The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

Title: The Prison Healer
Author: Lynette Noni

Genre: YA Fantasy

Series: The Prison Healer # 1

Publication: April 13, 2021, 416 pages

Source: Personal Library 

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Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan has spent the last ten years fighting for survival in the notorious death prison, Zalindov, working as the prison healer.

When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water, and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals.

Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: “Don’t let her die. We are coming.” Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

But no one has ever survived.

With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva’s heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can’t escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.

MY THOUGHTS

I had The Prison Healer trilogy on my shelf for almost five years. I've been meaning to get to it for ages. Anytime I see people asking for book recommendations, this series is always mentioned. I finally made it a priority to read it.

Readers are immediately dropped into the story and introduced to our protagonist, Kiva, who works as a healer in Zalindov Prison. We witness the corruption and abuse within its walls and learn that Kiva has been there since she was eight years old, working alongside her father, the prison's former healer, before eventually inheriting the role herself. Prison life becomes more interesting when the Rebel Queen is brought to Zalindov and an elemental trial is held in honor of her capture. With a threat hanging over her head, Kiva volunteers to take the Queen's place.

First off, I thought it was strange to have a prison where children and adults reside together. And despite being her father's protégé, it wasn't believable that the adults, especially the prison warden, would allow a child to administer medical care to inmates. A major part of the book revolves around the trials, and I have to say they were some of the lamest and most boring trials I've read in fantasy. If you've read fantasy before, you've probably encountered your fair share of trials, and these simply didn't feel high-stakes. There was no real sense of urgency, and it didn't help that Kiva kept receiving help from all directions while seemingly only needing to show up and endure them.

Throughout the book, Kiva repeatedly passes secret messages to her family, and it became incredibly annoying to have the same letter repeated over and over again. It happened so frequently that it constantly pulled me out of the story. I didn't immediately put two and two together regarding Kiva's identity, but in hindsight, I probably should have, considering how much emphasis was placed on those messages. Then again, I was so often distracted by their repetition that I wasn't paying attention to the clues.

I also thought Kiva and Jaren's relationship leaned too heavily into insta-lust, especially with how often Kiva went on about how attractive he was and how jealous she became for no real reason. I didn't particularly care about or connect with any of the characters. As far as FMCs go, Kiva felt like a bit of a MarySue. The only saving grace of the book was the two, three-ish? twists at the end. They piqued my interest enough to make me want to continue the series. Although now I see Kiva as a manipulative snake. I kept wondering why she gave Jaren such a hard time for not revealing his identity, after all, he barely knew her but here she is keeping massive secrets of her own and lying to everyone around her.

Despite how aggravating I found parts of the story; it wasn't all bad. It's rare where I rate low and still want to continue...just to see what happens next and because I already own all the books.