The Prison Healer

February 10, 2021
Lynette Noni, the winner of the 2019 Gold Inky for her dystopian sci-fi novel Whisper, returns to fantasy with The Prison Healer. Kiva’s daily life as prisoner and prison healer at Zalindov Prison is disrupted when two new prisoners arrive. One will be her mysterious love interest, the other is the deathly ill rival claimant to the throne who has been sentenced to the Trial by Ordeal—a series of elemental challenges. Having received a message that her family are finally coming for her, along with the instruction that she ensure the Rebel Queen survives, Kiva volunteers to take her place. Unlike Katniss in The Hunger Games, Kiva has none of the skills needed to succeed in the challenges and must rely on her more talented allies to save her. Ingeniously, these challenges are actually mere distractions from the more insidious threat putting the lives of everyone in Zalindov at risk: a pandemic. Kiva shows her heroism in the care she gives the sick and in her determined efforts to find the cause of the disease. The innovative and timely healer-as-hero theme makes for a slow burn of a novel, but a whiplash-inducing twist in the final pages will have readers desperate for the forthcoming sequel. The Prison Healer is recommended for those aged 15 and up, on account of the frequent depictions of violence and some references to sexual assault. Ilona Urquhart has a PhD in literary studies and now works in a public library.

March 1, 2021

Gr 8 Up-Kiva Meridan has spent most of her life as a prisoner of Zalindov, where the rulers of Wenderall's eight kingdoms send the worst of the worst. Imprisoned as a child with her father, she became the prison's healer and an informant to the ruthless warden, Rooke, who runs the facility. The uneasy rhythm of Kiva's life changes when the Rebel Queen is caught and sentenced to Trial by Ordeal, a punishment meted out to the most dangerous criminals. If the woman survives, she is innocent and will be let free-but no one has ever survived, and certainly not someone as deathly ill as the blind Rebel Queen. Kiva volunteers to take her place after receiving a coded message from her family: "Don't let her die. We are coming." Kiva is a largely unsympathetic character, and her romance with inmate Jaren is uncomfortable, mainly because she repeatedly tells him she isn't interested. There are a variety of red flags, including the casual treatment of guards assaulting and raping prisoners. Several side characters and plots feature uncomfortable ableism: a guard's magical prosthetic that functions better than her hand, the Rebel Queen's blindness and how her story concludes, the stigmatization of a guard with an STI, and a variety of ableist metaphors. Jaren has "honeyed" skin and blue eyes, Kiva has green eyes, and Rooke and some of the guards have dark skin. VERDICT An easy pass in favor of readalikes by Sabaa Tahir, Sarah J. Maas, and Tahereh Mafi.-Ness Shortley, Horton M.S., Pittsboro, NC

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April 1, 2021
Grades 9-12 Seventeen-year-old Kiva runs the infirmary in Zalindov, the imposing prison infamous for its brutality. News from outside rarely penetrates, though inmates know of the rebellion led by Tilda Corentine, who claims she is the rightful queen. Kiva's hands are full seeking to cure a deadly plague, appeasing the warden as his reluctant spy, and fighting her attraction to a mysterious new prisoner. When Tilda is captured, Kiva is ordered to keep her alive for the Trial by Ordeal, a legendary series of elemental challenges. A coded message from Kiva's family also arrives with a similar message, promising rescue. Kiva volunteers to take Tilda's place to buy time, though she lacks the elemental magic only royalty holds. Though the Trials themselves are relatively anticlimactic, this dark fantasy, first in a series, is thrilling as a contained "bottle episode," which positions eight kingdoms as a vague backdrop that contrasts sharply with the violent immediacy of prison life. Noni's gambit of beginning the real story--that of who Kiva is--toward the novel's end will energize some readers and alienate others.

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February 15, 2021
Prison life gets even more punishing in this fantasy series opener. Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan is 10 years into a life sentence at "death prison" Zalindov. She's succeeded her late father as the titular prison healer, dosing patients with herbs and possessing extensive, modern medical knowledge of bacteria, viruses, and immune systems. Aside from cheerful innocent/MacGuffin Tipp, Kiva befriends few fellow prisoners and even fewer guards, most of whom are harshly abusive. While Naari, a new female guard, and Jaren, a handsome new prisoner, chip away at her frozen facade, Kiva volunteers to undertake an epic Trial by Ordeal on behalf of the Rebel Queen, the newest political prisoner. Under pressure to save her friends, the Rebel Queen, and herself--and losing hope of rescue or release--Kiva faces four elemental magic Trials sans innate talent. In between grueling, gruesome spectacles, Kiva also acts as an epidemiologist, tracking down an illness plaguing the prisoners. The claustrophobic setting--evoking the horrors of a Siberian gulag or Nazi concentration camp--exudes dread and brutality; levity and lightness are minimal. A predictable romance ensues, and generic fantasy clich�s abound--royals and rebels, lost heirs, vague magic--hastily concluded with a trite plot twist and setup for a sequel. Most main characters read as White; there is a diversity of skin tones in this fantasy world. Readable but not remarkable, yet another grimdark political fantasy. (map) (Fantasy. 15-adult)

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