Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

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

26 reviews

flower_mail's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Alcohol

asimpson7's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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This was a good read. Very strange and I often was very confused. Even at the end I was confused. But I liked the progression of their plans and that we had a progression of the stories of each person. I also liked that each of their stories intertwined and that not all of their deletions worked. But the one that didn’t work felt right. I would like to know what happened to the Dean at the end. But other than that it was an entertaining book and one unlike any I’ve ever read before.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

bigheadcam's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark funny lighthearted medium-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: Yes

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Murder Your Employer is like if Harry Potter was written for the macabre, in a good way. It's a fun story with some interesting (if at times, simple) characters as well as a fantastical setting in the form of McMasters and the U.S. in the 1950s. 

It's worth mentioning that I think part of the reason that this book takes place in this time period is because quite a few of the methods mentioned in this book around "getting away with murder" would not be possible due to today's surveillance state and much more accurate and sensitive forensic technologies. Still, a good romp through hypothetical murders and the fantasy by proxy of an evil employer being shown the door!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

dev921's review against another edition

5.0

dark fast-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

callidoralblack's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder

Minor: Chronic illness, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

imds's review against another edition

3.5

Diverse cast of characters: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment

madamenovelist's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark funny informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

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

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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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Death of parent, Alcohol

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

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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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

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

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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)"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexual harassment

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