The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni (ARC Review)

Title: The Prison Healer
Author: Lynette Noni
Type: Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Date published: April 13, 2021

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review.

Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan has spent the last ten years fighting for survival in the notorious death prison, Zalindov, working as the prison healer.

When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo 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.

Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: “Don’t let her die. We are coming.” Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

But no one has ever survived.

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 Review ⬻

This is the first Lynette Noni book that I have ever read, so I was unsure what to expect. All I knew, going in, was that The Prison Healer was one of my most-anticipated fantasy YA releases of the year and that Sarah J. Maas liked it, haha.

My first impression, diving into The Prison Healer was that I liked the writing. It really set the tone and setting of the book (and the overall story as a whole). It also made me want to explore the map and learn more about this world. I remember also being eager to read The Prison Healer because of the prison setting. I was excited for some of the new elements it would add to the book. I also really liked the Trial by Ordeal in this book, as it definitely added some excitement to my reading experience.

And I wasn’t wrong! There were definitely relationships and situations that might not have been possible in other settings. I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the prison setting from an atmospheric perspective, because I thought it would get depressing and/or really old really quick. But I’m happy to say that I didn’t have to worry.

Something that I did feel a bit hesitant about, just based on the synopsis, was Kiva’s love interest. I didn’t feel as much chemistry as I would have liked between them, but I’m hoping that the next book in the series might take care of that (for me at least). I also really struggled with some of the colloquial modern phrases that were peppered into the dialogue in The Prison Healer.

I’m very particular when it comes to high fantasy books (and movies and TV shows for that matter), and have brought this up in past YA fantasy and adult fantasy book reviews that I’ve written–if language that is too modern is thrown into the writing, I get pulled out of the story. There were also two plot/storytelling choices that I’m a little iffy about, but I can’t mention them here since they’re both major spoilers.

All of that being said, I do think that the pros outweighed the cons for me. I definitely had fun reading The Prison Healer, and plan on continuing with the series in order to see what happens, (starting with The Gilded Cage this October)!

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Lynette Noni is currently Australia’s #1 YA fiction author. After studying journalism, academic writing and human behaviour at university, she finally ventured into the world of fiction. She is now a full-time writer and the bestselling author of the six-book young adult fantasy series, The Medoran Chronicles, as well as a second bestselling and

award-winning duology called Whisper. Lynette won the 2019 ABIA Award for Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year, along with the 2019 Gold Inky Award (Australia’s only teen choice book award). She is currently collaborating on a project with #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas.