Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - The Prison Healer

Kind of a bit of a slow start for me, but wow was I hooked by the end! I picked up the sequel immediately, which is kind of rare for me these days. This is definitely YA fantasy, but it’s still set in a deathly prison, so pretty dark at times. It’s not quite like anything else I’ve read, which is always a plus. The last 100 pages are wild and there were multiple twists that I absolutely did NOT see coming. Quite remarkable! It will be so interesting to see how this plot progresses over the next book and how the world building will deepen.

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katelynnreads's review against another edition

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5.0

That was so EPIC. 10/10.

“you’re right, you don’t need me fighting your battles. But if you’ll let me, I’d like to be standing beside you as you fight them”

“Our scars define us. They tell a story of courage and survival. They tell of who we are at our deepest being, of the challenges we've faced and overcome”

I devoured this boon on our trip to Canada. It was beautiful & full of horrors at the same time.

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jasperw's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

The first half of the book was a bit slow for my liking. The story was overall fun and good, but nothing too special to me, until the last like 100 pages. It was SUCH a strong finish and raised it from a 3.5/3.75 to a 4. It actually makes me curious for the future books and I am curious and may check them out.

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csmall73's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny slow-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? Yes

3.0

This book was a little bit of let down. I feel sufficiently confused by the events that take place in this part of the story. But I am also intrigued enough to read the next installment. Kiva definitely got poop end of the stick in life and family. Left for an unreasonable amount of time, she becomes the prison healer. Takes insane amounts of crap from the filth of several countries. An impulsive and rash royal invites himself to prison as a way of getting information and intelligence gathering on a notorious rebel that happens to also be royal. We are up to three. Kiva takes the do no harm way to far and volunteers to take the place of her patient in trials. Basically give me liberty or give me death.

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grace_yin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

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av0universe's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I didn’t expect that ending?!

This book surprised me in a good way. I really like the worldbuilding and Kiva as the main character is interesting, to say the least.

Tipp is the cutest character ever 🫶 and for the most part, I really liked the found family

Seriously, I can’t stop thinking about that ending. It blew my mind even though I guessed most of it. Amazing. The narrator is everything here.

I’m pretty sure I dreamed of this book today

Spoiler
Mother is dead.
I’m on my way to Vallenia.
It’s time to reclaim our kingdom.

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letiross's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-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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epellicci'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? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book somehow felt both slow and rushed. While I expected it to be uncomfortable, with most of the book taking place within an unregulated prison environment, the brutality felt poorly fleshed out. There is constant reference to physical, sexual and mental abuse suffered by the prisoners at the hands of the guards, but it never goes anywhere. Kiva’s internal monologue often refers to how at any time there are people who can take advantage of her, and yet it felt shallow and unbelievable.

While the aim it to increase the drama of the big reveal at the end, I found Kiva hard to root for when her motivations seemed so all over the place. She takes on the horrific ordeal of the Rebel Queen’s sentence and punishment, yet maintains throughout that she is only mildly sympathetic to the rebel’s cause – instead driven by her oath as a healer. When in the very last pages, it was revealed that there was much more to it than that, I found it hard to believe that the cool, manipulative Kiva who had just been revealed was the same person as the hopelessly naive one who still believed after a decade that her family were on the way to recuse her, and who broke all her rules about forming relationships because Jaren had a pretty face.

Unfortunately, I can see fairly obviously where the next two books are going, and am not invested enough in the characters to watch it play out. Despite this being a pretty quick, easy read, that ultimately did no harm, it reminds me of all the things I didn’t like about ACOTR, and so I won’t be bothering with the rest of it.

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