Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Tainted Cup

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

35 reviews

eviethebookworm's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

A solid science fiction murder mystery! Attack on Titan meets Sherlock Holmes meets Star Trek.

I do however have a major gripe with Rob’s use of the adjective ‘queer’ throughout the book. Especially considering there’s LGBTQIA+ representation, there’s certainly an awareness as to the connotations of using it as a way to describe strangeness. I would have rated this novel higher had there been more care during editing to whittle it out of the manuscript more (because I KNOW that there would have been so many more instances of it).
But alas, it cropped up seven times in the span of 170 pages or so. And that’s only after I got annoyed enough to start marking them!

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errie's review

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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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mar's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

OKAY. BANGER

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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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mmccombs's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

Really interesting ideas and I mostly had a good time, but I found myself losing interest and then getting confused about what was happening, then having to rewind the audio, and mostly being like huh okay I guess. The vibes were great, the fantasy was really imaginative, the main characters were really fun. However, there were maybe too many characters, too many twists, and too much fantastical elements going on. Tbh, I thought this was just a straight Sherlock Holmes retelling (very much misinformed lol), so I was kind of shocked by how fantastical it was! Which was a treat, I just wasn’t mentally ready for all of the new words and concepts and world-building. It was good but not great for me!

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fatimaelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Incredible beginning to what’s sure to be an incredible series!

I read Robert Jackson Bennett’s Founders trilogy last year, and honestly, it’s stuck with me ever since. That series is in my top five read series of all time, because of the world building, and the social commentary, and the characters, and the stakes.

If the rest of this series is anything like the book I just read, then it’ll join my top five, unequivocally. The POV was first person (a sad realization for me, but ultimately my disdain for it is merely a personal preference) and it worked really well here. Din is a seemingly stolid, uncompromising character, devoted to rules and laws — but he grows so much over the course of the book that he grew on me too, and I liked him as our narrator and a character in and of himself. His boss, Ana, is a sassy demon of a woman, and I loved her instantly. She’s the brilliant Sherlock of this Sherlock and Holmes type fantasy mystery, but much more lively, funny, and sarcastic. These two were our main characters, but every supporting character felt real and grounded too, and none were wasted in the least. Bennett has always had a firm grasp on his characters and their quirks, how what happens to them changes them, and why they make the choices they make, and in this it is no different.

Where the book really shone, though, was the plot, against the backdrop of a fully realized, firmly established fantasy world. The way the story unraveled was nothing short of intoxicating, each new revelation earned and leading to the next. Bennett has a clever skill in revealing a new problem or question just as you might tire of the specific answer the characters are searching for, and for providing just enough information to keep you satisfied but still guessing. When we got to the climax, just before the reveal, I genuinely found myself aching to read even faster than I already was, just to know what was happening.

Fantasy has always had a well regarded place in our culture as a vehicle to shine light on problems in our world, and Bennett does this beautifully as well. We begin with a murder, which leads to more murder, and ultimately a race to uncover what might be a plot to unravel an entire empire via its defense of its shores from giant monsters referred to as leviathan. In the course of the investigation, we discover how the Empire functions, with class issues (as with the Founders trilogy) at the forefront: the way those with money derive their power, and what those with power do to keep and grow it. And then there are those affected by those actions, those impacted personally or professionally, and what they do or don’t do in response. The mystery was worth every bit of its name. It was so well crafted, and perfectly understandable.

Was the book perfect? Probably not. But I was so engaged and enthralled by the story unfolding that I didn’t much care to note the faults — beyond one small little irritant during the reveal, whereby Ana says that the presence of a certain something would definitely prove the guilt of someone, and I’m not sure it does — and that’s why I’ve given it five stars.

Knowing Bennett, we haven’t seen the last of the leviathans, and what they truly are is likely far less insidious than the Empire’s populace believes. We also haven’t ventured beyond the Outer Rim of the Empire, and though they’ve said that’s where corruption lies thickest, somehow once we go inward I think we’ll find that to be untrue.

I genuinely cannot wait for the next book. I don’t normally read unfinished series, but now that I have, I will be given the pleasure of having to reread this book before consuming the new one. Here’s hoping I don’t have to wait long.

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magnus_iskander_reim's review

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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sersi's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.0

I adored the Founders trilogy (and finished that only a few weeks before starting this) and I absolutely hate first person perspective (and didn't know this was written in that before starting). So, it took me a good while to really get into things and while I ultimately enjoyed the book (the world building is great), I'm not quite at the point of unequivocally loving it either.

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julalbert56's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a fun story! The ending was a bit underwhelming but I absolutely loved the characters, they were definitely my favorite part of the novel.

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