"From the very first chapter, Kyrie Wang Author transported me into a beautifully crafted medieval world that felt vivid, immersive, and incredibly real. One of my favorite things about Kyrie’s writing is her remarkable ability to make you feel like you’re walking beside the characters rather than simply reading about them. Every village, every castle, every journey, and every heartfelt conversation came alive in my imagination.


I read because I love the experience of being completely transported, and Healer’s Blade delivered exactly that. It reminded me why I love stories that combine adventure, heart, faith, and unforgettable characters.


Aliwyn quickly became a heroine I admired. As a healer carrying the weight of past mistakes, her journey is one of courage, compassion, forgiveness, and growth. Watching her navigate a world divided by war while holding onto kindness made her incredibly easy to root for.


And Tobias, well what a wonderful hero he is. His quiet strength, compassion, and unwavering character made every interaction between him and Aliwyn feel meaningful. Their slow-burn relationship develops naturally and beautifully, proving that sometimes the sweetest romances are built on trust, sacrifice, and genuine friendship.


The medieval setting was absolutely captivating. Inspired by an alternative-history England after the Norman Conquest, the world-building was rich without ever feeling overwhelming. Kyrie balances historical inspiration with engaging storytelling so effortlessly that I found myself completely immersed from beginning to end.


Above all, I appreciated the faith-filled themes woven naturally throughout the story. Redemption, mercy, forgiveness, hope, and choosing compassion in difficult circumstances never felt forced—they became a beautiful part of the characters’ journeys and made the story even more meaningful.


This is the kind of book that reminds me why I love reading. It was adventurous, heartfelt, thought-provoking, and completely captivating.


⭐️An easy five-star audiobook for me.⭐️"

"One character in Healer’s Blade is a burly redhead pagan woman from early medieval Britain. She proudly leads a band of barbaric male warriors into battle, where she is as ruthless toward the enemy as any of them—and probably more so—but also shows more sympathy for the weak and pitiable. She’s brimming with confidence and competence. There are many books today in which she’d be the protagonist.


Not this one. Here, the heroine is a modest peasant woman. She loves her chickens and her home, and dreams of a happy future with the boy she grew up closest to. When hostile soldiers come, she doesn’t demonstrate a sudden startling proficiency for the sword, turning them away at bladepoint. She runs away, doing her meager best to defend those she loves as she does so. In a burgeoning rebellion of the English against newly Norman rule, she doesn’t pick a side and usher it to victory. She just tries to stop people from dying.


Here, the heroine is surrounded by people who are capable of overpowering her with brute force, and often close to doing so. This is a story of how she overcomes them not by fighting like them, but through a mix of wits, kindness, persistence, and a talent for healing—all while doing her best to adhere to her morals and faith, while wracked by doubts about what she’s done and should do. Healer's Blade is a title well-chosen.


This is an adventure where romance is prominent. There’s one main woman—but definitely more than one man. Scenes abound where the reader is prompted to ask: “Is he the one? Or is he the one?” “Which one is her friend? Which one is her enemy?” There is, in short, plenty of love, heartbreak, and affection. But it’s all done in a distinctly chaste and delicate way. It’s the sort of book that a parent could read and enjoy, and then recommend unblushingly to her teenage daughter. (Or son! There’s a lot of good medieval action here.)


Healer’s Blade touches on issues of race and religion lightly and admirably. The protagonist and her fellows, back in early medieval England, reserve their animus mainly for two groups: redheads and pagans. The fact that this is historically accurate makes it all the more funny, sad, and profoundly revealing at the same time. Similarly realistic is the fact that this early medieval protagonist has no grand epiphany about the shared essence of humanity and respecting all creeds—but she does gradually and subtly come around to judging those she’s with based on who they are as individuals.


It’s clear the author is impressively versed in early medieval British history. The book is distinctly in that historical period, and not some vaguely medieval fantasy land. But the author also doesn’t flaunt that knowledge unnecessarily with long, dry historical asides, as is the bane of many writing historical fiction.


The last thing I’d note that there are frequent subtle callbacks to earlier scenes and events, in which minor things you'd read earlier are suddenly illumined with new significance by later enlightening revelations—sometimes fundamentally changing how you’d understood earlier events and their emotional dynamics.


That’s probably enough to give you a flavor of the book and whether it falls within your preferred genres. If so—and maybe even if not!—give Healer’s Blade a try. Highly recommended."

"This is a solid addition to the YA canon. The book takes place in the Middle Ages and references real people and events from those tumultuous times in Britian's history. There is also enough alternative history to make it more than just a dry retelling of facts, dates, and dead white guys.


Aliwyn is a reclusive survivor at the Brocklesby Bridge watermill. She was apprenticed to a healer, Miriam, who died a few months earlier, and left behind by the other apprentice, Aelfric who had left to fight in William the Conquerer's war. She really doesn't have any feelings about the war about her - she is more concerned with the Vasfian tribes and her neighbors in the village than the clash between rebels and Normans.


And then the war comes to her doorstep. Within a matter of hours, her mill is the center of a skirmish between Normans, Vasfians, and rebels and everyone seems ready to turn on each other for power or for purse. Aliwyn is bullied and threatened by each side in turn and then finds herself rescued or a hostage (she's never quite sure) by one of the rebel leaders.


Adventures ensue. There are lots of YA tropes - found family, enemies to lovers, he falls first, one horse/one bed. Some of my favorite characters were actually secondary characters such as Zelrin, Kato and Reiya. I found Aliwyn quite unlikeable for the majority of the story as she isn't realistic about her chances of staying alive if she carries out any of her "plans," and suddenly thinks she is such a clever saboteur when she couldn't be bothered to have an opinion about the war just days earlier. Her obtuseness about her circumstances was a little trying. But in true coming of age style - at last she realizes (after she nearly becomes a casualty in the beaching of the boat) that her best chance of survival is for her to put away pointy stabby things, understand her situation, and deal with it.


Best scene in the book: Evelyn and Toby sword fighting. Although they knew each other as children growing up, they now find themselves on opposite sides of the war. How do you fight someone like that?


Publication date was June 30, 2023.

This was an ARC provided by the author. My opinions and this review are my own.


Edit: March 15,2024. I have since purchased this book for myself."