Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - The Tainted Cup

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

9 reviews

gillianengelbrecht's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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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katieo156's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

4.5

I took this book out from the library while away, didn't finish it, and picked it up from my library the day I landed. I love the world building and the bureaucracy of it, even if I still don't know what the hell the colors mean (I'll get there!). I adore Din and can't wait for him to come into his own- I absolutely love reading a well choreographed fight, and I do presume

everyone is a little bi until proven otherwise,

so it was nice to be right :) Ana is hysterical and had me laughing out loud more than once. The side characters were also great, and you really feel for all of them, including the titans! What the hell is up with that and WHY do they have faces?!?!? I think the mystery was decently done, and there was enough given away that I could anticipate the twists, which I love! Readers should be able to solve it! Needless to say I will be picking up the next installment the second it comes out <3

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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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heather667's review

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adventurous 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

4.5

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lbelow's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious

4.75

An excellent book and a compelling start to a new series! I'm not often one for Sherlock/Watson duos because a lot of authors take that kind of "smart" to mean "callous". And there's no denying that the Sherlockian character in this book is weird AF (and I suspect on the autism spectrum due to her sensory issues), but she also does things like take the time to check in with Din after he's had a near-death experience. The other thing I loved: the disability rep. Din is dyslexic and that reflects in how he navigates the world as well as the workarounds he comes up with to capture information.

This world is just as weird and unique as its main characters. And it's introduced with just enough finesse for the aspects of the world explored to tie back to the plot. As for that plot, some of the twists I guessed, and at least one important piece I did not. With the way that information is presented in this book, that makes me excited to reread this and pick up on the clues I missed during the first pass.

I recommend this book and will be searching out more by this author!

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was my first time reading Robert Jackson Bennett, but I've heard lots of good things about their writing. This didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed the "biopunk" universe where technology was based on plants and biology. I liked Dinios Kol and Ana Dolabra very much, which I had been a little worried about before reading. They charmed me quickly and I enjoyed their conversations. I wasn't really trying to solve the mystery, but I did manage to put together some pieces for myself before the reveals. When I talked about it with my friend, they said that sometimes fantasy mysteries are a bit easier to solve because the author has to explain how the world works, and what they are required to point out and explain for things to make sense tends to be relevant to solving the mystery. I listened to this on audiobook and thought the narrator did a great job, but I do think it made it a little harder for me to follow all the unusual names and keep things straight. With regards to content warnings, there is a fair amount of body horror and gore, but (extremely mild spoiler)

there was one weird gross sexual scene that I'm not sure how to accurately content warn about. I'll file it under Sexual Harassment I suppose? I found that scene unsettling.

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lcp_99's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

Oh my god I absolutely loved this book. I could rave about it for hours and I absolutely need to reread it and spot all the foreshadowing. Som much about this was just so damn clever- even the title is absolutely perfect.

The world was also fascinating. I am an avid fantasy reader but this was like nothing I’d ever read before. Definitely felt almost sci-fi at time and totally engrossing,. The only downside is that I want to know so much more than I do right now about how the world works and the history of it and what exactly are the leviathans

Din is an amazing POV character and they way we’re introduced to him using his skills as an investigator is so perfectly done and really sets the tone for the rest of the book. Ana is a one of a kind character and actually had me cackling at points but her relationship with Din was so wonderful to watch develop even if Din was completely clueless about it most of the time.

Every twist and turn to this book was somehow surprising yet felt entirely foreshadowed when I looked back over what I’d read which just made me love it even more.

The prose in this book is phenomenal- somehow absolute vulgarity becomes almost beautiful sounding? Very hard to explain but so magnificent to read.

I can’t wait for the next book in this series!

I would like to thank Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape and Netgalley for the for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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torturedreadersdept's review

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adventurous challenging dark funny 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

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booksthatburn's review

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*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

This follows the trend of the witty, arbitrarily restricted genius of several recent popular iterations of Sherlock Holmes, but with a danger that feels at once too remote and too specific to make a lot of sense to me. I can tell it's aiming for a thing that I don't like, and so I'm not going to finish it. I like banter, I like witty dialogue, but I think I'm finally at a point in my life where I don't like someone explaining to me how smart they are with information I literally had no access to until this moment. The biggest factor in this DNF is I'd started to feel like I wasn't allowed to finish other books until I struggled through this one, and I don't like books that make me feel like I can't or shouldn't read other books. I'm definitely bothered by one character's personality quirk of wearing a blindfold at all times, and treating a refusal to leave her home as an affectation that exists to annoy other people. The narrative calls attention to it but refuses to explain. I don't enjoy being told repeatedly that I don't need to know something, or at least don't get to have it revealed at this time. It doesn't feel mysterious or interesting, just irritating and petty.

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