Review: The Prison Healer (The Prison Healer #1)

• Title: The Prison Healer

• Author: Lynette Noni

• Series: The Prison Healer #1

• Genre: Dark Fantasy

• Rating: ☆☆☆☆

"𝑰 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚, 𝑲𝒊𝒗𝒂."

The Prison Healer is both a fantastic read and sadly a little too predictable. Whilst I enjoyed this read, I couldn't help but notice that it was very typical of a YA fantasy - too convenient at times, main plot lines too obvious, and if that doesn't bother you, then this makes for a decent story. And even if it does bother you, there's still enough going on in this world that you can somewhat forgive those predictable nuances that litter YA books.

The plot is dark and challenging towards the main characters, but it didn't captivate me enough. I had already guessed key characters and their alliances long before it happened. And because I'd guessed it all (but one), I spent a lot of The Prison Healer simply waiting for those revelations and not focusing on what happened on the present pages I was perusing. On a basic level, this is a story about Kiva, who was sent to Zalindov at age 7 with her father on charges that seem extreme. For 10 years, Kiva has survived the dangerous prison of Wenderall by keeping her head down and obeying what is expected of her as the prison's healer.

But there is a whole lot more to this character, and this is where The Prison Healer makes up for its predictability. By the end of the book, the Kiva you met in the beginning has become someone else entirely, and that's all down to the clever tidbits weaved throughout. When I finished, I realised that you actually don't know much about Kiva, despite the story being told from her point of view. We see what she faces each day as the prison's healer, and in the trials she faces to save the Rebel Queen, but you don't get to know her full intentions until the very end. I rolled my eyes at the final plot twist at first, feeling it hadn't been set up enough to work, but the more I thought over the happenings and the scenes that linked to this identity, I found myself in awe of Noni's ability to make you sympathise with Kiva and be somewhat uninformed of who she is truly.

The rest of the main crew are equally enjoyable, and plot aside, I loved these characters a great deal. Jaren is very typical of a YA male protagonist, and he was the first I guessed, but at the same time, I liked his constant presence in Kiva's world. Watching her go from avoiding him to accepting his help was rewarding. Tipp is also a fantastic little sidekick, and his energy kept the darkness of this world from being too consuming for both Kiva and the reader. Naari, however, was my absolute favourite character in this book, and I adored her placement. The fact that after so long, Kiva finds herself being able to make a friend in someone unlikely such as a prison guard was completely worthwhile. The way Naari supported her through the trials and teased her as Kiva opened up little by little was some of the best moments in this book. The found family trope was utilised so well in this that it definitely helped through some of the less interesting or predictable moments.

That said, the angst at times was a bit too dramatic, and I guess being set in a prison makes it work better than in any other setting. Still, I didn't really enjoy the clash of both the sickness pandemic and the trials all at once. It felt like the story was flitting back and forth, the trials often an afterthought and hastily thrown in. This especially came to a point with the last trial, and how pointless the overall Ordeal ended up being. Whilst it added an extra layer of something to this world, and in the synopsis, the deadly trials sounded intriguing, I wished there had been just the one focus on the sickness and discovering more about the prison inhabitants.

The romance was minimal but cute, and of course, fed with betrayals as both characters are unveiled. This will continue into the next novel, which I'm eager to find out how Kiva will figure out who she needs to be outside the walls of Zalindov.