This book was absolutely amazing. One of the best sequels I’ve ever read and it made me want more. Din and Ana are such a fun duo that I could read 5 more books just of them chatting, or Ana forcing Din into more compromising situations.

The fantastical environment elements ( fungus, mold, insane science, quite the utopian/ dystopian parallel) was so enjoyable. I truly enjoy learning about the world and all of the people in it. (Reminds me of The Will of the Many in certain ways)

I loved the ending, I thought it was perfectly balanced for the audience wanting more but also getting some more backstory into Ana as a character.

I especially enjoyed her soft spot for Din. I can’t wait to read more!

Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey for the E-ARC.This book was a solid 4.5 stars for me. I need 15 of it today and they wouldn't be enough.
Ana and Din are two of my favourite characters of all time. Their combination is a disaster to look forward to. I especially loved how Ana kept looking after Din and guiding him till he made his resolve. Din was.a bit of a mess, but he kept trying with Ana's help till he reached his answer.
The world building, the characters, the plot, the mystery and plot twists that will keep you guessing till the end, everything is immaculate in this series. There is a reason for the title of the book that you will find within.I kept trying to include more, but I think I will spoil the book if I do so. Just do yourself a favour and read this book and its previous part. I will definitely need a physical copy of this book and will probably never shut up about it for a few decades.
I needed the next book in the series, like, yesterday.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett is an utterly charming Holmes & Watson-style fantasy mystery novel. It is the second book in the Ana and Din Mystery series. This worthy second novel lives up to the thrills and adventure of the first book while building on the characters and giving them more depth. The characters are captivating and endearing, and the mystery kept me turning the pages as fast as possible! Bennett is a skilled writer and storyteller with a sharp sense of humor and a unique turn of phrase. The writing is intelligent and engaging, and the story quickly draws you into the intrigue and mystery. I am eagerly looking forward to more books in this series. You don't want to miss this book!

Another mystery solved by Ana and Din that will have you utterly consumed and on the edge of your seat!

4.5 rounded up to 5, arc received from publisher in exchange for honest review--

plot: 5/5
this plot seriously had me by the throat! its been a while since a book had so much control over me but i could NOT put this down!! the pacing and they way the mystery unfolded was just perfect. the mystery is definitely 90% of the plot and then the interpersonal stuff is like 10%.

characters: 4/5
i specifically loved ana's developments in this book and i always just adore her character because she's so insane. i had some suspicions about her and they were kind of confirmed, as much as they can be at this point so im contented hehe. i also really loved malo's character. i thought she added alot of personality and vibrance. i'm really looking forward to how her role develops in the next book.
the weak point here was din. it felt like he was very much the pov character as a tool. like he was there to observe everything, which is true to his on page purpose. but i just wanted to see more of ~him~ in it, like his personality. he has some good developments by the end but i feel like his character didn't have a ton of life.

writing: 5/5
rjb writes in a way that totally captivates me and transports me into the worlds every single time without fail. and they're worlds i would absolutely die in so stop it!!

overall: 4.5/5
fantastic continuation of the series and, as always, i will read anything robert jackson bennett publishes <3

It's a dense book. I took my time with it and it lived up to any expectations I had after book one. I enjoyed being back with Din and Ana, and I loved that we learned so much about what makes Ana, Ana. I don't remember her character being quite so condescending in the first book. I cringed every time she called Din and/or Malo, "child, children, boy, etc". But even in the end it is clear she is fond of Din and, even, Malo.

Din's journey was executed well. I wish I'd learned more about the relationship he left behind. Did that have anything to do with the decision he made in the end?

And I am delighted at the decision he came to, since it means we'll see more of this duo in the future. Sign me up! I can't wait to add this trophy book to my shelves!

First and foremost thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Robert Jackson Bennett for allowing to read an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

As a huge fan of The Tainted Cup I was beyond excited to get my hands on A Drop of Corruption. Jumping back into this world with these characters was thrilling, and I enjoyed that Bennett expanded upon the world by showing us a new region. This is one thing I look forward to in future books because there is so much world to explore and I adore the way that Bennett immerses us in it. We also got a new character that I felt fit seamlessly into Ana and Din’s dynamic and hope that they continue to pop up in the future.

Now for my one sort of issue with the book: Din’s character. I say sort of issue because I keep thinking about it and going back and forth about my opinion. Upon my initial read I felt that some of his actions felt out of character, but I can also acknowledge that Bennett is building this character just as he builds the world, slowly and with much care. I imagine I will continue to change my mind on Din’s continued characterization, and for the most part I felt that he acted similarly to the first.

The pacing was slightly jilted, I figure this will be smoothed out in edits before publication. Many of the ALL CAPS HEADERS during chapters felt unnecessary since we didn’t jump in time a significant amount and stayed in the same scene. But the end was phenomenal and made my heart race just as the first book did.

Overall I loved this book. Did it knock my socks off like the first one? No, but it may have loosened them, and that’s good enough for me.

I really enjoyed this!
I was a bit worried beforehand if this would be as good as book one, but it definitely was! Maybe even better, since we now know our main characters better.
I was infested from page one, I just needed to know what was going to happen. There were so many things I did not see coming, but they all did make sense. I love the main characters Ana and Din and their relation.

I'm very curious to where book 3 will take us!

While overall I enjoyed the second installment of this fantasy series, I found this book to be a little long and almost overly descriptive. I love the two many characters and their rapport. I think the magic system and world the book takes place in is extremely unique. However, this book was a little long winded and I felt the mystery was drawn out. I will continue to read this series though!

<blockquote> Before there was memory, before there was history, there were the leviathans: the colossal, monstrous creatures that lumbered ashore each wet season and went wandering the plains, bringing death and panic with them. For centuries, the folk of the land lived at their whim, and knew only fear and suffering. </blockquote>

Robert Jackson Bennett has done it again. A Drop of Corruption is an incredible sequel to The Tainted Cup and bears all the stylistic hallmarks that made me fall in love with the first book. From fantastic prose and humour to RJB’s signature worldbuilding, this book doubled down on all my favourite parts of The Tainted Cup and gave me even more. Ana and Din are still some of my favourite characters in fiction and the fantastical twist to a bank heist and murder mystery was an inspired take.
My favourite part of The Tainted Cup was its immersive worldbuilding, and A Drop of Corruption dropped us in a completely different corner of the world, rich with a whole new culture and society to discover. Traveling the nation of Yarrow with Din was so much fun and I can’t wait to keep exploring this world in future novels.
For the first 80% of the book, I thought that it was a step down from the prequel, but the last 20% absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. The revelations and reckonings in the ending were beautifully executed and RJB brought everything together in an incredibly satisfying manner. Ana and Din feel like a modern Sherlock and Watson, and I can’t wait to see what adventures they face next.

This was a highly engaging fantasy mystery novel that is fun to read and easy to devour in one sitting. The main characters are my favorite part of the book, with the two of them having a similar dynamic to Watson and Sherlock. The pacing of this was interesting as the guilty party is discovered quite early but the real mystery becomes unraveling all the potential threats to come. As with the first novel, the final reveal is very shock inducing and dramatic.

I love reading about the interesting magic, secrets of the Empire, and Ana's mysterious alterations that make her the genius she is. Most importantly I love that this book seeks to critique those who hold immense power and want it.

This book returns us to a world masterfully built by the author, and to characters we know but can not fully comprehend. We visit multiple societies with varying degrees of differing attitudes toward physical and mental perfection obtained through extraordinary means, that we get the sense no one fully understands or trusts. The story unfolds quickly with the perfect amount of mystery, contradiction and suspense. Every time I had to put the book down, I found myself looking forward to picking it back up again. I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastical romp and look forward to the next installment.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, it took me a long time to finally get around to writing this review, for a multitude of reasons. I couldn’t figure out a good way to word my thoughts on this book and didn’t want to come off as unfair, so in the end I gave myself permission to move on to other books and it ended up falling to the wayside.

I didn’t like A Drop of Corruption nearly as much as The Tainted Cup. TTC was a five star read for me and is very much on my “top ten books of the decade” list. Everything about it was amazing. So when my request for the sequel was accepted, I nearly cheered. Aaaaaand I was disappointed. The beginning of the book felt off in a way I can’t explain. The characters felt wrong. It wasn’t until about 15% into the book that I felt the book hit
Its stride and the spark came back, and for the entire start it felt lacking. I’m relieved to say that once it got over the road bump, it was an amazing book, but that first 15% knocked it down almost an entire star for me.

I liked the mystery in this book, though not as much as I did in the first book. It’s the setting that made the sequel great. (And the body horror. If you’ve read the book you know the scene I’m talking about. It gave me chills.) Political intrigue, molding buildings, a jungle hiding all kinds of bizarre secrets, and the Shroud all combined to make one solid read. And the tapping language…that was my favorite part. I adored that.

The worldbuilding continues to get better as the series goes on. I have such high hopes for what the next book will bring, and I’ll be waiting eagerly for the third installment. Hopefully I’ll get the ARC of that one too.

Ana and Din return in A Drop of Corruption, the much anticipated sequel to The Tainted Cup. In this novel our protagonists are in an outer province, attempting to explain how a treasury officer was abducted from a locked and guarded room.
To jump to the chase, this book was weaker than the previous entry. The sherlock/watson-esque character dynamics continued to entertain, however the Din’s in this book felt a little disjointed from Din in The Tainted Cup. It felt he’d had character traits added in in order to give him greater room for progress in this novel. The plot also felt convoluted at times, and as with the first book I felt that taking a more micro, low stakes, approach would have benefited the story, instead of forcing a large earth-shatteringly important scandal.
Overall, despite a few character tweaks, A Drop of Corruptions was very similar to The Tainted Cup, and both are worthwhile fantasy mystery novels with interesting settings and characters.

Ana and Din did it again! I really love The Tainted Cup and the moment A Drop of Corruption dropped in Netgally, I just have to request it.

this time we get to see a bit of backstory of Din and his yearnings, and he puked, who is also afraid of so many things.

the world-building this time takes a lot of time for me to digest and it requires my full attention to consume his breathtaking fantasy-mystery story.

overall I really love it and I cannot wait for Book 3.

Thank you NetGalley & publisher for this eARC.

I read the first book in this series, The Tainted Cup, and loved it. I was immediately drawn to the characters: Din is an excellent POV and it is fun to ride along with him as he adjusts to his new job working for the (in)famous investigator, Ana Dolabra. Speaking of Ana – she is a delicious character, who manages to be erratic without being annoying. I read this book very quickly and loved nearly every minute. I especially appreciated how Bennett was able to build a luscious and compelling world, populated with humans and massive city-destroying leviathans, without overwhelming the reader. We are slowly introduced to the wider world via Din’s perspective: from the augmentations that can be derived from plants and drastically change the physical and mental capacities of people (Din included), to the complex bureaucratic systems that keep the empire chugging along, all of this is delicately stacked together to build a world that I wouldn’t mind visiting for a day. Though not much longer than that.

The sequel does not disappoint. I’m always cautious when it comes to mysteries, and doubly so when they’re set in a fantastical world. It is so easy for writers to stumble upon a great idea and follow it up with either an eerily similar copy or a really shallow new idea that pales in comparison. But Bennett manages it!

Din and Ana seem to be always be one step behind our villain in A Drop of Corruption and the speed that this story moves much faster than the first book. I will say that Din acts a bit foolishly in this story and it was frustrating to see him slipping up. But Ana is in top form all the way through. I absolutely loved how Bennett handled her character development in this book and I am itching for more.

This book doesn’t come out until April 1st (no joke, I promise) but it is well worth the wait.

Another action pack story that has both an amazing world and a great Who done it story, and with amazing new characters. I wish I could see what this world look like with all those unique creatures and unique environment. I enjoyed every new clue and what would happen next and I enjoyed seeing how Ana and Din were going to figure out who did it and where the criminal are. I like that the story reveals more of what the Levithians are, but all I can think of is that some how the people are misunderstanding these creatures. I like following Din and Malo through jungle, castles, villages and other place as they figure out what to do next. This is a terrific story that I hope we see more of.

I want to thank Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey and NetGalley for an advance copy of this marvelous adventure who done it story that will keep you on your toes.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group and Robert Jackson Bennett for the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own.

The Tainted Cup was one of my favorite reads from last year so I was extremely excited to get into book 2. We know the setup by now and are into our murdery mystery pretty quickly. Din and Ana continue to develop their relationship and we learn more about Din’s motivations. Din struggles with his place within the Iudex and what he wants from life. And boy does Ana continue with the zingers. Malo is a new secondary character that supports Din and Ana in their investigation. She is a great character and I hope to see more of her. Everyone knows what to expect with a Sherlock Holmes type book, but I think the world really sets this apart from others. It's just so different and I loved learning more about how the reagents work, where they are made and how other countries around the Empire function separate from the ‘gifts’ that Din and Ana have. I will say the murder mystery, while engaging, wasn’t quite as good as the first book. I had a fair bit of the who-dunit part figured out pretty early on in the book. That really didn’t bother me as I am such a character driven reader that I just had to see how things progressed with Din. Another success!

One of my most anticipated reads of 2025, and a follow-up to one of my favorite new fantasy novels!

This sequel to The Tainted Cup is exactly what readers could hope for. Following our protagonists Din and Ana once more, we are introduced to a brand-new murder mystery that quickly evolves into a much more consequential plot, with far-reaching and potentially civilization-ending repercussions. I really enjoyed having the leviathans play more of a role in this book, albeit indirectly, with some very interesting and disturbing consequences. Din's character is developed more, and he is presented as much more a brooding, depressed young adult with no clue what to do with his life. Ana is exactly what I had hoped and expected, based on the first novel, but there were some very intriguing revelations about her heritage and past that I'm dying to learn more about in subsequent sequels! The setting is unique and well-developed without ever becoming bogged down by dreaded info dumps; RJB manages to give us a clear sense of the surroundings woven naturally throughout the story. I did feel that this book had more gore and body horror, which didn't bother me at all, but was rather unexpected and maybe something to consider before reading. Overall, I'm absolutely loving this series and this author! Book 2 really lives up to my very high expectations!

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for my ARC; all opinions are my own.

Simply put, there is truly nothing quite like Robert Jackson Bennett's genre bending series featuring the eccentric detective duo, Kol and Ana!

Set in a unique empire where huge monsters (Leviathans) are both the greatest threat and the unparalleled source of magic. The brightest citizens are given grafts to alter/heighten their features in service to the crown, and Ana Dolabra can see patterns/process mountains of information, while her young dyslexic assistant is an engraver who can remember every visual detail of a scene. In this mystery, the duo is sent to the edge of the empire where a member of the Treasury has seemingly disappeared from thin air. When a body is found in the canal, and additional crimes are committed, it seems a criminal mastermind is working a long-game to thwart the empire.

Higher stakes, more action, new secondary characters, and the hilarious banter between Ana and Kol sets this sophomore book of the series as an amazing follow-up. While each mystery is considered a stand-alone episode, I do recommend reading them in order for a richer context around Ana and Kol's relationship. Engaging, mind-boggling, propulsive, and utterly charming, this mystery series is a stand out, and a timely reminder about the negative affects of imperialism./colonialism and authoritarian rule.

I'm struggling a bit to rate this book. It was one of my most anticipated books of 2025 after reading A Tainted Cup at the beginning of the year. I tonk it's between a 4.5 and a 4.75. But I definitely loved it even more than the first one.

The mistery was more suspeceful and intricate. I loved the darker feel this book had compared to the previous one.

The world building amd the fantasy side were so interesting. The political intrigues where for sure the best part.

I adore Ana. I know is always compared to Sherlock Holmes (I did so myself) but I think she's more unique in her own way. Her relationship with Din is also unique: I think she cares about him in a really subtle way but she cares about him deeply.
And Din, my sweet bisexual child, is really going through it and I felt for him through the whole book.

I can't wait to read the next one, I'll patiently (kinda) wait for it!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.