Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

186 reviews

kingkiller99's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was a tense YA fantasy about a healer in a prison who is tasked with saving a rebel Queen. This was a fun read! While it had aspects very similar to TOG, I still really enjoyed it and would definitely like to read the next one as well. I was slightly wondering if the twist at the end would happen, but still not too expected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Torture

Moderate: Addiction and Drug use

Minor: Child death, Rape, and Death of parent

niamh248's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

vcthompson's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

The first twist I *mostly* saw coming but that final twist? I was shook. I don’t believe I’ve ever read a third person limited book where  protagonist purposely hides information and leads the reader to believe a completely different narrative until the final reveal, so that was fun for me. I’ll be going into the second book picking apart the narrative to see if the protagonist is being fully truthful to us the readers, or if she’s leading me into another direction again until her next reveal.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

x_rosered's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Self harm

adrianaslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Murder, and War

Minor: Drug use

oliviaparc's review against another edition

1.5

all she does all book is repeat things that other people have said to her. there has to be some middle ground between ya female characters who fight everything and don't know when to shut up and ya female character who don't do or say a single thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Torture

hapalyn's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book [felt] predictable; however, I also found myself surprised by certain reveals. It's like I had this ominous feeling that something was supposed to happen with certain characters, but I didn't really know what. Yet, the reveals also weren't surprising.

This book had me gripped throughout the story; it really felt reminiscent of YA fantasies I read as a younger teen but can't connect with now. However, with that being said, I really enjoyed our FMC and her personality. It feels so found family. 

The ending really threw me for a loop because I feel like it makes you reflect on the entire story like.... why didn't this show in her personality and choices? It really was a reveal you can't look for throughout the story, it's simply revealed to you, the reader. 

Even with the 'lows' of this book, I found myself enthralled and would recommend to someone who wants a fun fantasy with elements that make you feel cozy and invested. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Terminal illness, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

li22ybeth's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Honestly I would have probably given this 3.5 if not for the twist ending. Didn’t see that coming. Actually makes me want to read the rest in the series now. 
I found it easy to read but did find it dragged on a bit at times in between each trial. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Self harm, Torture, and Violence

wylde_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

The ending goes HARD

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

missgarceau's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book hooks you immediately! It’s a really easy and binge worthy read. The plot twists are very fun. The puzzles and quest for answers is very intriguing. 

It’s dark and checking TW’s is recommended- but it’s not shock value graphic or unnecessarily brutal in descriptions. The author paints the picture without overdoing it, and I appreciate that.

I had a few mild annoyances but those were mostly “me” problems that I don’t think would bother most people.
1) The plants/science:
It’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine when high fantasy uses real world elements inconsistently along with high fantasy elements unique to the world. The world building was really lacking for me in this regard. 
2) How I met your mother: 
Another pet peeve of mine is pop culture references in high fantasy. This just 🤦🏼‍♀️ All of it was so pointless or could have been done in a way that didn’t make me cringe at the very obvious ode to/copy cat of the show. 
3) miscommunication trope/ betrayal trope/ secret identity trope/ enemies to who knows- just all my least favorite tropes.
4) Space invasion: 
Some very intimate moments for the main love interest happened in a very unlikely moment and very cringe worthy scenario considering the circumstances and it completely undid all the butterflies/ character development I felt up to that point.

My biggest issue is probably world building & character development- but it’s very addicting. Despite my grievances, I find myself itching to read the second book ever though I will probably hate it, based on where the plot is going. 

Is this a romance with an HEA? The answer might determine my willingness to continue- honestly.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic