. It flows so naturally, and is very enjoyable.
The one nit-picky thing was a plot point I personally didn't like, which is why it's 4.75, rather than 5.It bothered me that we never got to know Tilda despite her being right there. I would have had a problem with it regardless of her being Kiva's mom, but that made it more frustrating. In the same vein, I get why it was done, but I feel that there could have at least been one full sentence exchanged
I would highly recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy but is sick of repetitive plots. There's a few common tropes, but they are well done, with unique takes. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
The one nit-picky thing was a plot point I personally didn't like, which is why it's 4.75, rather than 5.
I would highly recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy but is sick of repetitive plots. There's a few common tropes, but they are well done, with unique takes. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
gottheart's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I picked this book up last year sometime because it looked good and I saw some hype about it. I didn’t get around to reading it until now but wow! What an intense and twisty story! The ending had my sitting there questioning life and desperately needing the second book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes dark fantasy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, and Death of parent