Reviews tagging 'Blood'

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

16 reviews

priscillarobock's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Classism

frogswimmer25's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol

frankiepreads's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I love that the narrator strongly commits to the bit here, and the world building is great. I was also impressed with the ethical standards at a school for murder—that made it easier to root for the killers in training. There were many interesting, cooky characters. Towards the end, though, I thought Doria’s approach relied on quite  transphobic tropes, and

it was upsetting that while they were all worried about bystanders, no one worried or cared about the queer man’s semen she took and planted at the crime scene. That was pretty fucked up.

Otherwise, though, it was very fun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Transphobia, Medical content

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

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

peggyluwho's review against another edition

2.75

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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It’s okay, but the schtick got old very quickly.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Alcohol

elenilkd's review against another edition

3.75

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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A great mix of dark humor, thriller, and a little Hogwarts-esque fantasy! A little slow and predictable sometimes, but I can appreciate the base idea here, especially as a fan of horror and thriller comedies. 

Kind of wish the end was a little more flushed out though. I’m glad to see the three characters reunite, but was almost too happy and predictable of an ending for what’s overall such a dark comedy. Was the love interest really necessary if it wasn’t going to be fully addressed or developed? Could the Dean really not see his own death coming? How many students are offered to come back as faculty like that?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

peachmoni's review against another edition

3.5

dark funny mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

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

jhbandcats's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A darkly humorous approach to getting rid of people who *really* deserve to be gone from this world. Employers are the main focus here but of course these techniques are universal when the goal is murder. 

The book is a fresh look at an ancient idea - how to get away with murder - and it’s cleverly told from several viewpoints so we get a well-rounded story. Each of the murderers-to-be is a sympathetic character, having suffered greatly at the hands of their future victims, and I was rooting for them all. 

I appreciated the clever wordplay the most, but also enjoyed learning about the varied curriculum (Wump = Wardrobe, Makeup, & Prosthetics; the Track Meet = track your prey, meet up with them for the killing) and the many sets (cozy bars and Chinese restaurants, forests, even a mini-castle accessible only via gondola). 

All in all an entertaining book but something about it just wasn’t 5-star category, and I can’t figure out why. This is the type of book that would normally make me swoon - funny, calculating, sick, a bit gory - but I just wasn’t swept off my feet, unlike a murder victim or two. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment