The Prison Healer
Ratings107
Average rating4.1
A REALLY fun read, and one that I've been waiting for a long time. As soon as April 13th hit, you can bet I started reading. And it was perfect. Kiva's a really great character with layers to her story and personality, and as wonderful as the romance is, it isn't what the story focuses on, which leaves so much room for Kiva and her healing, and her prowess not only with what she does but with survival and staying alive in the prison. It's a real beauty watching her change, and I'm thrilled that this was all I expected and more from Noni.
Solid 4/5. Or 4.5? Hot damn. That was a great little read.
Over the last week, I’ve picked up a few fantasy romance books, hoping for something that would click, hoping to find something I wouldn’t want to put down. I’m grateful for my failed attempts, because it landed me here.
This book offers such a refreshing introduction to a series about warring sides of magic. I thought I’d grow tired and impatient being confined within the walls of the prison for the entirety of a book, that it would lack action and interest. But boy, was I proved wrong. I loved how the narrative both keeps you in the loop, and just enough outside of it to leave a few revelations for the reader to either be picked up on, or be shocked as hell when things click into place. (This was me, I was the shocked one, as I certainly did not pick up on everything lol).
But the best part? I stayed immersed the whole way through because of Kiva and the many others I fell in love with (Tipp, Naari, Jaren, her father and even little ‘ol Mot). Kiva inspired me endlessly through her selflessness, but more than anything she felt real - in her reactions and responses to all the cards she’s dealt. You can’t help but emphasize because she feels so human - in her fear, in her strength, and in her will to survive.
This book feels small and intricate because of its narrowed lens on life in a shameless prison and its focus on a few raw and delicate relationships we see tentatively formed. These are its greatest strengths. But by the end, the story takes on a new life and an exciting trajectory in anticipation of all that’s to come. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Couldn’t recommend enough.
I did not see that ending coming. I did not see thaaaaat.
This was a great book, albeit a bit slow and repetitive. The trials weren't as exciting as I expected/hoped but I loved the characters.
Not a fan of the audiobook though. Sounds robotic and the pauses are awkward. I think those awkward pauses actually made it sound like it was made by an AI. Idk.
Still enjoyed the story, though.
3.5 ⭐️ Still thinking about the frustrating ending of this a week later...! It had so much potential, and I did enjoy my read, even though it was a but too slow paced most of the time, and the way the main character goes through all the challenges was kind of disappointing... But this ending, this last page... it's still a big wtf??? Like it makes no sense at all?? We see Kiva's mind throughout the whole book, she's wondering about the Rebel Queen, she tries to understand why she cares about her, she wonders why she's blind, and we learned at the end that it she's her mother and she knew about it all this time???!! If we didn't read about Kiva's thoughts it could've work, but because we read about her thoughts throughout the entire book it makes no sense... i'm still so confused... I hope there will be an explanation in the second book...
Wow! The ending was superb! There were quite a few surprises in the last chapters but the ending was chef's kiss! Really liked this book. Definitely reading the rest of the series. I read this book as part of The52BookClub readalong - might not have thought of picking this book otherwise. A great read! Highly recommend.
The first 80% of the book: how can a book be chill and intriguing at the same time?
The last 20%: plot twist after plot twist, every other page my mind was blown
4.8 stars — loved this book! great pace, no helpless female character, has a good amount of heart & excitement
Reread this via audiobook this time around and it was not as great as I remember, not a terrible read and i feel like i'd love it more if i was 17. anyways the big plot twist at the end definitely is cool
Oh... My... God... Didn't see that coming!! Wow, such a great book, left me wanting more and kept the me turning the pages! Such a great story! I need book two stat!
I'm genuinely shocked by this book, it genuinely deserves all the recognition it has gotten and more.
I had a feeling about Kiva and even now I'm shocked that it has come to pass and is very much true.
4.5 stars!
I thought this book was going to be 5 stars up until the very very end. The revelations that were meant to be the end of the book cliff hanger really turned me off from reading the rest of the books in this series. While I still really enjoyed the first book, I can already tell that the conflicts that will occur in the next book because of these revelations are going to be really annoying to read and make me dislike the FMC. I'm really debating whether its worth picking up the other two books...
I'm seriously lucking out with all these great YA reads recently!
Although, I don't really know how to talk about this one without giving away spoilers. So... okay, the whole Trials thing??? Yeah, I had to suspend my disbelief soooo much, like obviously there is no way to survive all of them for anyone because even the people with magic tend to only have 1 element. Also it is a prison where people go for life sentences which you know... yeah. But, your girl is sick and is ready to roll with anything a book throws at me right now. I'm glad I stuck with it.
Kiva is AWESOME, I love her. Tipp??? A little friggin' cutie. Naaira is a badass I hope we get to see more of. Jaren has potential. I liked the building romance between Jaren and Kiva. It is a slower burn and the next books are gonna be GREAT.
On that note, this book is definitely a set up for the next books to come, because we all know she has to escape prison and deal with greater political problems, so The Prison Healer felt like a taste and a smaller scale, maybe a way to ease into the great picture – I hope.
Gosh, I'm so excited to dive into the next book. The end of this one has me so HYPED!
Worth every bit of hype and then some! You will never see the ending coming and it sent me running for the second book, a must read.
kiva has no right to act like jaran has wronged her by not telling her who he is. tsk tsk are we about to see some lovers to enemies in the second book
I can't define what I think about Prison Healer. I like it, it's fluid, it's not difficult and the characters are enjoyable. But , the first part is kinda tiresome... I mean, nearly nothing happened. But the second part was great !! Hopefully the twists were not guessable, so I manage to be really surprise to learn about powers, true identity and secrets. So, in all, it was a good read and I'm looking forward to read the second book.
Wish I'd DNFed.
Flat characters and it failed on what it was trying to achieve. The author wanted me to care for the character tipp in particular but I felt nothing. There wasn't enough depth and care to the characters not enough deep moments between them for me to care.
And the stakes while they tried to be high were just meh. I knew everything was going to be fine.
Not to mention the characters were stupid AF. The twist I knew from the start.
And the romance came in too quickly.
Kiva as a character was bland. There was no depth no secretive characteristics about her. Everything is from her POV yet because the author withheld information it made the book weaker. There isn't a lot to Kiva characters. Not to mention that she's such a damsel in distress. Constantly believing in lies taking a trail that could kill her for someone we are led to believe is no one to her (which as a survivor that's said through the whole book, why would Kiva do this ?) then doing nothing in the trials but letting others save her. Pathetic. I'm over this type of character.
And a note on disability. I am in no way an expert but I find the author could have done more research. It felt cheep. As in what others perceive disabled people to be rather than what they really are. It was lazy and with more research and disabled readers it would have made the representation better.
The writing was so weak. I found myself skimming most of it and that's when o should have DNFed but as it was a gift I felt I had to read. Some of the dialogue was cheep the actions and decisions of the characters were just meh. I didn't get the stupidity of the reasons some characters made the choices they did. Not to mention the filler that was there for no reason. If the character had an ounce of a brain they would have seen the twist From the start
The middle of the book lagged. For a book about trials there was little to no tension. Someone always came to save the day instead of Kiva rescuing herself.
Overall this was a very weak novel that with a few more rounds of edits would have made it stronger.
That goddamn plot twist at the end, aaarrrrgggghhhhh, should've seen that coming. I can predict alright about Kiva just not the whole truth. I almost DNF this because the monotonous plot in the middle of the book, but fortunately I made it to the end.
Everything was perfect until that last page. WHY?!? Now I'm scared for what's to come.
5/5
THIS is YA fantasy done right.
The ending caught me off guard, but I loved it. Can't wait to see what happens in book 2.
Contains spoilers
"I have a lot of dreams. A lot of nightmares, too. Only time will tell which path my life will take."
I finished The Prison Healer last week and I loved it! The title summarizes the book pretty well: it's about a girl who is imprisoned and who works as a healer😁 Of course it's not just about her daily practices, but I don't want to spoil anything so I'm not going to tell you the ins and outs😉 The setting reminded me a bit of Kauf Prison from the Ember Quartet by Sabaa Tahir. I I liked how the story had a clear structure and even though it takes place in one location, it doesn't get boring at all!
I immediately started the second book of this series, The Gilded Cage. I haven't read much, but I have to say I'm not as enthusiastic about it as I was with the first one😕 There are some loose ends that aren't tied up properly. Because I've only read 60 pages, I thought it would be fun to make a few predictions and see how it goes! Be warned, these predictions are not spoiler-free!
1. Kavi is not going to do anything about the terrible state the prison was in when she left, or the crimes of the warden and guards. In the second chapter she basically says: "though luck, I have more important things to do". Bad Kavi🤨
2. Torell and Naavi are going to fall in love, bonding over their fondness for weapons and righteousness😏
3. At the end of the book, Kavi will have to choose between her family (who abandoned her, to be honest) and her boyfriend the royal Avatar💦🪨🔥🌬️ They are going to make an end to the battle of power that's been going on for centuries. Or she's going to end him, and then I'm completely wrong😂
We'll see how well I predicted this story! Stay tuned for the review😎
This was absolutely fantastic! What an amazing story! I loved it!
The trials weren't exactly complex, but this story is SO much more than that.
I couldn't stopped reading this book, read it in a day (I skipped lunch to keep reading it!).
And then that ending blew me away! AWESOME!
Can't wait to read The Gilded Cage, it just became my #1 most anticipated release of 2021.
Full review to come