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
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
vagrantheather's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A fun, easy read. I wouldn't call it gripping, thrilling, or adventurous, but it was enjoyable. The intro isn't well suited to audiobooks format and kept losing me; I had to pull up an ebook sample and reread it (I think it's much more suited to reading anyway but I was already reading 2, beggars/choosers etc). The narration is great - Neil Patrick Harris and Simon Vance - and the rest of the book was fine.
I don't love that one of the murders relied on implicit transphobia / staging the murderer as a crossdresser sex crime.
Rolled my eyes at the totally unnecessary instalove.
I don't love that one of the murders relied on implicit transphobia / staging the murderer as a crossdresser sex crime.
Rolled my eyes at the totally unnecessary instalove.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
emilywemily6's review against another edition
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.
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
khourianya's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Strangely satisfying. Well worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Murder, and Violence
arfog's review against another edition
dark
funny
4.0
Very unique, funny but dark. McMasters is kind of like Hogwarts for murderers, where they teach you all the arts needed to complete a "deletion." Has you rooting for the students!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Racism
dexkit10's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Medical trauma
nicekweenreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Excellent concept, not so great execution. I'm not really sure how they managed to make a book about a murder school boring, but they did. Between the lack of world building, the main protagonist bring quite boring, and lack of "screen-time" for the remaining but much more interesting protagonists, the book felt quite slow. Not to mention the narrator, while given a well written voice, tends to distracted with long rabbit holes that end up never being relevant to the plot.
Things that were never established previously, such as Gemma's past with construction sites, suddenly being mentioned in the last chapters of the book and only when that knowledge was part of the murder plot, made it feel more like a deus ex machina than an established fact to the character's past. There were several instances of this that just made the story unenjoyable.
If you want a book that follows the plot of a musical but without the acting strength or fun songs to carry it, this is the book for you.
Things that were never established previously, such as Gemma's past with construction sites, suddenly being mentioned in the last chapters of the book and only when that knowledge was part of the murder plot, made it feel more like a deus ex machina than an established fact to the character's past. There were several instances of this that just made the story unenjoyable.
If you want a book that follows the plot of a musical but without the acting strength or fun songs to carry it, this is the book for you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
jordan_dobbs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Well thought out and I loved the combo of dark topics and humor. I also loved how it split into three different story lines. The ending was also really good! I do reccomend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
allthingsnerdy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
I thought this book was a lot of fun! While a little predictable, it still kept me on the edge of my seat to see where it was going, and I was invested in all of the characters which was nice. I was hoping it might be a little spookier for the Halloween season, but thats okay.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
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.
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
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