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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
How to murder your Boss – McMasters Handbuch zum Morden by Rupert Holmes
19 reviews
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Murder
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism, Suicide, Pregnancy
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism, Violence
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
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.
As always, I love a book with a map & the description of McMasters sounds idyllic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Pregnancy
It took a bit to get into this book. The premise is neat and the language use is fun and intentional. The setting of the book diverges at one point and I wish it had developed a little more before the change I would have enjoyed more world building on the campus before the “students” left to complete their “theses” . I was very disappointed by the presence of transphobia/homophobia/racist micro-aggressions towards the end of the text. It is set in the 1950s & I’ve seen some comments arguing that the author was trying to replicate realities of the time… but I disagree. These descriptions seemed unnecessary and harmful. one plot point hinged on transphobia in a very weird way. One of the female “deletists” (murderers) cross-dressed and also deposited evidence that was used to conceal her identify and “embarrass” the victim posthumously (simultaneously implying that sex between 2 men would be such a scandal & reiterating harmful and dangerous stereotypes about trans people). The female characters also experienced sexual violence &/or harassment and lacked much character development. There was also a strange pro-life argument squeezed into some of the final pages. I had higher hopes for this book but the content warnings mentioned above left a very bad taste.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia
Minor: Pregnancy
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder
Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism
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
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!
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
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
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.
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
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
Nice book if you’re in the mood for some dark academia shenanigans. The chapter sizes are small, which makes it a fairly quick read. I always like books that have “journal entry” formats. I did feel like even though this is a multi-POV book, they didn’t spend much time on the two female MCs. It got a bit better as the book progressed, but while they were at the school, we didn’t see any of them learning ; actually, on that note, they barely spend any time at the school. I would’ve loved to have read more about the murder curriculum, but it feels like barely any time is spent on that :( And towards the end, the segments with Cliff are hard to follow.
But overall its not a bad read and I had a fun time with it.
3.25/5
Recommended For: Fans of darkly humorous dark academia set in the past
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia
homophobia transphobia racism:The period this book takes place in is the early to mid-1900s so some of the characters are bigoted Murder/ViolenceRead. The. Title. Rape, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment One of the targets to be murdered is a boss that sleeps with female employees and blackmails them. One of these employees is mentioned to be drugged. Another target is another boss who sleeps with several employees. SuicideThe Main character recounts an employee committing suicide after being drugged assaulted and blackmailed by her boss, another character is revealed to have faked his suicide to look like a murder. Also lots of talk of making murder seem like suicide.