The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett - Book Review

Series: Shadow of the Leviathan #1

Publication Date: 06th Feb 2024

Genre: Mystery, Fantasy 

3 stars 

One Liner: Good mystery drowns in a vague setting 

Eccentric investigator Ana Dolabra is asked to solve the case of the mysterious death of an Imperial officer in the Empire. The dead man is now a tree or has a tree growing from his dead body. 

Dinios Kol, Ana’s new assistant and an engraver with ever-lasting memory, goes to the scene to collect information for his superior. As they find more details, it’s clear that the death is not an independent incident. With what seems to be a threat to the Empire itself, Ana and Din have to find the culprit before it’s too late. 

The story comes in the first-person POV of Dinios Kol. 

My Thoughts: 

The premise is wonderful, and the combination of mystery and fantasy made me curious. 

The mystery is the best part of the book. I like how complex and layered it is. Ana (despite everything) has turbo-charged grey cells that work 24*7. Din is solid and balances out the equation well. While some readers may find Din bland, I like that it is his personality. He is supposed to be that way. Imagine him being like Ana. That would be super annoying. Din is good the way he is. 

The revelation also comes in stages. Even though we get lengthy dialogues with explanations, these are followed by fast-paced action scenes to balance the narrative. 

Some secondary characters are promising. I quite liked meeting them. It’ll be nice to see them in the future books. The names are typical fantasy stuff- made up by throwing together random alphabets. Not an issue since I do the same, lol. 

When I read fantasy, I tend to go with the flow and see where the story takes me. However, that approach didn’t help here. I still have little to no idea about the setting. On a side note, shouldn’t this be a dystopian fantasy? That way, I can tick off a reading challenge prompt! 

Man, the pacing is slow. There is a lot of detail about the setting, which sadly doesn’t translate to an imaginable output. I’m someone who finds it easy to visualize settings and scenes. Yet I couldn’t see beyond the outlines. (Translation- it needs better editing) 

Ana tries hard to be Sherlock but doesn’t get close. Maybe the character was just herself, we’d have better luck. There’s potential buried under all that swearing and cursing. Saying the F-word a million times doesn’t make anyone cool or whatever. 

Still, I admit I chuckled a few times, even when danger was looming over. The monsters (which are just as vague but super duper huge) tend to come out at random. 

The first chapter is terrific. The subsequent ones, not as much, make it hard to sustain interest after the initial burst of intrigue. Luckily, the last section is solid, which pushed the rating from 2 to 3 stars. 

A special mention about the cover for this edition. At first glance, I thought the red part was a cracked bowl with some bluish fumes around it. Then I realized I was wrong. The bigger red portion is the sky with a red sun (or whatever the Empire has). The crack is a breach in the sea wall. The haze is detailed, with steps, exotic plants, and the main characters. There’s a cup on the side and a couple of lanterns on the opposite corners. The design is brilliant once you start reading the book. 

To summarize, The Tainted Cup is a layered mystery set in a fantasy world. It would make a great read with some strict editing and clearer world-building. If I read book #2, it’ll be for Din. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton (Hodderscape), for the eARC.  

#NetGalley #TheTainedCup