Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

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

21 reviews

cmbohn's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment

Minor: Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy

nclausel25's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Death of parent

Minor: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Alcohol

hannahsheil's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Fun and enjoyable quirky book, nothing super enlightening or jaw dropping, but I enjoyed it. Love all of the anti-capitalism realness. 

As always, I love a book with a map & the description of McMasters sounds idyllic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Pregnancy

araecreative's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

thewolfishgal's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Murder

Minor: Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

applecinnamon27's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment

peroxide_princes's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I will admit, when I first picked up this book I was slow in the uptake, especially when trying to navigate a lot of the 50’s slang. However, once you get into the meat and potatoes of the story, this is a really fun and well-executed (pun intended!) book. I really enjoy seeing the reflections on each of the students personal stories, and how their experiences are so similar and yet vastly different from one another. The world of McMasters is well thought out, and it feels as though every detail mentioned fulfilled its purpose, even if the payoff isn’t until much later in the book. Each character’s ending was not the most gratifying I will say, but I think it helps add to the realism of the story. I did enjoy it and I’ll definitely consider coming back for the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

cranshrooms's review against another edition

4.25

funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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This book was a lot of fun! The style is innovative and engaging, it eas easy to invest in the characters and their stories, and the end was very satisfying. The afterword, however, felt rather on the nose and undeserved.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment

Minor: Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy

dkamada's review against another edition

5.0

funny informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Classism

angorarabbit's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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TLDR: Very good Golden Age Style Mystery with a few twists. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised by this mystery novel. The blurb promises entertainment which is delivered mostly in puns in the first half of the book. Then Mr Holmes gets to work with an intricately plotted how-they done-it novel. 

 

The forward is a bit tiresome, but necessary to understanding the setting. The rest of the narrative is an omnipresent narrator and a mix of journal entries from the main character to his patron, reports, and letters. The later being indicated by chapter headings. The style is down to earth with enough description to fill in the blanks but not be flowery. The action is pretty easy to follow and main characters are easy to differentiate. 

 

The characterisation was okay, the minor characters suffered in particular. Main characters were somewhat stereotyped though they acted consistent with their characters throughout the novel. The first part of the novel was rather under peopled though filling a school like it should be is always tricky for both the writer and the reader. 

 

In true Golden Age fashion all the would be deletees were nasty humans. I thought two of them deserved an Orient Express experience to tell the truth. I anticipate there were after the funeral parties. The setting is 1950’s America so at least the author didn’t have to worry about the modern banes of deleters existence DNA and mobile phones. Though one deletion method was old fashioned, the other two were quite novel. 

 

The postscript does make me wonder if the punishment will fit the crime.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail