Reviews with content warning for Death - How to murder your Boss – McMasters Handbuch zum Morden

Reviews tagging 'Death'

How to murder your Boss – McMasters Handbuch zum Morden by Rupert Holmes

95 reviews

jessiereads98's review against another edition

4.25

dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Murder Your Employer is unique and so much fun. I’ve never read anything quite like it. Rupert Holmes utilizes humour masterfully to create a comedic murder mystery where you’re along for the murder. I love how he turned common phrases on their head along with utilizing tropes in unique ways. The description of settings also makes you feel like you’re right there in it without overdoing it on exposition. The use of Dean Harbringer Harrow as a narrator and interlocutor was genius and created a compelling flow through the unique tone the storytelling took.

This doesn’t quite make 5 stars for me as I felt the stories of Doria Maye and Gemma Lindley weren’t as well done as that of Cliff Iverson. At times those stories felt like they didn’t quite fit in with the rest or were rushed, creating an overall impression of a lack of focus. I wish the characters had interacted more than we got to see. I also didn’t particularly care for the ending to Doria’s story. The ending of Cliff and Gemma’s stories were predictable although not unsatisfactory. I just didn’t find the writing of the endings as compelling as the rest of the book.

Content Warnings

mrscav's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book isn’t as dark and menacing as I thought it would be! It actually turned out to be quite an insightful, sometimes comical and sometimes sad, commentary on humans and our institutions. Yes, the apparent commentary is provided through a darker narrative, but I ended up having so many philosophical and moral conversations as I moved through each characters’ stories. I think the use of a darker and over-the-top narrative worked so perfectly! In no way does this book justify such violence (nor should it), but I do think it starts great conversations and it was a fun read.

Content Warnings

jenlikesbigbooks's review against another edition

3.5

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

4.75

funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is labeled as Volume 1, and while the author wrote himself a loophole in case he really doesn't want to continue, I need more! I'm doing mental math based on when this was published vs. when it is set and I think Harrow may have been like 100 years old, unless the Guide was published in-universe at a different time than this physical copy has been published. This kind of mental knotting up is precisely what this book feels like all the way through in the most fun way possible. I was watching minor characters with a side-eye waiting for them to become more relevant, so I expect sequels so I can read [REDACTED] get deleted. Also, I swear the janitorial and waitstaff have something up their sleeves. Maybe with Gemma's fate, we can get a bigger glimpse at it. There are so many plays on words and puns, I can't believe it never overstepped from charming and cheeky to straight-up annoying. I think this series could really play on the idea of 'who deserves to die' vs. 'who deserves to kill', which McMasters seems to try and uphold a moral standard for...mostly... I think I would like to explore the campus a bit deeper, especially the Poison Garden and the Menagerie. ALSO THE AUTHOR WROTE AND SANG "ESCAPE (THE PIÑA COLADA SONG)"

Content Warnings