Close Menu
www.crackingthecover.com
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Home
    • Picture
      • Ages 0-3
      • Ages 2 and up
      • Ages 3 and up
      • Ages 4 and up
      • Ages 5 and up
      • Ages 6 and up
      • Ages 8 and up
      • Author Interviews
      • Bedtime Stories
      • Gift Guide
    • Middle Grade
      • Author Interviews
      • Ages 6 and up
      • Ages 7 and up
      • Ages 8-12
      • Ages 9-12
      • Ages 10 and up
      • Gift Guide
    • YA
      • Author Interviews
      • Reviews
      • Adult Crossover
      • Gift Guide
    • Seasonal
      • Back to School
      • Christmas
      • Earth Day
      • Easter
      • Fall
      • Father’s Day
      • Mother’s Day
      • Gift Guide
      • Halloween
      • Spring
      • Valentine’s Day
      • Winter
    • Diversity
      • AANHPI Heritage
      • Autism Month
      • Black Experience
      • Chinese New Year
      • Hispanic Heritage
      • Pride Month
      • Women’s History
    • Crossover
    • About
      • Review/interview policy
      • About our reviewers
    www.crackingthecover.com

    Lynette Noni’s Gilded Cage is strong sequel to Prison Healer

    0
    By Jessica on October 13, 2021 YA review, young adult
    Gilded Cage Lynette NoniTHE GILDED CAGE, by Lynette Noni, Clarion Books, Oct. 12, 2021, Hardcover, $18.99 (young adult)

    Roles are reversed when a former prisoner moves into the palace in Lynette Noni’s The Gilded Cage (sequel to The Prison Healer).

    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. —Synopsis provided by Clarion Books

    If you have not read The Prison Healer, then you need to. The Gilded Cage is a strong, sometimes infuriating, read that will have you eagerly awaiting the third installment of this series.

    Author Lynette Noni is great at setting the scene, and in The Gilded Cage, the world in which the book takes place gets much bigger and the stakes are higher. And yet, the intimate feel from The Prison Healer remains.

    As The Gilded Cage progresses, a feeling of dread follows. It’s sort of like watching a car accident in slow motion. You essentially know what’s going to happen — minus the finer details — but you can’t look away. And yet, it’s those finer details that make the story stand out. It’s those twists that set it apart and suck all the air out of the room. They’re why I am frustrated the third book isn’t out now.

    Kiva is a strong character that you want to succeed, even while you want to yell at her for some of her decisions. But the book isn’t just about her. Noni has done an excellent job of fleshing out her supporting characters, which bring depth and brightness throughout.

    The Gilded Cage is a fast and engrossing read that old and new fans of Noni’s writing will likely gobble up.

     

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Jessica
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • X (Twitter)

    Jessica Harrison is the reviewer behind Cracking the Cover. She loves books and worked as the in-house book critic at a daily newspaper, writing reviews and interviewing authors for two years. When the company cut back, she lost her position covering books, but that doesn't mean she stopped reading. If anything, the whole experience made her more passionate about reading and giving people the tools to make informed decisions in their own book choices. She has been featured on NetGalley's Blogger Spotlight and is on Kindleprenuer's Ultimate List of the Best Book Review Blogs. Contact her at jessica(at)crackingthecover(dot)com and follow Cracking the Cover on Bluesky, Instagram,  Facebook and Twitter (X) @crackingthecovr. You can also read scaled down reviews on Jessica's Goodreads review page. Jessica is also a reviewer on Amazon.

    Related Posts

    YA Fantasy novels feature magic and mystery

    The Rebel Girls of Rome is strong historical mystery, romance

    The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick is delightful

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • bluesky
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • facebook
    • goodreads
    • amazon
    • bloglovin
    • mail
    Subscribe by email
    Follow
    Recent Posts
    July 11, 2025

    Enter the fascinating world of insects in Welcome to the Museum’s Insectarium

    July 11, 2025

    Middle grade ghost stories feature buried secrets

    July 11, 2025

    YA Fantasy novels feature magic and mystery

    July 11, 2025

    Fight summer boredom with middle grade reads

    July 10, 2025

    Life: The Wild Wonders of Biodiversity is eye-catching picture book

    Archives
    Categories
    On Writing

    “The dance with words and the way the hair on the back of my neck raises when it works right is what I live for.”

    —Gary Paulsen

    “I write because I exist. Because I read. Because I breathe.”

    —Lindsay Eager

    “Books are kind of like the sense of smell: inhale one page and memories come rushing back.”

    —Keir Graff

    Cracking the Cover is a website dedicated to picture, middle-grade and young adult books. It features reviews, author interviews and other book news. PLEASE NOTE: We are not currently accepting self published books for review.

    Copyright © 2010-2022 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.

    Reviews Published Professional Reader 2016 NetGalley Challenge 100 Book Reviews

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.