Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - Prison Healer - Die Schattenheilerin

I've had the Fairyloot edition of this book for a while now and was pushed by friends to start it. To say I was pleasantly surprised was an understatement.

Kiva has been the country's lead prison healer ever since the passing of her father. She's only really known the world inside Zalindov but yearns to be reunited with her family. Everything changes when the leader of the Rebellion is brought into the prison walls and forced to face Trials to determine her innocence. With the Rebel Queen in deteriorating condition, Kiva volunteers to take her place. Will Kiva make it out to reunite with her family, or will the Trials overcome her?

The world-building was pretty well done! As readers, we only really know the scope of the prison as our characters are confined within it. That being said, we get just enough detailing of the different aspects of the prison, both the physicality as well as the culture and the prisoners within, that it isn't ever over-explained. We also get some minor world-building of the world outside of Zalindov, which leads us to hope and yearn as much as Kiva to explore this outside world. The magic system was slightly under utilized, but I hope it gets expanded on more, especially because of the twists we get at the end of the book.

I loved every single character that we are meant to love. I was completely gay for Naari. Tipp has a heart of gold and cried for him twice in this story. Jaren is a lovable character with a bite of sarcasm and humor but also has his dark past which is golden and explored in a complex manner. And Kiva... I think she might be my favorite protagonist that I've read about in a long time. She has such a unique moral compass, which I could kind of relate to, and had more realistic emotions than a lot of other characters I've read about. She has her heart broken, she can feel love for all kinds of people, she cares! But also has her flaws.

Speaking of flaws, there were some pretty heavy themes in this novel. One of them being self-harm. It isn't conducted in this story, more like the explanation of the harm done afterwards. I cannot speak on the representation on the self-harm side as it has never happened to me. But I can speak on the side of hearing such news and how to properly respond, and I thought that it was done in a good manner. There was no shame, no guilt, no degrading on behalf of the character receiving this news. Only "Thank you for trusting me with this." There wasn't really anything on the ends of "It'll get better" since the character who did self-harm has moved past it and discusses her relapse with it. But it was handled in a manner that it should be handled with in real life; with care and compassion. I was glad to see this kind of representation of self-harm since this is the first time I think I've ever seen this used in a story, specifically fantasy.

For those who are hesitant to pick up this book because of its light association with Sarah J Maas, please cast all of that hesitation to the side. This book is absolutely nothing like her books. It's so fresh and unique and light-hearted while also tackling some really heavy content at the same time. It's a perfect balance.

I will say I did kind of predict the big plot twist from when some lore dropped about 30% through, but The Prison Healer might be one of my new favorite series and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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? No

4.5

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book but I was hooked immediately. I loved our morally ambiguous MC Kiva & her journey as she does what she can to survive in a brutal prison whilst also trying to treat patients with no judgement.
And after Jaren arrives, with the help of Naari & Tipp, they all start to break down Kiva's carefully constructed walls.

When the Rebel Queen is captured & taken to the prison - it is decided that she will have to complete 4 trials, each featuring a different element, & if she survives, she will be free. However, the Rebel Queen is on death's door when she arrives & in no state to complete anything, so Kiva volunteers to take her place under the understanding that if she completes the trials, both her & the Queen will be freed.

The trials get increasingly harder & Kiva's reliance on others becomes heavier, making her realise she isn't as much of an island as she would like to believe.

I loved the dark gritty surroundings of the prison & I feel that Noni paints a very vivid & realistic image of Zalindov prison, as well as the types of people who would be in there, innocent & guilty alike. Noni also portrays the brutality of the prisons guards & the cold calculating Warden especially well.

I loved the history of the royals, the magic systems & how that fed into the story. I was also fascinated by the descriptions of medicines & how Kiva has taught herself healing through trial & error following her father's death in the prison.

Some of the twists I saw coming but some of them left me absolutely gobsmacked. I need the sequel ASAP.

And I love Kiva, Jaren, Naari & Tipp so much!

CW: mentions of sexual assault, drug use, self harm, death

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