Hey Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musings are about The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni. I remember when this book was first published in 2021, the hype surrounding it was so big. As it came in one of my Fairyloot boxes, I automatically purchased the matching sequel editions for the whole trilogy despite not reading the first instalment. Fastforward 3 years, and they’ve been sat on my shelves ever since, completely unread! One of my 2024 reading goals was to finally tick this series off my list and reader, I’m proud to say that this goal has officially been started! Read on to find out more in my spoiler-free review!

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Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Here at Zalindov, the only person you can trust is yourself.

Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan is a survivor. For ten years, she has worked as the healer in the notorious death prison, Zalindov, making herself indispensable. Kept afloat by messages of hope from her family, Kiva has one goal and one goal only: stay alive.

Then one day the infamous Rebel Queen arrives at the prison on death’s door and Kiva receives a new message: Don’t let her die. We are coming.

The queen is sentenced to the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water, and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals. Aware the sickly queen has little chance of making it through the Trials alive, Kiva volunteers to take her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

But no one has ever survived.

And with an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva’s heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can’t escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.

My Musings

When The Prison Healer was featured in Fairyloot’s 2021 Aril box, the corresponding theme was ‘Hidden Identities’. This actually encapsulates a major part of the novel’s plot. Whilst I was able to guess around 85% of all the plot twists relating to this theme, there were still a few identities which did leave me guessing. The characters themselves are quite an endearing bunch. Being essentially ‘prison riff-raff’, you’ve got your loveable rogues, heroes in disguise, prickly people who are actually good at heart, guards with a sense of morality (or are they…?!) and the elderly comedian.

Kiva is quite an honest character who I warmed to. Her duties as a healer mean that she sees some of the more grizzly sides of prison life. I admired her abilities to want to stay positive and happy, whilst also keeping her steely resolve to stay focused and work towards getting herself out. When she becomes determined to do the Trials by Ordeal, you get to see more of her interactions with those around her and this brings her whole character arc to life. I particularly enjoyed the sections where she worked with herbal remedies as it gave a nerdy, botanical kick!

The Prison setting was quite unique to the book and definitely kept the story interesting. As the plot progresses, we get to visit each area and aspect of the prison which is referenced on the map so for me, the author did a great job at not only utilising this as the main location within the book, but also using the elements and areas of it as a tool to develop and push the story forward. Without going into copious amounts of detail, there was enough world-building to bring Zalindov to life, and even though I’m not adding it to my fictional travel bucket-list in a hurry, it will stay in my mind for quite some time.

The Trials by Ordeal that Kiva puts herself forward for in place of the Rebel Queen, is really the sole magical part of the story. In order to survive the trials and progress towards freedom, challengers ideally need to have an affinity in one of the four elemental areas of magic. It is these trials which also take us to the different prison areas as mentioned above. This was an intriguing part of the plot, if a little predictable at times, but it did heighten the level of drama and tension and added that much needed element of fantasy to the mix.

Now that some big reveals have happened, and based on the outcome of the story ending, I’m not too sure where this book series will go next. Asides from giving out major spoilers about the fates of Kiva, the Rebel Queen and other characters. All of the major parts of what made The Prison Healer that little bit unique, may almost render themselves a bit irrelevant now as we follow down a more traditional fantasy plotline. Nevertheless, I will still be reading the sequels to see how the story pans out – I just hope the follow-ups have the same amount of charm that Zalindov had in this first instalment.

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Have you read The Prison Healer yet or is it on your TBR list? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

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