Scan barcode
A review by kylosten
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I'm sure some people loved this book but I was not one of them. I only thought it was okay. I saw some people compare it to Throne of Glass (I read and hated ToG's first book and never continued the series) and can see some of the similarities. I liked this more than ToG, though.
Things I liked:
*Disability representation. There is an amputee and a character with a stutter. I don't have those disabilities to know for sure but to me it seemed like they were represented well and respectfully.
*Naari- Naari was by far my favorite character and the one I wanted to hear more about. I didn't really care about or connect with any of the other characters.
*The relationship between Kiva and Tipp. I liked Kiva's being an adoptive big sister to Tipp and their interactions together.
Things I liked:
*Disability representation. There is an amputee and a character with a stutter. I don't have those disabilities to know for sure but to me it seemed like they were represented well and respectfully.
*Naari- Naari was by far my favorite character and the one I wanted to hear more about. I didn't really care about or connect with any of the other characters.
*The relationship between Kiva and Tipp. I liked Kiva's being an adoptive big sister to Tipp and their interactions together.
Things I didn't like:
*The repetition. I'm not sure if the repetition was supposed to be Kiva having obsessive thoughts or what but it got old fast and it added to the book feeling drawn out and longer than it needed to be.
*Predictable plot - Sometimes I can handle very cut and dry predictable plots but because of the repetition, underdeveloped characters, and pacing being slower than it felt like it should be, and use of tropes in the same way they've been used countless times before I often struggled to pay attention.
*The trials were a bit underwhelming. None of them were meant to rely on skill. Just meant to be impossible to make it through, which was the point, but it made them boring. High stakes (make it through or die) but no payoff.
*The repetition. I'm not sure if the repetition was supposed to be Kiva having obsessive thoughts or what but it got old fast and it added to the book feeling drawn out and longer than it needed to be.
*Predictable plot - Sometimes I can handle very cut and dry predictable plots but because of the repetition, underdeveloped characters, and pacing being slower than it felt like it should be, and use of tropes in the same way they've been used countless times before I often struggled to pay attention.
*The trials were a bit underwhelming. None of them were meant to rely on skill. Just meant to be impossible to make it through, which was the point, but it made them boring. High stakes (make it through or die) but no payoff.
I may give the second book a shot since it will be after Kiva's time in the prison and because sometimes the first in a series can be rough findung its footing but I'm not in any hurry to do so. I actually thought this was a debut novel, not the first in a series from a best-selling author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault