The Prison Healer’ is a surprisingly dark and gritty YA fantasy. The individual elements and twists are relatively predictable, but the unique setting and darker undertones make this an engaging and worthwhile read.

Kiva Meridan has been at the notorious Zalindov prison for ten years, imprisoned as a seven year old alongside her father for being part of the rebel uprising. Now seventeen, she works as the prison’s healer – treating the inmates’ ailments, but also carving the prison’s mark into new arrivals and reporting intel to the prison’s warden. The other inmates shun her for her compliance – all except Tipp, an eleven year old she’s taken under her wing. When the Rebel Queen is captured, it’s Kiva’s job to keep her alive long enough to face punishment – a job which becomes even more important when a coded message from her family arrives, making it clear that Kiva’s own life is tied to the Queens. Kiva’s only chance at survival is to volunteer to sit the Queen’s punishment in her place – a punishment no-one has ever survived.

Kiva is an excellent protagonist – strong, mature beyond her years, and absolutely determined to survive. Outwardly compliant, her inner thoughts are nothing but, and she knows exactly how to game the system to her advantage. However, the Rebel Queen’s arrival throws all her careful plans and systems into disarray, leaving her almost helpless. Its this that is Kiva’s main issue – she’s so powerless against her own fate it can be a bit irritating to read, as she continually survives with almost no input of her own. She’s clearly a highly intelligent woman – it would be nice if she was allowed to play a larger role in her own fate.

The other major characters are also great – especially Tipp, the sweetest character in the book. Tipp is an element of light and joy in an otherwise dark story. He also has a speech impediment, not something seen very often in fantasy novels. Naari is another fantastic character, a strong and moral prison guard in an institution otherwise filled with corruption. The friendship between her and Kiva is excellent, and the way they come to gradually trust each other feels entirely natural.

The love interest, Jaren, is probably the weakest character. He’s very easy to like, and the chemistry between him and Kiva is evident, but he also feels incredibly stereotypical of a YA love interest. Other than his affection for Kiva, he comes across two-dimensional. However, he has the potential to be a much stronger character than he is, and I hope he’s developed further in the planned sequel.

The setting is the high point. Zalindov prison is a horribly bleak place, a place where people are sent to die, and Lynette Noni does an exceptional job painting a picture of it. The situation always feels dark, and the horrors – whilst carefully age-appropriate – always feel real. Kiva’s role as the prison healer shelters her from some of the worst elements, and her horror and revulsion as they come to light is deeply impactful. The healing itself also has a reasonable scientific basis. The terminology is kept simple and accessible, but none of it feels out of the realms of possibility.

The major issue with this novel, unfortunately, is the plot. The secondary plot, involving the outbreak of a plague, is very interesting, but the major plot – a series of trials Kiva must take for the Rebel Queen – is well-trodden territory in YA fantasy, and there isn’t enough innovation to stand out. It isn’t helped by the fact Kiva is continually saved rather than saving herself. The twists in the plot, including the ending, are clever, but all are predictable before they happen, giving the ending a lack of impact.

Overall, this is a solid entry to the YA fantasy genre, worth reading for the innovative setting and darker undertones. Recommended for fans of YA fantasy novels like Shadow and Bone and The Hunger Games.

This is really good YA fantasy - the kind that doesn’t make me feel too old to read it but still feels age appropriate.

Kiva is a survivor. She has been trapped in a death trap of a prison (when she was taken with her father) for 10 years and has survived the perils to become the prison healer (and warden informant). When the rebel queen is brought wounded and ill to the prison and forced to face the trials, Kiva due to a multitude of reasons is forced to take her place and be her champion.

There were a lot of plot twists - some I wasn’t expecting and I was pleasantly surprised. The characters are well laid out and solid - I love Kiva, Tipp, Naari and Jaren equally. I even love Mot and hope he survives. I liked the political intrigue and the mysterious ailment aspect that was sweeping the prison. I love that the book is also a little dark - it is set in a prison after all with some awful characters.

There are some open questions that I wish the author had covered more as I don’t understand why Kiva was taken in the first place, or why the soldiers said she only had herself to blame when she hadn’t actually done anything. That bit really confused me. The issues with her family and why they never came for her is curious. The ending is also a little ... lets just say I can’t wait to see how the story develops in the next book.

Very enjoyable book.

Ziva Meridan has been in Zalindov prison since the age of seven, when she was imprisoned together with her father accused of being a sympathizer of the rebels. Ten years later, she’s become the prison healer, welcoming new prisoners and using her father’s remedies to cure her fellow prisoners. Because of her job, the other prisoners call her the Heatless Carver and the Princess of Death, but that’s how Ziva survived, by being submissive and keeping her head down, while waiting and hoping for her family to free her.

One day, the Queen of rebels is brought in. She will have to face the Trial by Ordeal, four tests that will either prove her innocence, if she passes them all, or kill her in the process. However, the Queen is too ill to take part in the trials and Ziva offers herself as her Champion. If she passes all the trials, both her and the Queen will be free. The problem? No one has ever won the Trial by Ordeal. And while Ziva is trying to stay alive during the Trial, she is also busy figuring out what is the stomach virus that is hitting and killing many of the prisoners.

I loved this book. I was completely engrossed in the story and Ziva is an incredible heroine. She is strong and determined, and, trust me, she will take you completely by surprise. She prefers to be on her own, not only because she hopes to leave the prison soon, but also because not many survive Zalindov prison, however, she finds a few friends and allies: Naari, the calm and mysterious guard who has no problem to look the other way when she needs to; Jaren, the charming new prisoner who is always there for her and who doesn’t take the hint that she is not interested in forming a relationship inside the prison; Tipp, the energetic young boy who has become like a brother to her.

The story is intriguing, well-written, and carefully-plotted and the ending is explosive. You won’t see it coming, it will shock you, and it will leave you wishing that the second book, The Gilded Cage, had already been published!

You know when you read a book and it's all you can think about for days on end and you just want to ignore your whole TBR to dive back into this world and consume it?! That is The Prison Healer for me. This book was one of my most anticipated reads for 2021 and it did not disappoint, I actually think it's my favourite book of the year so far!

This book ticked all the boxes for me in terms of YA fantasy! It had amazing main characters that you cannot help but fall in love with, a captivating plot, twists and turns that you never saw coming and an epic ending that has you craving the next book!

Noni has a beautiful way of writing that had me unable to put the book down and needing to read on to see what happened next! Kiva was such a brilliant main character and I loved watching as her character developed and struggled with the situation she had selflessly put herself in. The side characters were so unique and I found myself loving their addition to the story!

Honestly, you need to read The Prison Healer! I have not stopped thinking about it, the characters or the plot! If I didn't have a million books on my TBR screaming for me to read them I would easily pick this book up again right now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodderscape for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐋𝐲𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐢 is set, as you probably guessed, in a prison. Zalindov is noted for being the most brutal prison in the land and Kiva is the only competent healer in it. ⁣
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Seventeen year old Kiva herself has been imprisoned in Zalindov for a decade and she survives by keeping her head down and following the rules while waiting for her family to rescue her. However, when the Rebel Queen is captured and imprisoned, a coded message to keep the queen safe from her family convinces Kiva to volunteer for series of torturous challenges to win their freedom. ⁣
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Even while trying to survive these trials, Kiva has to figure out a mysterious plague that is killing prisoners. ⁣
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I was just enthralled with this whole world and with all the characters! Kiva’s determination to survive no matter what was riveting and I rooted for her immediately. The story was fast paced and the world-building unfolded beautifully. ⁣
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I loved the action, mystery and also emotion in this book and I can’t wait for the next! This was my first book by the author and guess who is going on a backlist hunt now while waiting for book 2!⁣
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Thank you to the publisher Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an arc copy of this book via NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion.

Heading into The Prison Healer, I wasn't sure what to expect as it was the first Lynette Noni book that I have picked up, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the complex plot that constantly left me guessing until the last page.

The characters are such a central part of The Prison Healer, and they really delivered. I loved the mix of personalities and how they interacted with each other. Kiva was my favourite character because she is so different to the normal female protagonist, and I loved that. She had such a strong ethic, and the way she treated Trip was adorable. There was also the start to a possible romantic relationship, but I am glad that it did not overtake the whole story, and the plot was much more focused on the prison.

As this was my first Lynette Noni book, I wasn't sure what to expect from her writing style, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the mix of long passages of learning about the setting and being drip-fed things through conversations. I think this really lent itself well to the story and created a suitable atmosphere. This definitely kept me intrigued in the story.

I did find myself getting a little bit bored towards the middle of the book as it felt as if the story was going round in circles without making any progress. The characters were all in a holding pattern waiting for the next trial to take place, without making an effort to solve their problems. But this did improve towards the end of the book as the story began to move forward and Lynette Noni gave more answers to my questions.

The ending of The Prison Healer is very dramatic, and it gives quite a few answers to questions in a short space of time. I would have liked this to have been a little bit slower to fully appreciate what was happening and what the effects could be. But I will say that I didn't expect the ending, which is a surprise, especially after how many hints we were given.

I can't wait to read the sequel to The Prison Healer after the reveals at the end. I will definitely be going and checking out some of Lynette Noni's backlist to see if there is anything else I am interested in. If you were not going to pick up The Prison Healer, I highly suggest you change your plans and do.

I'd read some mixed reviews before going into The Prison Healer, but once I read the first few pages I was completely hooked. Noni completely brought Zalindov Prison and the people that inhabit it to life and I easily found myself invested in Kiva as well as other characters storylines.

Kiva is a rarity, having survived in Zalindov Prison for 10 years, her healing skills have made her almost invaluable, and she has ensured her safety by becoming the Warden's eyes and ears, something that disgusts her. She is looked down on by the other prisoners, but Kiva isn't there to make friends. She just needs to survive a little bit longer, because her family is coming to save her. Only the arrival of some prisoners throw a spanner in the works, and Kiva will find herself risking life and limb to save someone she barely knows, as well as trying to get a hold on her feelings for the strange boy unlike anyone she has ever met.

I loved Kiva as a character. She is incredibly resilient after living in the prison for 10 years, doing what she needs to do to survive just waiting for the day her family will rescue her. As the healer she can't help but build ties with people, ties she doesn’t want because ties become emotions, and emotions just get in the way. But she is only human, and humans form attachments, even in the direst of places. The only person she lets close is Tipp, the boy who reminds her of her younger brother, and who she has practically raised since his mother died. Her story is one filled with sadness, taken to the Prison because she dared defy the guard who tried to arrest her family, she doesn't deserve to be there, but then neither do a good portion of the population.

We also get treated to a great cast of side characters. Tipp, the young boy who Kiva see's as a brother. He ended up in the Prison because he wouldn't let go of his mother when she was arrested, but the Warden without let him out without a guardian to claim him. Jaren, the mysterious boy who arrives alongside two dead bodies, Kiva finds herself drawn to him despite her claims to not want to form attachments and Naari, the only prison guard who seems to live by a code, she doesn't harm the prisoners and ends up becoming an almost friend to Kiva, looking out for her especially where some of the other guards are concerned. Even though Kiva claims to not want to form attachments, form them she does, and I loved seeing all the different relationships develop throughout the book. She unintentionally brings out a loyalty in the people she likes and before long those loyalties will get tested.

The author doesn't shy away from the realities of prison life, especially for a woman, and because of that this book should come with some definite trigger warnings for off page rape, near abuse of a dead body, mental and physical torture. There were parts of this book, and certain characters that totally creeped me out, but that just added to the atmosphere for me and made me feel more invested in the storyline. Noni does a brilliant job of giving you the history of her world, a good insight into the magic system as well as character backstories without it becoming overwhelming or having too many info dumps. Thanks to the authors writing style the story really flows and with plenty of plots twists thrown in for good measure I ended up devouring this in two sittings.

You might have seen me post on twitter after finishing this, but in case you didn't all I can say is wtf was that ending! It seriously had me gasping out loud and flicking back to all the little clues I missed and hitting myself for not realising where the story was going sooner. I am forever grateful that book two is already available to request on NG because I seriously couldn’t wait a year to carry on the story. An easy 4 out of 5 stars. There were parts of this book that I felt dragged on slightly longer than necessary, but I loved it as a whole and can't wait to continue with the series.

Kiva Meridan has survived Zalindov prison for ten years when the average prisoner only survives a year. She is the prison healer, tasked with scarring each inmate when they arrive at the prison and healing them during their short time in the barbaric prison. She has survived this long by trusting no one and avoiding the sadistic guards and her fellow inmates who despise her. Until one day the leader of the Rebellion arrives in the prison, leading Kiva down path that changes the course of her life.

The Prison Healer is a thrilling story with themes of identity, strength and survival in a magical world. It took me a while to get in to the story because as with other books in the fantasy genre, there needs to be a fair amount of scene setting to reveal the world Kiva lives in. However, the pace soon picks up when Kiva has both a mystery to solve and death defying trials to survive. The are some beautiful relationships in this book between Kiva and fellow inmates when in the worst of times they rally around her. There’s also a tantalising slow burn romance. Whilst I guessed some elements of the plot, there were some jaw dropping moments which I really enjoyed. I am itching to get my hands on the next book in order to see what happens next.

I would recommend this to fans of fantasy and dystopian books, push it to the top of your TBR pile.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lynette Noni and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I can't wait for this to be released!! Excellent story and morally grey characters with a prison backdrop. Similar to hunger games and a lot of other ya out there, but it does manage to stand on its own. I need the second one like yesterday.

I would like to thank netglalley and the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton for the chance to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

P.S: Full review to be released close to publication date; I'll update feedback with linked review

OMG!!!! I'll just start by saying... I was not expecting that! I'm not much into fantasy but this book just sounded intriguing. Having said that, I was still a little apprehensive before going in, worried that I'd suddenly be dropped into a complicated fantastical world that I wouldn't understand. But praise the fantasy gods that poked my brain and got me to pay attention because this book was AMAZING!
Kiva our 17 year old protagonist is working in Zalindov, a notorious death prison, as the prison healer. Her job was down right terrible, having to try and keep prisoners alive in horrific conditions with limited resources and useless assistants. Enter Jaren, a gorgeous, bright eyed, charismatic new prisoner who is adamant he's gonna be Kiva's friend regardless of her trying her best to put him off. There's no way Kiva wants to get attached to anyone in the prison when the chances of them dying is ridiculously high. And if life seemed like it couldn't get anymore complicated the rebel Queen is delivered to the prison infirmary and Kiva is told to keep her alive so that she can then face her punishment. The rebel Queen must face a trial by ordeal - 4 challenges related to the elements designed to either prove the participant has magic and is therefore related to the royal family, or kill them! When the time for the first trial arrives Kiva realises that the Queen is way too unwell to undertake it and so she volunteers to do the trial in her place.
I absolutely love a chosen one trope and Kiva was such a likeable character that I was rooting for for page 1. Jaren made my inner teenager swoon. And Tipp tugged at my motherly heartstrings.
If the whole series had already been published I'd have happily sat and binged them one after the other. I was genuinely sad when the book ended. And speaking of endings..... THAT ENDING!!! Give me the next book NOW!

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Lynette Noni for my arc of The Prison Healer in exchange for an honest review.


Published: 15th April 2021

Kiva has spent the last ten years in the notorious Zalindov prison. Since being taken with her father aged 7, on his death she took over his position as the healer of the prison as well as informant to the prison's warden. But all that changes when the Rebel Queen is captured and Kiva decides to take her place in the ordeals, trials of elements which nobody has lived through for many years. But with the help of her new friends she might just have a fighting chance....

This is such a hard book to review so I'm going to go in the middle with a 3* rating. The story had a lot of potential, it's very unique being set in a prison with the main character being a healer rather than a fighter. I liked the relationships Kiva had and the way that some people were able to see her as kind hearted and good even when others didn't. I was rooting for her no doubt about it! But for me the execution fell a little flat in places. I think I would have liked more history and more about the magic as it isn't mentioned at all until quite far in and only the fact it's a fantasy book clued me in that it would have something. I also thought the end was a bit abrupt and some more clues/teasers could have been added rather than it just being dropped from nowhere. But overall good enough that I would definitely read the sequel!

I cannot describe how much I enjoyed this book. I have literally just finished it and I want to go and re-read it to try and pick up on some of the clues to the plot twists I did not see coming.

It has been such a long time since a book captivated me from chapter one but I was hooked from the beginning.

I really enjoyed the prison setting and even more so the infirmary setting, learning more about Kiva's life as a healer and getting little snippets of her previous life was brilliant.

I cannot wait to pick up the second book, especially with the plot twist right at the end of the book, I NEED to see how that plays out with everything we now know.

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni caught my attention from the opening pages.

Our protagonist, Kiva Meridan has faced many hardships in her short life:

-A tragic past filled with loss.
-Carted off to a brutal prison as a child.
-Responsible for healing the hordes at the prison, regardless of their crime(s) or treatment of her.
- Forced to maim new prisoner arrivals.
- Alone in the daily fight to survive the cruelty of other prisoners & the sadistic whims of the guards.
- Faced with a deadly illness sweeping through the prison and clueless as to the cause or the cure.
- Tasked with keeping a special, but critically ill, new arrival alive.
- Burdened with secrets she dare not tell anyone.
- Obligated to face someone else's impossible trials. Fail and sentence them (and herself) to death.
- A hopeless chance at romance.

How could I not be swept up in 17-year-old Kiva's story?

This novel is sure to appeal to fans of Bridget Kemmerer's Cursebreakers series and the ACOTAR series by Sarah J Maas. I know I am definitely eager to find out what happens next.

Seriously, don't miss out on this fabulous novel.

5/5 Stars

UK Release date is the 13th of April 2021.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Lynette Noni for the opportunity to read The Prison Healer in exchange for an impartial review. All opinions are my own.

4.5 rounded up to 5

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book but I was hooked immediately. I loved our morally ambiguous MC Kiva as she does what she can to survive in a brutal prison whilst also trying to treat patients with no judgement.
And when Jaren appears, with the help of Naari & Tipp, they all start to break down Kiva's carefully constructed walls.

When the Rebel Queen comes into the prison and it is decided that she will have to complete 4 trials, each featuring a different element, which, if she survives, she will be free. However, the Rebel Queen is on death's door when she arrives and in no state to complete anything, so Kiva volunteers to take her place under the undersanding that if she completes the trials, both her and the Queen will be freed.

The trials get increasingly harder and Kiva's reliance on others becomes heavier, making her realise she isn't as much of an island as she would like to believe.

I loved the dark gritty surroundings of the prison and I feel that Noni paints a very vivid and realistic image of Zalindov prison, as well as the types of people who would be in there, innocent and guilty alike. Noni also portrays the brutality of the prisons guards and the cold calculating Warden especially well.

I loved the history of the royals and the magic systems and how that fed into the story, also the descriptions of medicines and how Kiva has taught herself through trial and error following her father's death in the prison.

Some of the twists I saw coming but some of them left me absolutely gobsmacked. I need the sequel ASAP.

And I love Kiva, Jaren, Naari & Tipp so much!

CW: mentions of sexual assault, drug use, self harm, death

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni is a wonderful YA fantasy and the first in a planned trilogy of books.
Kiva is seventeen and imprisoned in the notorious Zalindov prison, home to the worst criminals from several neighbouring kingdoms. It is a harsh and brutal place where prisoners are worked to death and executions for the most trivial of offences are common, so the fact that Kiva has survived ten years inside its walls is remarkable. As a gifted healer who learned from her father, she has some skills that the authorities find valuable , but she is biding her time until her family comes for her , something she has dreamed of since the day she and her father were captured so many years ago. When the Rebel Queen is captured and placed in Kiva's care so that she can be made fit enough to endure a Trial of Ordeal it seems like it will be beyond her abilities, but when a coded message arrives from her family telling her that she must not let the Queen die and that they are on their way, she is determined to do everything in her powers to ensure that the Queen will survive. Even she did not realise how far she would be willing to go however, and when she volunteers to become the Queen's Champion and undergo the Ordeals on her behalf it looks like she has bitten off more than she can chew. Her fate is now tied to that of the Rebel Queen, either both will go free or they will both die, and all that Kiva can do is hope she buys enough time for her family to rescue her.
There is a lot going on in this book, so many different layers and threads to the story but they are woven together so well that it absolutely works as a whole. I loved the prison setting, it was something interesting and different and the author did a wonderful job of portraying the brutality of life inside The world building really was excellent, and the simple magic system was easily explained and well incorporated into the story. The characters are great, most notably Kiva and her young assistant Tipp , and I loved that Kiva was a healer not a warrior, it was an interesting shift away from the usual heroines we see in this genre. I also liked that while there was a romance plotline ,it was a minor part of the story and did not take over. Overall the pacing was good, the beginning of the book was a little slower because of all the world building and set up that needed to be put in place but it soon picked up and from the midpoint on it moved at breakneck speed with numerous twists and turns to keep the reader surprised. As for the ending, well I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone ,so all I can say is that I need book two, and the sooner the better !
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own .

Holy Moly!!! I’m pretty sure I said much worse at various points during this book! As well as ‘I *curse word* knew it!’ And No *curse word* way’!!

I’m not a big YA fantasy reader, if picturing the sci-fi/fantasy spectrum, I’m usually further up the sci-fi end. In saying that though, there have been some fantasy stories that I’ve absolutely loved - like ASOIAF, LOTR, and pre-Twilight vampire stories. I also loved Lynette Noni’s Whisper/Weapon duology.

This latest offering from Noni follows the story of a young girl who works in the infirmary of Zalindov, a notorious prison. Kiva Meridan faces death every day, she works hard to keep it at bay, tries to save as many people as she can. But the chips are well and truly stacked against her, with poor rations causing malnutrition, back-breaking work destroying her fellows inmates bodies and spirits, and a spreading illness that has no seeming root cause.
Throw in civil war, royals trying to defend their crown, the righteous good vs the righteous good, and magical elemental trials this book is tipped to keep you glued to the pages.

The Prison Healer is action-packed, heart-in-your-throat, thrilling, suspenseful, well written, beautifully crafted, and That.Ending!!
This book is sure to appeal to both Lynette Noni and YA fantasy fans alike. I absolutely adored it, and I’m adding it to the list of fantasy that I’ve loved.
And my gosh that’s some amazing cover art!

I cannot wait for the next instalment.

Thank you so much to Lynette Noni, Hodder & Stoughton, and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t think I can put into words how much i enjoyed and loved this book. I was drawn to this as the premise was so unique and not like anything I’ve read before, fantasy in a prison setting , it was everything I hoped for and more. It his was such an addictive read, so much so that I read it in about two sittings, because of the setting the book does not shy away from some of the realities of life in a prison. The prison structure is clear and so much detail is given, it’s just enthralling, you care and need to know what is going to happen more and more.. I loved the fact I did not see any of the plot twists coming, This was a gripping fantasy read,, interesting , entertaining and original

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This book was absolutely everything. I loved it from beginning to end, and I CANNOT wait for the next book to come out!

I had such High Hopes for this book. It started off really strong and I felt, initially that we were going to have an entirely epic kind of fantasy romance adventure. All of the key markers were there, from that dramatic, exciting and mysterious premise, to the very intriguing, stoic and slightly clinical heroine working within the decrepit and nightmarish prison. I liked the female protagonist, I liked that she was strong, she was capable, independent and she had obviously suffered and came out through the other side of something incredibly traumatic. At times though it was very hard to connect with her character, her thought process, her illusive and hard to gauge personality, made it difficult to truly connect with her. It wasn't even the clinical personality side of things that made it hard to connect with her it was the fact that her thoughts and her actions and reactions didn't really feel organic to her character. However throughout the story she went through this amazing transformation and became a female protagonist that you couldn't help but admire. She became more real. She was weary and wary, so unbelievably courageous and fierce and it was within those moments that I realised that that sombre personality was there to protect a very soft and very caring heart from further pain and damage.

Although there wasn't much worldbuilding within this fantasy romance adventure because it's primarily set just within the prison walls, we read about all of these different places, the kingdoms, the kings and queens and the Rebels but we never really experienced all of these different Worlds. Even the trials seemed very staid, there wasn't much buildup or suspense or excitement within them, they kind of just petered out. I felt like the author missed some really important opportunities to write some seriously exciting elements and build upon our intrepid heroines bravery and selflessness.

I guessed most of the twists in the story early on, I felt like a lot of it was pretty obvious at points. My other big pet peeve within this story was the lack of romance, there just was no chemistry and no tension between our hero and the Heroine and I really missed that. I felt like there was a solid friendship between them but there was a serious lack of romantic love.

Overall it was a pretty okay story, I did enjoy some. elements within the story and I would probably read book two to see how it all plays out. There are definitely some darker elements within the story, of sexual assault, self-harm, torture, but these things are never really explored or explained properly and I felt like they were kind of glossed over.

Somehow, I am incredibly lucky with the fantasy books I pick this year. There are very few I didn't like - but a loooot of them I really adore. "The Prison Healer" is one of them. I read this book in two sittings and couldn't put it away, just really needed to know how the story around prison healer Kiva goes on and on.
I did realize about myself that nowadays, I almost always prefer fantasy novels with more unique, different settings. So the premise of a fantasy prison as the setting of an entire novel really appealed to me to begin with.
I also liked that the theme and general vibe of the book is a darker one. It's definitely more geared towards the older young adult crowd - a lot of horrible things happen in this prison, and while there are few graphic descriptions (there's a torture scene and a party scene that go into more detail), there are a lot of implications. At some points in the book it actually read more like adult than young adult fantasy.

The characters are complex and well written with Kiva as a likeable protagonist. Noni plays a lot with different shades of grey when it comes to morality, even though there is some more clear cut black and white thinking too when it comes, for example, to the prison guards. Kiva herself does some things that can't be considered "good" even though she struggles with them. It makes her a more realistic, more multifaceted character and not a typical ya fantasy heroine. The supporting cast is great too, with Tipp especially owning my entire godsdamned heart.

The plot is rather fast-paced most of the time even in the quieter scenes, thus the book never gets boring. There are some twists that are, admittedly, rather predictable and I'd wager most readers might see coming but that doesn't really damper the enjoyment. And the very last twist that happens on the very last page of the book might not be mindblowing but still sets up the sequel so well that I cannot WAIT to read it. Generally, there's action and excitement, but also emotional, quiet scenes that allow for character exploration and some scenes that truly made me very very emotional.

There's not a whoooole lot of character development happening in this novel and I did miss some more light-hearted scenes to counterbalance the bleakness and constant dread of the prison, but these are minor issues. I do think this is a pretty great book and thus can definitely recommend it.