Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

9 reviews

bigheadcam's review

adventurous dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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

dev921's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

callidoralblack's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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

imds's review

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

wildsalmons_reading's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Bullying

Minor: Sexual content

A very entertaining book…highly recommend the audiobook.

madamenovelist's review

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

calicat42's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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

mtnest's review

funny informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Grief