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.
I wish I'd waited to read this book until it was published.
I know; that's completely unlike me, isn't it? I love repping soon-to-published books and helping to build the buzz before publication. It's an absolute privilege and one I take very seriously. But in this specific case, this exact book, I would have enjoyed it more, and I'll tell you exactly why.
The proof copy I was very kindly offered has a printing error. Any word with the letters 'ff', 'fl' or 'fi' in them, those letters were simply missing. It meant I was constantly having to stop to decipher what I was reading, and I couldn't get swept away by the story. And I desperately wanted to get swept away by the story.
I'd been seeing people chat about this here and there in the last couple of months, I thought it sounded interesting, and I was excited to start reading it. I nearly put it down when I discovered the printing error, but I'm so glad I didn't. To be fair, the middle section drags a little, but it picks up again by the end; three huge revelations come one almost on top of the other, and while I kind of suspected one and at least knew another would be coming, I didn't guess the details at all and the third one hit me from nowhere. I'm really looking forward to reading the second (and third?) volume now to find out what happens next.
I loved the maps, especially the map of the prison; I love being able to really picture where things are happening and what the layout is. Given that at least some of the next book will take place in a palace, perhaps there'll be a map of it to match?
I adored how practical the prison is. Everything they need is included, like an old fashioned castle. Even the Warden, reprehensible as he is, is very practical. Everything he does comes from a place of logic, in the coldest, calmest sense of the word. (Can you tell I'm trying not to spoil? You can tell, right?)
I love this story. I enjoyed reading it, minor frustrations aside, and if anything happens to Tipp I'm going to be very upset. I can't wait for the next part.
The Prison Healer publishes on the 13th April, 2021, in both the US and the UK, using the same cover as far as I can find out. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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