Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - How to murder your Boss – McMasters Handbuch zum Morden

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

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

37 reviews

goeagles91n's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

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

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!

Content Warnings

faerietale_princess's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is really great. The writing style is witty yet grounded. The narrator has a lot of fun narrating the story.

All of the characters are distinct with individual backstories that make them seem like real people. And they’re competent characters (despite

a failure from one of them

). They’re really easy to root for— I found myself spurring on murderers!

I do wonder about why Cliff has a journal. The story wouldn’t have changed if there wasn’t one. But it was nice to help kind of break things up nonetheless.

The identity of X is a bit predictable once you reach a certain point, but it’s not a big deal and doesn’t detract from the book.

I liked seeing how in-depth these murders were. They were all meticulously planned.

I do wish we had seen more of the school. McMaster’s is incredible, and I would’ve loved to see more of it, maybe some other classes.

You can tell the author did a lot of research into the dangers of various, sometimes everyday objects.

The only real negative is that it seemed to drag in spots, and I found myself wanting to read another book at those points, but I’m glad I pushed through those points.

Very good read, recommended to anyone who enjoys a bit of whimsy in their books, or cozy mystery readers who are looking to step outside their comfort zone.

Content Warnings

agirlsnightbookbash's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

dyer's review against another edition

medium-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Someone who’s looking for a more casual read with a dark academia setting might enjoy this book with a unique premise.

The structure needed more work (from author/editors but also the whole idea that a super secret school with super secret alumni is writing a tell-all book didn’t really make sense) and there was a lot of “telling rather than showing” type of writing (hence why I consider it a casual read).

Content Warnings

matcha_cat's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous dark funny 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

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

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

emilywemily6's review against another edition

4.5

dark funny lighthearted 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

The dry, witty sense of humor in this book is my cup of tea. Listening on audio was hilarious! So many death puns. The concept was original and I loved the first half of the book. I did feel like we knew Cliff better than the other two characters highlighted in the book, and I wish we had learned more. I honestly was not a fan of Gemma as a person or her storyline, so when her storyline was a more prominent part of the book, I enjoyed reading this book a bit less. I found her a bit pathetic and uncreative in her deletion thesis, whereas I was totally on board with both Cliff and Doria’s plans, executions, and contingencies. The only other gripe I have is that the setting in the 1950s was pretty subtle for most of the book, so I had to remind myself what the culture was at that time to understand the book. Overall, this book was so fun to read, witty and smart.

Content Warnings

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

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.

Content Warnings

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