Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

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

37 reviews

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

madalynn_owens's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous 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: Complicated

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This was a really interesting and unique book! I could really really see this working as an 8-10 part mini series and thus was a bit lengthy at some points.
I found myself enjoying one of the MCs vastly more than the other 2 simply due to the time spent with them.
There is also a weird I think thinly veiled anti-abortion tiny side plot for about 3 pages that feels out of place but maybe I’m just misreading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment

annhenry's review against another edition

3.25

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Suicide, Sexual harassment

Minor: Pregnancy

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

queersubtext's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Medical content, Murder

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy

audiobookish's review against another edition

3.5

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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: No

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Pros: Lighthearted and humorous tone, charming fictional setting with a dark academia/more "grownup" Hogwarts vibe, the bits of the story that focused exclusively on the schooling and classes were the most fun and intriguing!

Cons: The plot wasn't particularly strong and felt somewhat bland at times for a novel centered on "how to murder someone" fictionally of course. I only found one of the three main characters highly likeable, the other two were unremarkable. The resolution at the end left something to be desired in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Violence, Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting

Set in the 1950s, so sexism is prevalent in heavy doses alongside sexual harassment. Brief racism encounters mentioned also.

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

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

courtshutt's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted 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: No

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Enjoyed the dark humour, nice variety of characters, and overall pacing of the story

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Content Warnings

Minor: Pregnancy