Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

23 reviews

ameydireads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

“Here at Zalindov, the only person you can trust is yourself.”

This might be my favourite read so far this year! The twists, especially those at the end of the book, are amazing. Serious vibes of Hunger Games and Avatar: the last airbender. It is a dark fantasy and whilst some parts were challenging to read and weighed heavily on my mind, there were also other parts that brought a sense of hope.
But please be sure to review the trigger warnings before diving into this book. This might not be suitable for everyone.

TW: mentions of rape, torture, drug abuse, overdosing on drugs, self harm, child abuse, child death, violence.

Okay, now let’s get to the plot. The story is set in Zalindov, a prison where nobody ever leaves once they’ve entered. The grimm conditions of this prison and the injustice is mind boggling. As if being condemned to die in this prison isn't horrible enough, there are also guards who don’t shy away from violence and use and misuse the prisoners to their liking.

Our main character, Kiva, is the prison healer and has been in Zalindov for 10 years. Her prison job forces her to brand the new prisoners which goes directly against being a healer. But hey, sometimes you’ve got to do things to survive, can't really judge here. Kiva wants to fight for herself, let loose the rebellious fire in her, but she is also smart enough to know how to survive in this prison. She is secretly in communication with her family on the outside and hopes that they will make true of their promise to come for her.

But with the Rebel Queen’s arrival to Zalindov, sick and in no condition to carry out her sentence, Kiva volunteers to take the Rebel Queen’s place and claim the sentence as her own. What in the Hunger Games…!
"My name is Kiva Meridan, and I claim her sentence as my own."

If Kiva manages to survive the Trials of the four elements (air, fire, water, and earth), see and the Rebel Queen are both free to leave the prison! Freedom is waiting.

I really liked to read more about Kiva’s scientific side and the dynamic between her and the other prisoners. She warms up to Naari and Jaren, both of them being new to the prison. She cares a lot about Tipp, I mean it’s impossible to not love this character!!
“The world needs people like him out there in it, shining light into the dark places.”

THE TWISTS IN THIS BOOK ARE BETTER THAN I EXPECTED.
!! Spoilers incoming !!
Here I am, thinking that Kiva and Jaren have a chance to be together after finding out Jaren is actually the crown prince. However, this becomes more complicated with the revelation that Kiva is in fact the rebel princess and she’s getting ready to take back the kingdom?! 

Jaren is such a sweet person and he has proven on multiple occasions that his heart is in the right place. He’s always there for Kiva, a loyal companion. Yet, I am worried that he will have his heart broken in the next book. I dread to see another version of Cal Calore and Mare Barrow (Red Queen). At least in their case they both knew they were both on opposite sides!
I actually think (and hope) that Kiva wants to be the rebel princess but having to betray Jaren will contradict her feelings for him. While I don’t believe she’s deliberately using Jaren, I guess she will be torn between her destiny and her affection for him. AAAARGH… the politics in this book, secretly brewing in the background and ready to wreak havoc, adds an interesting layer to this story.
Either way, she better not hurt him!


I had a lot of questions and doubts whilst reading this book and for sure I won’t be the only one! Just trust me when I say that the story will make sense in the end.

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lotte5322's review against another edition

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4.5


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molly_love's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

An incredible book, with a sad but beautiful plot, with twist and turns always around the corner and jumping up at you when you never expected them or knew you needed them but just working so perfectly together that you cant help but love the book to bits.

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laurenevlyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loved this book! Read in one night. Only downside was that the (absurd amount of) plot twists felt a bit rushed.

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sankta_aleena's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-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

4.75


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kerropiz's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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tkatt20's review against another edition

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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.

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cursedcheez's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

  • amazing twist (IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!!)
  • very very descriptive, sometimes sounding a bit pretentious/fake deep

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maregred's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0


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dariusmortee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-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? Yes

4.25

First things first: I love Naari, Tipp and Mot to death and will protect them however I can. 
This is why I said I did find the characters to be loveable. 

Kiva herself wasn’t the worst main character but I think she could’ve been better. Jaren annoyed me. 

I did enjoy reading this book! Although it really does fall into some tropes it is an orginal story. A story with a very dark undertone, for which I am a sucker. I am curious to how this story proceeds and will be buying the second one, but I am however also scared for the clichés it could possibly walk into. 

Overall: good story, loved the side characters but it has to watch out not to fall into the clichés. 

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