Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop ♡ thank you so much, del rey, for sending me a finished copy! 1.) The Tainted Cup ★★★★★ “The ocean cannot tell the difference between a rich man and a poor one, nor one full of happiness, or despair. To those waves, all are so terribly small.” the tainted cup was my favorite publication of 2024, so i was beyond elated when this book showed up on my doorstep in 2025! and opening this book, and instantly being back with din and ana, just reminded me how beloved this book series already is to me and how it is probably my most anticipated current ongoing series. i know, right? a lot of praise, but it really is from my heart. the very basic premise of what this series is doing is that it is a genre blend of fantasy and mystery, where we follow two character, din and ana, who are very coded as sherlock and watson, while they try to solve murder mysteries in what very much feels like an attack on titan world, filled with walls and leviathans that attack those walls. yet, also in this world, people have medical augmentations that allow them to enhance themselves, with abilities to do things better, but at a cost. and in this second installment, we really get to see that cost with classes in this world. in this book, din and ana are visiting a town in the middle of trade negotiations, called yarrowdale, which is a port town, and it feels a little extra scary when the wet season is approaching and when leviathans attack walls in this world! but this town hasn’t experienced an attack in living memory, and they also have something called the shroud, which is a leviathan graveyard with a lot of mystery behind it. and maybe some more mystery will be added to it, because this story starts with dinios kol, an altered mind rememberer, traveling to this town to meet an officer and to see what is left of a body. and one moldy tower room later, ana dolabra comes to hopefully solve another case with din, and in a new city, where body parts are continuing to be found. this series really feels like a breath of fresh air for both of its blended genres and it really feels like magic to read. din and ana’s relationship really just means the whole world to me, and seeing them both trust more, listen more, and even love more is just so beautiful. am i crying over a scarf? yes!! also, malo is such an amazing side character, who i was feeling all the emotions constantly for. i really hope we get to see them again in more stories. but yeah, the characters, the story, the writing, the messages, the mystery, it’s really all so top notch and i just really recommend this series to everyone who has even somewhat similar reading tastes to me. other random things i loved about this story: din is for sure pan or bi and we just really love to see it, always. i also always will love an unsettling castle setting. i was obsessed with how we got more backstory in this second installment, and seeing more of these character’s pasts and how they are choosing to live in the present. i love the constant theme of patterns and how they are all around us, for better or worse, if we really begin to look. i love that this book looked at debt and the systems that want to keep people down and at the mercy of their leaders. and i very much love to appreciate the discussions around the corruption of government and how those in power are more than willing to treat the citizens they view as lesser, regardless of any and all costs. i truly love everything about this series, but i do feel like no one, and i mean no one, is writing author notes the way robert jackon bennet is writing author notes. both books in this series have heavily discussed classism, capitalism, and which groups of people thrive, and die, because of these things. But this author’s note, the final thing the reader is left with upon closing this book, really emphasizes how fantasy stories have treated autocracies. how such a majority of stories are written about one true heir, who is divine, and righteous, and des...
