Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Rating: 4/5 stars

Pages: 429

Category: YA, fantasy, romance, adventure, action

Trigger: Suicide idealism

Hello Readers, welcome back to my blog.

This is the second book of The Prison Healer which I got in my fairyloot box last year, so I was excited to get my special edition copy of the second book.

SUMMARY

Kiva trades one cage for another when she leaves behind a deadly prison for a deceptive palace.

Kiva Meridan is a survivor.

She survived not only Zalindov prison, but also the deadly Trial by Ordeal. Now Kiva’s purpose goes beyond survival to vengeance. For the past ten years, her only goal was to reunite with her family and destroy the people responsible for ruining their lives. But now that she has escaped Zalindov, her mission has become more complicated than ever.

As Kiva settles into her new life in the capital, she discovers she wasn’t the only one who suffered while she was in Zalindov—her siblings and their beliefs have changed too. Soon it’s not just her enemies she’s keeping secrets from, but her own family as well.

Outside the city walls, tensions are brewing from the rebels, along with whispers of a growing threat from the northern kingdoms. Kiva’s allegiances are more important than ever, but she’s beginning to question where they truly lie. To survive this time, she’ll have to navigate a complicated web of lies before both sides of the battle turn against her and she loses everything.

Review

Kiva has survived the trial of ordeals in Zalindov prison with the help of Prince Jaren and they are now in the capital, living in the Palace with Jaren’s family. Kiva is struggling with her feelings for Jaren and her obligations to her family. Her family is the head of the rebels fighting to take the Throne from Jaren’s family and since she is already close to Jaren they want Kiva to spy and reveal Jaren’s secrets so they can use it to take back the Throne. Although, Kiva is trying to keep Jaren at arm’s length, she can’t help how her heart flutters for him especially considering the bond that they formed while in Zalindov, which is pulling them together. On the other hand, Kiva wants to help her family with their cause but she has to regain their trust while betraying Jaren’s trust. Will she be able to pick a side? Love or family?

Kiva is so trusting of her family even if she says she is not and she is skeptical. The people she knew as her family are different people now and she isn’t taking her time to get to know them as adults rather than relying on what she knew of them as kids. Despite knowing the likely end of each side, it takes her a while to pick a side and by the time she does, she has already devolved considerable information that although she thinks is not meaningful is actually key information.

I loved the way the romance between Kiva and Jaren progressed and how she opens up to him while trying to keep some distance between them. Jaren is so sweet as a character, the epitome of a Prince Charming, at least from Kiva’s perspective which is the view the entire story is told from. I loved that the chapters weren’t too long and everything flowed nicely.

I gave 4 out of 5 stars because I loved the progress of the plot and the end was spectacularly predictable in the sense that the reader knows all parties will be hurt but not how the parties will be hurt there was someone at the end that really surprised me although after reading I started wondering why I didn’t see it coming. It was awesome.

If you like this review and are interested in reading this book, you can purchase it using the links below:

Waterstones (UK) – https://tidd.ly/3prSyR7

Book depository (Free worldwide shipping) – https://tidd.ly/3FvdFrh

Audible (audio books) –  https://tidd.ly/3EtH3gz

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