Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - 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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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

When I was a kid, my grandparents bought me an anthology of all the Sherlock Holmes stories. When I got into Edgar Allen Poe, they pointed out to me that he's considered to have written the first detective story, and I read The Murders in the Rue Morgue with relish. This seed of detective/murder mystery fiction love has laid dormant all these years, but I think this is the water it needed to sprout.

This is a richly alien fantasy world with fun characters and a well-realized mystery. I am so proud I figured a piece out before our Sherlock expy laid it out for us! This book also made me realize how little the characters in the books I read swear, and once I got used to it... it was kind of nice to have a smart lady running around who says the word fuck. I also loved that the author understood that Sherlock is not a cold or mean person, which shines through in the way he writes his expy, Ana. Her and our PoV character Din have such great rapport while being their own characters. I also loved the disability representation, when it clicked that the protagonist actually had dyslexia and it wasn't some magical side effect I teared up.

Can't wait for the next book in the series!

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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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errie's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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seasonedreadings's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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kwthor's review

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funny 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

4.0

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micheala's review against another edition

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4.5

I picked this up having enjoyed The Founders Trilogy previously. Plus a fantasy murder mystery sounded like it could be a fun time.

Ana and Din gave me Sherlock/Watson vibes, but not quite as far, with Ana's conclusions being easier to follow. But as someone who doesn't commonly read mysteries I'm not comfortable saying if it's a "fair" mystery, as I'm just along for the ride and never trying to figure it out first.

Bennett does fantastic worldbuilding, and this was no exception. I'm really excited to get more answers about the world in future books. I do wish we had gotten a little more information about the different races in this book.

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saltycoffee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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

4.0

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