Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

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

19 reviews

sprossa's review

1.0

I genuinely enjoyed this book VERY much! My critique, and what knocks it down half a star, is that I found a couple things a bit problematic. I didn’t love the way

Doria killed her targeted and the use of drag in her story, I get it but I think in todays climate it felt off to demonize queer gender expression. I also felt that Gemma being immediately failed had she not saved Adele’s life (even not knowing she was pregnant) felt a bit off. It makes sense for the time period of the book, but I’m just not sure I like either inclusion.

I don’t think either of these ruined my experience and they’re not blatantly problematic, I do think the book is funny and a genuinely enjoyable thriller (from someone who doesn’t read thrillers) but it did dampen my enjoyment just a little!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Medical content, and Transphobia

gabydoesgrowth's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I think this was a well executed book. At first, I thought I would find the narrative setup confusing, and while I did find myself double-checking I was filling the right storyline a few times, overall I think it was successful. 

Hearing the two voices was also refreshing and helped the 14hr audiobook feel like it wasn’t droning on. It was interesting to me that Neil Patrick Harris was on it! 

Also!

They killed the dean! They literally murdered their employer and he didn’t even realize that they told him they were gonna do it over and over! And now, the volume one part is explained so we won’t be getting another volume. And Cliff and Gemma get a chance at happily ever after. It’s pretty ingenious.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

drastichopeful's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really, really liked this book!  The characters were funny, the plotting was tense, and the ending was fantastic.  Saying too much more would spoil things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Classism, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Grief, Death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexism, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Medical content, Racism, Suicide, and Police brutality

Minor: Transphobia and Homophobia

toffishay's review

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I liked this book well-enough, but I definitely wanted to like it more. The premise is so fun: a school that teaches you how to murder is ripe for puns and gags and you definitely get plenty of those. It still has adult subject matter though, so you get the vibes of a Series of Unfortunate Events or Truly, Devious, but with a mature element that really serves as a strong suit. The pacing is a little off for me. <SPOILER> The first part of the book centers around getting us acclimated to McMasters Academy, but then in the middle of the book the characters leave to carry out their "theses". At that point things slow down a lot of the three characters that we follow end up being so spread out that it can be a little bit of a slog to get through. I think that this isn't helped by the fact that even though we are following three main characters, the stories of Gemma and Dulci/Dorie felt way underdeveloped compared to Cliff's. Gemma is portrayed in a very middling way that makes you sympathetic to her, but she isn't very interesting to follow. Dulcie/Dorie is more interesting, but her ending falls so flat that it feels like the narrative is trying to punish her in a way that it isn't doing with Gemma and Cliff. And in both the cases of Gemma and Dulcie/Dorie, there endings feel rushed and incomplete, like all the attention was on Cliff and then the author remembers that they have to wrap up the other stories too. The romance between Cliff and Gemma felt weird too. He spends all of their interactions idolizing her for seeming nicer than other students and also being upset with her for her assignment with another character, Jud, because she is spending time with a man. And then at the end, it picks back up insinuating that they will get togehter? It feels underdeveloped. Ultimately, I think that this books could have been better served by focusing on Cliff's story, since that is the one that the author seemed the most attached too. <END SPOILER> I only have so much to say because I really wanted to love this book! It does hit on a lot of things that I like with a fun tongue-in-cheek framing, interesting mystery elements, a anti-hero stance that sides with the underdogs. All of that is great. But the characters, the length, and the division of the action/plot really drag this one down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexism, Alcohol, Homophobia, Death of parent, Transphobia, Classism, Racism, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Gun violence

In addition to listed content warnings, story also contains mention of "Gambling/Gambling Addiction"

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

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