Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

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

8 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

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

emilywemily6's review

dark funny lighthearted 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

4.5

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Classism, Sexism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Cursing, and Misogyny

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

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

tea_at_mole_end's review

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, and Gun violence

honeywine's review

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.75

This books starts out a little on the slow side (which is surprising given what it’s about) but once I got around 50 pages in, it really took off for me. It’s definitely a dark comedy with a lot of joke of the “oh hohoho wasn’t that a clever turn of phrase” category. 

By the end, I stayed up way way way too late in order to finish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, and Transphobia

kayceeisbookish's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Suicide

Minor: Medical content, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Stalking, and Gun violence