Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

193 reviews

mollymoll44's review against another edition

3.5

First off, this is NOT YA appropriate. There's so many SA mentions/threats/complications, as well as a good amount of torture. I'm not sure why some things get labeled as YA when the majority of the book is about not age appropriate topics, other than that it's a younger female protagonist. But that's my grievance with how the book is labeled and promoted, not against the content. 

Nothing was terrible, but I didn't connect with the pacing or big twist. I also find that books where the fmc continuously only gets by from help from

the mmc/love interest

fall flat for me. I kept waiting for her to learn to be self sufficient, but she couldn't do jack by herself. 

The big twist at the end: this is a personal preference, but I find giant twists where there wasn't any hints or easter eggs about the surprise kind of lazy. There was no reason that huge thing wouldn't have entered her inner monologue that is half the story. And I like a clearly defined power system. You go 'oh the powers the royal fam can have are elemental powers', but boom surprise she actually has unheard of healing powers because it's convenient for the plot? Ehhhh I'm over it pretty fast.

ALSO DOESN'T THAT MEAN THEY'RE COUSINS?!?! Not into it.

Overall disappointing, mostly because I had waited almost 5 months for this book from the library. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

cehanzen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

lboits's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture and Murder

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

jjamieww's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

It was a pretty basic book to be honest. She was portrayed as having little to no flaws. The love interest was perfect and did everything for her. I am underwhelmed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Abandonment

jules09's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Ok, overall my feeling is: concept 10/10, execution 6/10. It started a little slow and I really thought this would be a 2-star read but the twists in the last third or so of the book bumped it up for me. The concept is what kept me going. I think the writing is pretty so-so, not terrible but there are many instances when things are over-explained, and some of the motivations/dynamics of the characters stretch belief. Dark subject matter was addressed in a very YA way. Kiva is an interesting main, though - the way she views the world through the lens of compassion and generally has an iron control of herself is something I found pretty unique compared to other YA heroines. She has many layers.

I definitely predicted a couple of the reveals, but I also was pretty surprised by some which made for a fun and engaging read once it got going. Interested to read the next one. I’m glad I read this on audio (though the reader was not my favorite) because if I was physically reading, I probably would have given up on it before getting far enough in to be hooked (the 2/3 mark), but for audio it was perfect to have it on in the background of chores, etc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

The warnings sound like a lot, and some parts are definitely heavy (they’re in a death prison where abuse of power and dehumanization run rampant), but it’s still ultimately a YA read. I think it’s very comparable to Throne of Glass.

remiconnolly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

There were lots of surprises. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Torture, and Violence

joisaddler's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Death of parent

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