If Kiva patching up inmates in Zalindov and then stepping into the Ordeal of the Elements had you holding your breath, you'll feel the same electric tension watching Katniss navigate the arena’s kill-or-be-killed gauntlet. Like Kiva juggling coded messages and impossible choices to keep the Rebel Queen alive, Katniss must outwit a ruthless regime under constant surveillance, where every ally, ration, and plan can mean life or death.

You loved how Kiva clung to one unwavering objective—"Don’t let her die"—and put herself through the Ordeal to honor it. In An Ember in the Ashes, Laia's mission to save her imprisoned brother pushes her straight into the heart of the Empire’s military academy, where Elias faces brutal trials. That same propulsive focus, escalating stakes, and razor-edged choices will scratch the exact itch that kept you glued to The Prison Healer.

Zalindov’s filth, flogging posts, and no-win compromises gave The Prison Healer its edge. The Poppy War channels that same severity as Rin claws her way up from nothing and discovers a terrifying power with consequences she can’t take back. If following Kiva through punishments, plague scares, and the Ordeal’s elemental brutality gripped you, Rin’s harrowing ascent and the morally searing fallout will feel chillingly familiar.

If that final reveal in The Prison Healer—with hidden allegiances and true identities snapping into place for both Kiva and those closest to her—made you gasp, Red Queen doubles down on the whiplash. Mare’s unexpected power upends her world, court alliances twist like knives, and endgame betrayals force you to reevaluate every quiet conversation and stolen glance, much like the jaw-dropping turn that closed Kiva’s story.

One of the heartbeats of The Prison Healer is the makeshift family Kiva builds with Tipp and Naari inside Zalindov’s cruelty. Six of Crows centers that same tender ferocity: a band of outcasts pulling an impossible job while protecting each other’s scars and secrets. If Kiva’s small circle kept you hopeful through the Ordeal, Kaz, Inej, and the crew’s ride-or-die loyalty will give you that same ache-in-the-chest warmth.