I was very worried about second book syndrome as i really enjoyed the first book, but this was such a good fun read, and continues where the first finished up. The stakes are higher, Kiva has survived the prison and trials and now there is more at stake than she could ever know. Lynette know how to write and create a world, and this is one world you want to get sucked into.

Lynette Nori's world-building when it comes to The Prison Healer series is both unique and imaginative and as you return to the series with The Gilded Cage? That world grows out from the barbaric prison we had encountered in the first book.

Kivas life has been tumultuous at best, and with the focus primarily being on her in The Prison Healer it was so good to not only expand the world we're in; but also meet Kiva's family with her siblings Zukeela and Torell who help bring together a dynamic we hadn't really seen before. There's also more royals and each one adds to the storyline and create excellent moments of natural banter that provide depth and humanity to Kiva which is always a good thing in a fantasy setting.

I liked how in this book we see Kiva's beliefs and theories on the Royals she's felt true contempt for since childhood be tested. There's so much more to these people she's despised and a realisation that they're not only people just like her, but also good people at that. Understandably, Kiva struggles with this and finds her reality isn't anything like she had believed it to be.

I like many readers, find myself struggling as to just why there's so much contempt from the Rebels when it comes to the Ruling families because everything we're seeing through Kova's eyes say they're good rulers or as good as one can be. When it comes to Zukeela, I fear her heart and beliefs would actually endanger the people because she's power-hungry and in truth unstable because of her vehement refusal to see another's opinion and insight properly.

The Gilded Cage is an incredible read, one I will happily go back too as this series is proving to be an addictive one.

Really loved the sequel, and I cannot wait to continue with the series. The writing got better with this one, so I have some hopes for the sequel!

This is a beautifully written YA fantasy, with stunning world-building and enchanting characters. I had a lot of fun with this one!

With thanks to Lynette Noni and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced readers copy of this book.

4*

An excellent sequel, although lets down it's predesessor.

The prison healer was an easy 5* read for me, the twists, turns, the unreliable narrator, it was all just so wonderfully done.

This sequel is good, still full of lies, betrayal as Kiva finds herself trapped with her families enemies.

The only let down for me is the angst in the first 3rd, where has the bad ass heroine from book 1? Instead we're spending too much time pining over Jarrod.

If you enjoyed the first I would still recommend giving it a read, and if romance is your thing though and the stepping down of plot wont bother you 100% pick this up.

this was interesting. it's the middle book and i was afraid of what could happen after the escape from the prison, which was the thing i liked most about the previous book. some thing i expected, others surprised me enough to read the next one.

The Gilded Cage is such a beautifully written YA fantasy. The world-building is outstanding. The story is well written with an enchanting storyline and well-developed characters that engage from start to finish. The world is atmospheric and feels real with vivid descriptions and rich imagery. I cannot get enough. Highly recommended. Be sure to check out The Gilded Cage today.

This book broke and healed me all at once. It was everything, and I still regret that I left it on my shelf for so long. I just know this series will be one of my absolute favourites!

The first one in this series, The Prison Healer, was a solid book with a good general plot and an interesting setting. The second one, sadly, suffered a bit.

The prison is removed from the ongoing story and only lingers in the dreams of the ones who survived it. Kiva is living with the royal family and is treated almost as a part of that family. While she starts to like them more and more - and in the case of Jaren fall for him - she is torn between those feelings and her loyalty to her blood relatives. Her siblings, the rebel leaders.

And most of the book is just that. Kiva being torn between the royals and the rebels. It is understandable but at some point it becomes quite annoying because not much happens for about 3/4 of the book. The royals are nice and shown as good rulers who truly care, while the rebels don't show up much in a positive way. And apart from an old blood claim, there isn't much of a reason why they should rule. You know, if Jaren and his family would be cruel and terrible and bad for the kingdom, I'd understand. But they aren't. The siblings are simply following something they were thrown into as kids.

While Kiva remains flat and insecure, the side characters offer quite a bit more depth, especially Cal. Seriously, he grew on me.

I do hope Noni will safe the story with the next book. At least the last few pages of this one were promising enough and the only reason why The Gilded Cage got 3 stars in the end.

This book took a big and different turn to the first one and I can’t say I was a huge fan of it either.

Like this is fine but forgettable? I can’t even remember if they kissed in the first book or not.
But generally this feels like a totally different book and basically avatar.
I do think this isn’t bad but is missing something.
Like this is a much better version of red queen though.

After the initial interesting characters many of them fall by the way side - the only difference eu we finally meet kiva and Jarrens families. Unfortunately they’re incredibly annoying and don’t help with anything. Kivas sister is the worst person possibly ever to everyone in this book and the fact that she is shockingly the villain didn’t come as any surprise to me because really? She was practically twirling her moustachio the entire time.

Also well done making the only lesbian a bad guy too and queer baiting the whole series through this book only to entirely ignore it.
Frankly this book the more I think about it made me angry. It just became a generic fantasy book with no charm.

I ADORED book 1, but in many ways The Gilded Cage felt a lot more like a typical YA and lost some of the thing that made book 1 really special. Having said that I am a sucker for typical YA, and will be moving on to book 3 ASAP.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first one however I am looking forward to one day reading these all at once so I get a better appreciation as it's a beloved series

The Prison Healer was one of my favourite books from 2021 and I was so excited to receive a copy of the second book from @netgalley. The cliff-hanger ending of the first book drove me absolutely crazy and I was dying to find out what would happen next. Stop reading here if you haven't read the first book to avoid spoilers.
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So Kiva is out of Zalindov and is living in the palace with the royals who she is scheming to overthrow... she reconnects with her rebel siblings and agrees to spy from within whilst also falling in love with the prince. It is a recipe for trouble and trouble is exactly what we get. This book was a rollercoaster ride from start to finish. Lush writing, gorgeous world-building and well-developed characters get me completely absorbed from start to finish. Speaking of finish... another devastating cliff-hanger ending that left me slack-jawed and desperate! Kudos Lynette Noni!

┕━━━━━━━★━━━━━━━┙

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✅
- Very strong sequel
- Twisty plot
- Character development *chefs kiss*
- Sweet romance
- Political scheming
- Caldon and Kiva's friendship
- Tipp ♥♥♥

❌
- Not a damn thing. This book was perfect!

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋:
I loved The Gilded Cage just as much as The Prison Healer. I personally preferred the setting of the first book as I found it more interesting and exciting than the palace. I really loved the slower paced twists and turns of The Gilded Cage though and found the development of the characters, the romance and everything to be perfect!
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I received an eARC from the publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
So… Well… I’m unsure what to feel about this book. I’m not super hyped over it, but it’s not bad neither. The issue I got with the story, is that it’s quiet dull through the book and all the chocking surprises comes in the end. But I still enjoyed the story. And the story is all about choice, cause Kiva get to choose either one or other side all the time. But she’s sooo naiv too and just trust to easy. But I will continue the journey in this story.
So all in all I liked the story, I just wanted some more exciting in it.

3.5 ⭐️ The second book in The Priosn Healer trilogy. Now Kiva has escaped the prison she must now figure out her love after prison and who he true friends are and also reconcile with her family.

While a great story I felt at times it dragged with kivas inner battle of what she should do, while I understand the reasoning. I like the introduction of new character and what they brought to the story, but I need more of them.

Amazing read, took off right from where The Prison Healer left it. Great setting Evalon sounded beautiful.

It was a guessing game right until the end who was on which side. There was lots of suspense, action, romance and lots of family ties and friendships.

Such a great book I enjoyed every second. Right on to The Blood Traitor now!

This picks up right where the prison healer leaves off! I love the escalation in drama and action in this book and the look at the wider world. Book one keeps us in a bubble, and this book finally gives us a glimpse of the new world after our MC spent so long separate from it.

I can't believe how stupid Kiva was in this book. What I liked about her in The Prison Healer was her grit and determination to survive against all odds. In this book, it felt like all her survival skills fled out of the window. For someone who survived one of the most corrupt prisons in the kingdom, she was way too trusting, forgiving and a very bad judge of character. Granted the people she trusted were her family but they were also the family that she hadn't seen or heard from in a decade and they gave her plenty of reasons to not trust them time and again. It's one thing for her to be indecisive about her loyalties when she didn't have enough information to go about but it's completely different to learn all the facts and still be naive enough to think that her actions will come without any consequences. Simply put, I didn't like where the book took her character as I'd thought that after everything she has been through in the past, she would be more cautious about where she was putting her trust. But, it seems like she is going to have to learn it the hard way AGAIN!

As for Jaren, I liked him enough in the first book and he is a nice enough person in this book as well but man has a personality of a toenail..sorry not sorry. There's just no x-factor to his character. Same goes for the romance, all that angst.. I just didn't feel it. Maybe because the angst just felt one-sided to me.

The plot has some interesting twists and turns but nothing that would come across as a surprise. However, that's just how I have been feeling about most YA fantasy lately so, that's on me. I did like some of the world expansion/ history reveal stuff that happens in this book.

The gilded cage was a fantastic follow up to the prison healer. Often second books in trilogies can feel like a bit of a lull/ a filler, however this was a really strong and thoroughly enjoyable sequel. Plot wise there was the same fast pace as the last book, and I really love how Noni’s writing style effortlessly flows from one event to the next. My favourite part of this book was definitely the new characters that we’re introduced to, namely kiva’s brother and Jaron’s cousin being my new favourites <3 There is so much depth to the familial bonds and friendships, it was just SO good. I am actually terrified of what Noni has next in store for these characters, I have no idea how I'm going to wait until the blood traitor is released.

Oh my god.

The amount of anxiety this book gave me only to finish on that cliffhanger?!?! I think Lynette Noni is out to destroy me piece by piece.

I absolutely loved this book and did not suffer from second book syndrome in the slightest. I love these characters and I love watching them grow, especially Kiva.

I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.