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A review by jaedia
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was a little tentative starting this one. I've heard such wonderful things but I'm not big on the mystery genre so I wasn't sure if this would hit or not. Still, hearing such wonderful things and knowing it's fantasy, when new friends in a Discord wanted to buddy read, I jumped at the chance. Buddy reads are fabulous for getting you to read those backlist books you've been putting off!
And I loved it.
So the mystery genre on its own is extremely not enough for me to stay intrigued. The mystery on offer in The Tainted Cup is great (with a couple pieces of evidence that I was screaming "IT'S STARING YOU IN THE FACE" but I don't know if I just happened to pick up on things that most would look past as irrelevant as Din did so, it fine), and really sets the ground for what I truly love here: the characters. Oh my lordy I love these characters. Dinios Kol the dyslexic engraver (picture perfect memory), assistant investigator to... Ana Dobrana the autistic Iudex investigator. This is how I read them, and UGH I love them dearly. And the mystery truly lets their brilliance shine. Ana is sassy and an absolute genius, but she remains in her rooms, blindfolded to over-stimulation. Din? Well he's a young lad fresh out of training unsure of well... anything aside from his dedication to the Khanum empire and his role. What a precious bean. The side characters are great as well and .. yeah I read entirely for these guys. I wanted to know they'd all be okay!
The writing of the whole thing, too, was masterfully done. Not too purple or flowery for my fatigued brain, but did a great job of setting the tone of the Khanum empire and Din's perspective of events as he moved through the story. It really takes a great writer to manage this, create characters you can really root for, things to really hate, and present a mystery intriguing and surprising. With a backdrop of more that doesn't overshadow the main plot, despite being SUPER interesting.
I just had a great time reading The Tainted Cup and I'm so happy book two comes out in like, 2 days! So I don't have to wait forever for more. I'm currently attempting to push this on my husband because I'm sure he will adore this. And if you're unsure like I was, I highly encourage you to give it a go! Unless you KNOW you despise mysteries, corruption in power systems, single-perspective narration, and/or body horror/dead bodies are a major trigger for you. 'Cus of course, not everything is for everyone. But this one sure is for a lot of people!
Bring on A Drop of Corruption.
And I loved it.
So the mystery genre on its own is extremely not enough for me to stay intrigued. The mystery on offer in The Tainted Cup is great (with a couple pieces of evidence that I was screaming "IT'S STARING YOU IN THE FACE" but I don't know if I just happened to pick up on things that most would look past as irrelevant as Din did so, it fine), and really sets the ground for what I truly love here: the characters. Oh my lordy I love these characters. Dinios Kol the dyslexic engraver (picture perfect memory), assistant investigator to... Ana Dobrana the autistic Iudex investigator. This is how I read them, and UGH I love them dearly. And the mystery truly lets their brilliance shine. Ana is sassy and an absolute genius, but she remains in her rooms, blindfolded to over-stimulation. Din? Well he's a young lad fresh out of training unsure of well... anything aside from his dedication to the Khanum empire and his role. What a precious bean. The side characters are great as well and .. yeah I read entirely for these guys. I wanted to know they'd all be okay!
The writing of the whole thing, too, was masterfully done. Not too purple or flowery for my fatigued brain, but did a great job of setting the tone of the Khanum empire and Din's perspective of events as he moved through the story. It really takes a great writer to manage this, create characters you can really root for, things to really hate, and present a mystery intriguing and surprising. With a backdrop of more that doesn't overshadow the main plot, despite being SUPER interesting.
I just had a great time reading The Tainted Cup and I'm so happy book two comes out in like, 2 days! So I don't have to wait forever for more. I'm currently attempting to push this on my husband because I'm sure he will adore this. And if you're unsure like I was, I highly encourage you to give it a go! Unless you KNOW you despise mysteries, corruption in power systems, single-perspective narration, and/or body horror/dead bodies are a major trigger for you. 'Cus of course, not everything is for everyone. But this one sure is for a lot of people!
Bring on A Drop of Corruption.