Book Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

Please note: this review contains spoilers. If you haven’t read the book yet and want to experience the story unspoiled, now is a good time to stop reading. If spoilers don’t bother you—read on!

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 stars)

I’m quite late to The Tainted Cup party. Since its release in 2024, the book’s been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award in the Fantasy category and has gained quite a bit of buzz. With the second installment out on April 1st, 2025, I figured it was the perfect time to finally dive in.

Okay, fine, I'm late for that one as well but better late than never, right?

First Impressions

I’d heard that The Tainted Cup was a fantasy murder mystery with rich worldbuilding. That turned out to be both true… and an understatement. The worldbuilding is intense. So intense, in fact, that the first few chapters had a steep learning curve. I love a good Holmes-and-Watson-style duo, and I love a complex fantasy setting—but at times, it felt like the mystery and the worldbuilding were fighting for space rather than complementing each other.

Our “Watson” is Dinos Kol, the narrator and assistant to Ana Dolabra, an eccentric investigator. While Ana is undeniably intriguing, I couldn’t quite warm up to her. She reminded me of a less likable version of BBC’s Sherlock, and that impression didn’t change much by the end. Of course, this doesn’t mean she’s a poorly written character—in fact, I think she’s amazingly well crafted. It just means she didn’t resonate with me the same way other characters did. I respect her complexity, and I’m curious to see how she evolves in the next book.

The Plot

In this world, people can be magically—or maybe scientifically is a better term for the world in the book?—altered. Din, for example, has been modified to have perfect memory and is an Engraver. Others are enhanced with perfect vision, strength, or smell. There’s also various types of offices these altered folk can be a part of, but I won’t get into details of it here.

The story begins with a gruesome death: a man is killed when a tree grows from inside him. Din, with his perfect memory, observes and reports the details to Ana, who quickly solves part of the mystery. This draws the attention of Commander Desmi Vashta, who informs Ana that a recent leviathan breach may be connected—other workers on the sea walls were murdered in the exact same way. Ana and Din are summoned to the city of Talagray to investigate what is now considered a case of mass poisoning.

There, they meet three investigators already assigned to the case. Suspicion falls on them quickly, as their investigation has several glaring oversights. As events unfold, the mystery leads to one of the most powerful families in the empire—and a string of long-buried crimes.

What Worked (and What Didn’t)

I enjoyed reading this book, but I’m unsure who I’d recommend it to. As a fan of murder mysteries, I appreciated many of the elements—especially how the characters often made discoveries at the same time as the reader. That’s a tough trick to pull off, and Bennett does it well. Still, the mystery left me wanting more. A few plot threads seemed to go nowhere. For example, Ana calls out the investigators for praising Commander Blas and then not reacting when he’s slandered—but that moment is never followed up on. There were several examples like this, and while I get that red herrings are part of the genre, I sometimes found the false leads more compelling than the actual reveals.

At times, the book also reminded me of a D&D campaign that’s gone slightly off-track—the kind where the game master has an epic story, but the players keep generating unexpected subplots, and the world just keeps expanding to accommodate them.

That said, the fantasy aspect of the book is exceptional. By any measure, The Tainted Cup is a high fantasy novel, and the sheer scope and originality of the worldbuilding make it worth reading on that basis alone.

While Ana and Din are undeniably the leads, I found myself especially drawn to the minor characters. Fayazi of the Haza family, a villainous figure, was utterly fascinating. I would read a whole spin-off about her if the author decided to make it. Another standout was Ditelus, one of the accomplices in the murders. We only see him in his death scene, yet that scene was so powerful it brought tears to my eyes—even though I’d barely gotten to know him.

Favorite Quotes

There were also so many memorable quotes. Some of my favorites:

“But I am reluctant to assume maliciousness when incompetence is a better explanation.”
Honestly, I want to start including that in at least half of my emails at work.

Another great line comes from Vashta:

“I am here to protect the Empire, not deliver justice.”
That one added real depth to her character and showed how nuanced her role was in the larger world.

And then there’s this:

“How simple the titans seemed, and how impossible justice felt.”
A perfect line, especially considering how much the empire fears the leviathans.

Final Thoughts

The Tainted Cup is an impressively genre-bending story. Despite my misgivings, I’d love to reread it—though I’ll wait until I finish the second book, because I can’t wait to see where it goes next. It’s the kind of book where even if you’re unsure how much you liked it, you can’t deny the level of craft involved.

I’ll definitely be reading the sequel (probably already in my hand as you’re reading this).