A review by allofmyfriendsarebooks
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
4.0
Do you like the stories of Sherlock Holmes? Do you like Fantasy worlds with a ton of world building? Do you like political mysteries? Then this one is for you!
The story follows Ana, our investigator and Din, her assistant as they track down a murderer. Ana is absolutely wonderfully written--she's snarky, she's brilliant, and she's hilarious. Din is a young man with his first real job, and is determined to follow all of the rules to a T. The added bonus? Din has been augmented with a true photographic memory--he remembers EXACTLY everything that he sees, hears, and smells with EVERY interaction. The murders? Politically driven with a small catch--most of the victims have died from an explosion of trees coming out of their body from a suspected contagion that is HIGHLY contagious. Not enough? Oh, they're running out of time to solve this before the leviathans destroy the sea wall and come to overtake the city.
The worldbuilding is beautiful and very detailed but doesn't bog down the story as often can happen. In fact, there were moments where I actually wish there had been more worldbuilding and more explanation of the history or the landscape of a new area. Ana and Din have such a fun dynamic that reminds me a lot of the BBC version of Sherlock--it works very well and I wish there was more of it!
The mystery itself is pretty simple and easy to solve yourself if you're a mystery reader, but it was still a fun story to read through. The story is a little on the slower side, but it's still an interesting read, and I'm looking forward to reading more about this world.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for a review of this book!
The story follows Ana, our investigator and Din, her assistant as they track down a murderer. Ana is absolutely wonderfully written--she's snarky, she's brilliant, and she's hilarious. Din is a young man with his first real job, and is determined to follow all of the rules to a T. The added bonus? Din has been augmented with a true photographic memory--he remembers EXACTLY everything that he sees, hears, and smells with EVERY interaction. The murders? Politically driven with a small catch--most of the victims have died from an explosion of trees coming out of their body from a suspected contagion that is HIGHLY contagious. Not enough? Oh, they're running out of time to solve this before the leviathans destroy the sea wall and come to overtake the city.
The worldbuilding is beautiful and very detailed but doesn't bog down the story as often can happen. In fact, there were moments where I actually wish there had been more worldbuilding and more explanation of the history or the landscape of a new area. Ana and Din have such a fun dynamic that reminds me a lot of the BBC version of Sherlock--it works very well and I wish there was more of it!
The mystery itself is pretty simple and easy to solve yourself if you're a mystery reader, but it was still a fun story to read through. The story is a little on the slower side, but it's still an interesting read, and I'm looking forward to reading more about this world.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for a review of this book!