Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Tainted Cup

This world is so unique and interesting. I loved the main characters and their idiosyncrasies. The mystery unfolded really nice, too. I enjoy ones where you can figure out some of the mystery yourself and then the rest needs to be revealed.

Fantasy Mystery, Magic System, Crime Fight

“We get some say in what kind of person we are, Din. We do not pop out of a mold. We change. We self-assemble.”

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schnaucl's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was set in a really interesting fantasy world where magical biohacking is commonplace. I wondered a bit about how people would just let the biohacking class do their thing without worrying about something happening if the person doing it was unscrupulous, but I suppose it's just their version of going to the doctor.

I loved Dinios and Ana and the secondary characters were really interesting, too. I look forward to spending more time in this world.

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zarap's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

SO FUCKING GOOD. I loved the mystery and the worldbuilding and the characters and the in-world politics and the neurodivergent representation and the ending and just EVERYTHING OKAY.

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raynearchv's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

5 stars simply for the experience and wit and twists of this book, objectively it is more of a 4/4.5. i kind of flew through this because i really wanted to keep going and know more and know the truth and it had quite a lot of twists on who's involved in the case. I'm glad this is my first murder mystery I've ever read because it was fun and gruesome
also there is neurodivergence rep with Din being dyslexic and Ana bein autostic-coded, and Din's disability gets explored through the book at some points and how he works with it, which was really interesting to see

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goeagles91n's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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bookwyrmknits's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I think my favorite part about this book was the worldbuilding. I also enjoyed the characters and I got caught up in the mystery, but the world itself was so unique and dense that it's what stuck with me the most. Between the giant, bio-engineered air conditioning fungus and the quakes caused not by plate tectonics but by giant leviathans approaching the sea walls, this is a fantasy world where it's easy to remember that it's not OUR world, no matter how human the people seem.

And even though the people are also bio-engineered to a degree, they do feel very real, with human desires and fears. Most (if not all) of the characters we meet have changed themselves to at least a small degree, and it often seems like they felt they had to in order to get ahead in their world. The modifications they make to themselves made me wonder if I would want any of the modifications. Some people change their physical strength, others enhance their memory, and still others increase their mental aptitude for things like math or science. But the downside is that everything comes with a cost, and many of the modifications will shorten lifespans or cause mental breakdowns in later life.

If there's a downside to this book, it's that the people felt too normal compared to the setting. Yes, they are modified and super-strong or super-smart or have perfect memory. But during the scenes when they were all sitting around talking, it was easy to see them as just people. The setting, in contrast, was so much more alien.

All told, though, this was a really enjoyable murder mystery, and I'm already looking forward to the sequel. There's so much more to explore in this world, and I am really interested to see where Bennett takes his characters next. This was my first book by Robert Jackson Bennett, but it certainly won't be my last.

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breezer's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense 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

10/10 no notes

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