I enjoyed the premise and setting! However, I think that it was a slow start and then really did slow down quite a bit - I struggled to plod along for a while. The twist at the end showed promise, though! Interested about the sequel, but not sure I would die waiting for it.

Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I think what makes The Prison Healer unlike any other book I've read before is by enlarge due to the setting. Kiva has been the healer at Zalindov prison for the last ten years after being arrested with her father for treason against the crown. After her father dies from a disease that swept the prison, Kiva keeps her head down and does her best to take care of the prisoners of Zalindov, biding her time until her family and the rebels come to save her. Kiva avoids making friends, but maintains a soft spot for Tipp, a boy who never should've been in Zalindov to begin with. Eventually, her circle of friends extends to a new prison inmate who doesn't seem to want to leave her alone, and a new guard who is frequently stationed at the infirmary.

When the rebel queen arrives at Zalindov already at deaths door, Kiva receives a coded message telling her to keep her alive and that they (her family/the rebels) are coming. When Kiva learns that the rebel queen must face the Trial of Ordeals, four impossible tasks involving the four elements, Kiva knows the rebel queen will never survive, so she volunteers in her stead. If she survives, both of them will leave the prison free.

I liked the progression of the four trials in terms of how the story unfolds. It isn't only about the trial itself and what Kiva has to do to survive, but what happens in each trial influences what happens in the next trial in regards to the plot and characters. You know Kiva survives the trials, so what makes them unique and worth reading is how each trial is connected to the overall story. Each trial reveals something new that adds to the story. I enjoyed all the various revelations.

My only complaint was actually the ending. There were not enough clues throughout the story for the ending to make sense for me. Don't get me wrong, it is a great cliff hanger and I cannot wait to read the second book. However, it felt out of the blue for me. I didn't read it and go, "Oh, now it all makes sense." There were very few pieces that I could put together that led to that ending. For me, it wasn't until the last 30 pages of the book that the author gave a huge clue as to who Kiva was. Prior to that, there wasn't really anything in the story that made me question who Kiva was or what her role was in all of this. The lead up fell a little flat and therefore, the reveal, felt random.

Despite saying that, I still really liked this book and I am truly excited for the rest of the series.

The Prison Healer, by author Lynette Noni, is the first installment in the authors Prison Healer trilogy. 10 years ago, at the age of 7, Kiva Meridan and her father were arrested and sent to Zalindov Prison for treason. Her father was the prison healer until he died which meant that Kiva took his place. Kiva is considered to be loyal to Warden Rooke which makes her a traitor, a spy, an informant, and other not so nice names in the eyes of the prisoners as well as the guards. She's not trusted by the prison rebels led by Cresta who takes every chance she can get to make Ziva's life miserable.

Even though there's no such evidence in the book, Kiva has been abused in the past. She's literally got the scars to prove it and the guards truly believe that she's a honey pot for the Warden. Being the prison healer has been her saving grace. She has survived as many around her have perished due to the awful conditions and brutal prison guards. Being sent to Zalindov is a death sentence. Nobody has ever escaped, or attempted to break in to rescue someone within the prison. All condemned of all the surrounding kingdoms are sent here.

When a new prisoner named Jaren arrives, Kiva finds that things start changing. Jaren isn't like the rest of the inmates. He seems to be from a high standing family. What's even more curious is that there is a new female guard, Naari, who seems to have Kiva's best interest at heart as well as a connection to Jaren. She also has a young boy named Tipp who does odds and ends for her. Tipp was born in the prison and thus is being protected by Kiva as a promise to his mother. Then a woman known as the Rebel Queen arrives at the prison and Ziva is ordered to make sure she lives.

Tilda Corentine, aka the Rebel Queen, has been sentenced by the Royal family to face the Trial by Ordeal, a series of elemental challenges reserved for the worst of criminals. If they succeed, they prove their innocence and walk free of the prison. If they fail, they’re already dead. In the 10 years since she's been here, Kiva has allegedly been sending and receiving messages to what appears to be her family that somehow managed to escape. Out of the blue, a message arrives telling Kiva not to let Tilda die, that they are coming.

With impossible chances of survival, Kiva takes on Tilda's sentencing as the older woman is in no state to do it herself. If she manages to survive the four step trial, she could earn her freedom. To make matters more twisted, something is happening within the prison that is killing the prisoners. Kiva has no clue what is happening and each time she gets closer to an answer, nothing makes any sense. There's no way I am going to go any further in my review for fear of spoiling the rest of the book. I will say this, I do urge you to read this book.

It's an exceptionally good story with a group of four characters that come together in the time of need. I liked Kiva. She's doing whatever she can to be the best healer she can be and indeed her resources whilst obviously limited added a lot to help set the scene. It is fair to say that there are a few characters who are not what they seem which should have given me a heads up that the ending will blow my mind. It did. I can't even fathom what happened without putting out glaring spoilers that will shock anyone who reads it. I am glad that the author and publisher don't plan to drag out this trilogy for 3 years. Instead, The Gilded Cage will release this fall, and the finale will release in the Spring of 2022.

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni is a dark YA fantasy with all the usual plot parts, the twists, the rare magic, the mentally strong heroin and the unlikely romance. Teens 16+ should love it.
I really liked the empathy of Kiva dictating that she saves everyone - no matter their politics, she wants to help and cure and find the way to do things right despite the harsh environment, the difficult survival, everything.
That said, I must admit that as a big reader of fantasy and a writer I had figured out the the whole book at the 20% mark. This made it a little slow for me. But most people don’t look for the puppeteer strings like I do. The foreshadowing was a bit heavy but I rarely read a teen novel so satisfying in the way it resolves absolutely every plot point, even though it is the first volume in a trilogy. The beginning was a little slow too, and quite a few time it felt like we were told something was bad but didn’t ever see it. We get very little sense of other prisoners from the main characters and that felt a little strange. In this kind of environment I would have thought they would be quite a large danger too, but nothing is ever hinted that way which felt unrealistic too me. Of course this is a YA novel so I guess it didn’t want to be too dark.

Great book, great characters and writing. Definitely one to recommend. I cant wait to listen the audio book if that will be a thing.

3 / 3.5 STARS

I’m still not sure how I feel about this one. For most of it I felt bored but I also really liked the last quarter of the book as the pacing picked up.

The ending did leave me intrigued to see where the story goes in the sequel. I loved one of the twists/reveals later in the book and all the trials throughout.

The main character to me didn’t feel as though she had much a personality which made it difficult for me to become invested in the story.

Overall for most of it the pacing was slow which effected my enjoyment but I liked the how it ended and the world was interesting to read about!

An exciting start to a new trilogy, The Prison Healer is a dark, fantasy set in a death prison. Kiva Meridan has been a prisoner at Zalindov for 10 years now, and serves as the healer for the prisoners. Zalindov is a corrupt, evil place that no one survives, but by keeping her head down and staying out of trouble Kiva has lived and survived longer than expected. The Rebel Queen shows up to the prison and Kiva is put in charge of her health, told she must keep Tilda alive to undertake the Trial by Ordeal. Her family also tasks her with keeping Tilda alive, saying they are coming for her. But help never arrives, and Kiva must get creative in her mission.

Phew boy, this book left me breathless and immediately wanting to reread it. The Prison Healer is suspenseful, dark, and filled with interesting characters. Every character served a purpose, every conversation and plot point furthering the story. No words were wasted and every piece is important for the larger picture. I loved the prison setting, it reminded me a lot of Endovier from the Throne of Glass series, but instead of brief snippets you get the whole book set in this horrible place. The Trial by Ordeal was fascinating to read and the greater political intrigue rounded out the plot nicely.

I'm not sure what more I can say. I have no critiques, I did not see any of the plot twists coming and I was gaping at my kindle by the end. I'm so excited to continue reading in this series to see what happens next. I highly recommend this book, please go pick it up.

**Thank you to HMH Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

Kiva Meridan was imprisoned in Zalindov ten years ago at the age of seven and has been fighting to survive ever since. She acts as the prison healer, spending her days caring for inmates of the infamous death prison while holding on to the hope that her family is coming for her. But one day, her world is turned upside down when the Rebel Queen is caught and brought to the prison where Kiva is placed in charge of healing her until she is fit enough to participate in her sentence, the Trials by Ordeal.

The Prison Healer had so much potential with a synopsis that described a unique fantasy setting, political intrigue, deadly trials, and a deadly plague. So how did all of that end up being extremely flat? I think a major issue is that The Prison Healer didn’t feel like it took place in a fantasy world. There was next to no world-building apart from a couple of throwaway lines so the parameters of the world felt non-existent. Also, there was no magic system included despite there being a few characters who use their powers throughout the book with zero explanation of how any of it actually works. A lot of the fantasy elements just felt like they were included for plot convenience because the author didn't know any other way to advance the story.

One of the main appeals of this book was Kiva having to go through four dangerous, elemental trials to win her and the Rebel Queen's freedom. These scenes in the book lasted about five pages each because there was ALWAYS a magical deus ex machina in the last second. Needless to say, there was no tension in these scenes because you knew Kiva was going to be safe the entire time. Also, this just raised my suspicion that magic was only included in the book as a plot convenience since the only time it gets used is to remove the characters from a bad situation.

So what happens in the rest of the book you might ask? Not much. The story drags on for four hundred pages, mainly taking place in between the major plot points rather than focusing on them. There's a plague spreading that has been killing off prisoners (but no guards or other higher-ups) that Kiva needs to investigate since she's the prison healer. I don't know why the author decided to place so much emphasis and time on this plague and having Kiva go around the prison gathering possible contaminated sources when the plot twist behind it is extremely obvious—it felt like a total waste of time.

Normally, this is where I’d do a wrap-up and include my recommendation, but I honestly can’t say what the appeal of this book is. I think if Noni had pushed the darker elements of the book and took more time to develop the world and characters, it could’ve been a great book for older YA readers! Sadly though, pretty much everything in this missed the mark for me.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙧 is a thrilling dark fantasy about Kiva, a healer who faces a series of impossible elemental tasks to gain her freedom from a notorious prison where plague has begun its death dance. I was sucked into the world immediately, adored the characters (especially our determined prison healer and her found family), relished the romantic tension, and devoured the action as it built to an explosive climax. My mind is still reeling from the ending. I’m not exactly sure what’s in store for our characters in the next installment, but I can’t wait to read it. If you’re a fan of Sarah J. Maas’s beloved𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 series, you won’t want to miss out on this book!

An excellent start to what I believe is going to be a trilogy. Definitely a duology at least because book two already has a title and a cover.

I am currently part way through the Akarnae series but when I saw the blurb for The Prison Healer I could not resist it. And it is a good one! My only criticism is that it is too long and the middle section tends to drag as a result. However everything else is really good.

The story is set in an inescapable prison where people tend not to survive the conditions for very long. Kiva has been there for ten years, since she was seven and, as she is a healer, she has avoided the worst the prison offers. She also has occasional contact from the outside world which causes her to believe she will one day be rescued. As events turn out she has to save herself in several very dramatic ways.

It is a good story, the characters are interesting and Noni writes it well. Then there is the ending which is beyond brilliant. I never saw it coming at all and of course it means I will be grabbing book two just as soon as I can.

It took me a long time to get around to reading this book. But I finally sat down and devoured it within hours. It describes the life of a young woman who became the prison healer at a compound that is the long term prison for many different countries.

It is a good read but it deals with drug addiction, how there are many different people in prison for different reasons. It gives glimpses to different sort of survival people have to do to live in a prison. Or not, it deals frankly with prisoner mistreatment in any form, with brutal descriptions of torture, rape, lack of privacy, self-harm to over numb yourself, etc. It's not for the faint of heart. I am reminded of the story of the woman who delivered babies in concentration camps just to snap their necks so they won't be experimented on. It's that kind of survival.

It could be a boring and horrifying read unless you could the "mysterious illness" the Ordeal which in hindsight could have been much better, the slow warmth of how some characters be, how people are different in different situations. Some of the story plots are very oh I saw that coming, but how and why did the author pen the last few words that way?

There's this one character named Mot who liked death too much and poisoned his customers because he wanted to see the effects. But in the prison itself, and with what the Trial of Ordeal - fire, water, air and earth, he's a helpful sort. Who knew?

I am looking forward to the next book because I'm curious on how the author is going to tie up a romantic entanglement between the main female character and her love interest. I won't tell you why, but on a different note, there's this sweet 11 year old boy who has a big heart. I loved him. All of the guards I'll kick into a fire but one.. Good riddance to bad rubbish, and don't get me started on the warden. ugh.

A dark tale of survival in an prison where people are meant to die. Although there are some slow parts, the story has plenty ov action, romance and magic. A good read for fans of Sarah Maas,

This book was actually AMAZING. I cannot recommend it enough!
Kiva is in a deadly prison where she's the prison healer, when suddenly the Rebel Queen arrives and Kiva volunteers to take her place in the Trials which will try to kill you in four different ways by air, fire, water, and earth. Not only does she receive unusual help in the trials, nothing is as it seems. This book has a magic, political dealings, royalty, and amazing characters.
Not only is this book absolutely unpredictable, where I could not guess a single thing that was going to happen; it has a massive plot twist at the end.
The writing style of the author is so easy and gripping; it will absolutely enthrall you into the story from the first few pages.
I cannot recommend this book enough, it's become one of my absolute favourites books and I cannot wait for the next book in the series. Absolutely addicting!

"Never forfet, little mouse: not two people look the same, but we are each beautiful in our ways. The human body is a masterpiece that deserves our respect, always".

I was very excited to read this story after seeing the synopsis, and this cover is absolutely gorgeous! I love trials and the idea of the prison healer was something unique but overall it fell short for me.
What I liked:
- I enjoyed the characters and the build out of their personalities even through the hardships they experienced.
- There was a lot of mystery about the world and the characters that carried through the story that I enjoyed.
What I struggled with:
- There is an epidemic within the prison that is a large part of the story. I don’t feel that it is very well timed and should be mentioned in the synopsis. I also didn’t feel it added more than filler to the story and would have enjoyed the book much more if it had been removed or reworked.
- While the story was not slow, it started to drag with a lot of repetitive scenes. I think the story could have been much shorter without losing any of the enjoyable and building elements.
- While I tend to enjoy darker books personally there are a lot if trigger warnings in this book especially for a young reader including rape, torture, self harm and the epidemic within the prison.
Without spoilers I felt the way the book ended really ruined a lot of the things that I had come to enjoy within the story. I understand it was done to create a bit of a cliffhanger and more story to have in the sequel, but for me it took the direction of the story in a direction I did not care for and I most likely will not be picking up the next book.
Thank you to NetGalley and HMH Books for a copy of The Prison Healer in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Okay, wow. This was such an amazing start to a series. I’m completely hooked.

It reminded a bit of the second half of A Court of Thorns and Roses meets All the Stars and Teeth, but mostly its own story.

I adored every main and side character to be honest. Kiva (our heroine and prison healer) is very likable, as is Jaren, a bit of a mystery who joins her in the prison.

I really don’t want to say a whole lot, and I don’t want to spoil anyone. But I highly recommend this book, especially if you’re a fan of fantasy, magic, and a little something different.

Five stars!

I end up with this book twice and I've already reviewed it. I loved this book and cant wait for the next one.

I was excited about this book, expecting some interesting world building and backstory to get a while book out of a girl in the most evil prison no one survives for 10 years. But it was real dark and real boring. I DREADED picking up this book again and again. It just felt like constantly reopening a wound and constantly coming to a story about someone being hurt again and again. I see other reviews mentioning a wild ending, but I don't read for endings, I read to experience a full book that I want to be immersed in. I just wanted this to be over and I won't bother to get to the end, though I did read over half the book before tossing in the towel.

Wow! This book was incredible. I loved every single character. Kiva is a strong character that has endure a lot of pain living in the prison of Zalindon for 10 years. I admired her character and especially her ability to have empathy towards every single person that arrives to prison. I loved the fact that there was a fantasy element with a little touch of romance. The ending got to me!! Can’t wait for book two. Thank you Netgalley for giving the opportunity to receive an arc of The Prison Healer.

2,5 stars

The Prison Healer had a promising beginning and a wild ending, but its middle left me bored and kind of disappointed. The characters and the plot didn't spark any emotion in me, something that was a huge downfall as I'm an emotional reader through and through. The trials our protagonist had to pass, the political drama and the romance seemed to me very YA generic. Also, some of the most shocking scenes appeared to be there just for the reader to sympathize with the protagonists, which in my case never happened.

I don't know if I'll read the next book in the series, but the finale makes me consider the possibility.

I received this e-arc from NetGalley for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

Many years has passed since Kiva was taken, to the notorious death prison, Zalindov where every day is a fight for survival and most prisoners succumbs within the first month or two. While her position as the prison healer saves her from the worst of the horrors, Kiva is far from safe, her life hanging on by a very thin thread. A thread that becomes impossibly thinner when a new, mortally sick prisoner arrives. A prisoner that Kiva for several reasons cannot allow to die. And death is always near by within the walls of Zalindov.

This is a story of a young girl who believed so much in a family that she survived within a death prison for a decade, clinging on to the hope that some day her family will come. Some day her family will get her out. Or will they?

The Prison Healer is an absolutely brilliant book; very well written story with infinite potential, lovable and brilliant characters, an interesting magical system and a strong plot all set in a world which I want to discover so much more, which I’m pretty sure we’ll get to do in the next book (which, b.t.w. can’t come soon enough!) The book is funny, sad (sometimes even devastating), cute, a bit steamy (but not more than what’s fitting for a YA book) and completely amazing. I cannot wait how Kiva’s story continues.

It’s absolutely one of the best books I’ve read so far this year and it would be a shame if you didn’t add this to your tbr at once because, believe me, you don’t want to miss out on this fantastical adventure. Especially since I have a feeling that this adventure has only begun.