Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Näin murhaat pomosi

A great mix of dark humor, thriller, and a little Hogwarts-esque fantasy! A little slow and predictable sometimes, but I can appreciate the base idea here, especially as a fan of horror and thriller comedies.

Kind of wish the end was a little more flushed out though. I’m glad to see the three characters reunite, but was almost too happy and predictable of an ending for what’s overall such a dark comedy. Was the love interest really necessary if it wasn’t going to be fully addressed or developed? Could the Dean really not see his own death coming? How many students are offered to come back as faculty like that?

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audiobookish's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Pros: Lighthearted and humorous tone, charming fictional setting with a dark academia/more "grownup" Hogwarts vibe, the bits of the story that focused exclusively on the schooling and classes were the most fun and intriguing!

Cons: The plot wasn't particularly strong and felt somewhat bland at times for a novel centered on "how to murder someone" fictionally of course. I only found one of the three main characters highly likeable, the other two were unremarkable. The resolution at the end left something to be desired in my opinion.

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collsin05's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

1.25

Good idea but terrible execution. Doria and Gemma were after thoughts and Cliff used up too much thought. The whole thing was a convoluted mess with long sentences, clunky paragraphs, and unnecessary chapters slowing now the pacing at intense plot points. I mean

Gemma was possibly killed and there were about 4 chapters between her getting crushed by cinderblocks and us checking in on her at the hospital to see if she even was alive

Gemma was never meant to succeed. She was never meant to be anything other than an object for Cliff to fond over. We were only introduced to her “backstory” after Cliff had been dreaming of her and acting like he knew her. The misunderstanding keeping them apart was her relationship with Jud, but that was just because she had to “platonically seduce?” Her target so she needed practice. Like I said that was all just made up for the purpose of making Cliff jealous. And she was set up to fail, with her flimsy little plan all the teachers said would fail, but they graduated her anyone despite them all agreeing that she wasn’t ready… because Cliff was ready. And if Cliff wasn’t going to be at school to play water polo and work in the kitchen, then why would the narrative bother taking place at the school? For female characters to exist outside the male gaze of the real and only protagonist? No she she had to go

and she had to fail because how else could she return to the school and be reunited with her beloved whom she had never spoken to. How else could she have a happy ending?

it was a general convoluted mess with deep sea diving, secret trash can drop offs, cross dressing, stealing cars, something about the Dali lama and there was this one Latvian delivery boy? It was impossibly to follow. There were no real plot twists and between Cora, Gemma, and doria there was an unsettling demonization of female sexuality as if their sexuality was owned by some polygamous man or another with true female promiscuity being severely punished and virginal purity being rewarded. Even if the narrator did call out this double standard and did punish the worst male offenders.

But it was clear in the end that the pure girl would be rewarded by winning Cliff, and the independent woman who don’t need no man would be turned into a pig one way or another, and that Cliff is the only true protagonist

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vidotson's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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sarasreading's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

I picked this up purely for the cover and went in fully blind. From the cover I expected this to be Victorian with a female protagonist, but I was wrong on both fronts. This ended up being unlike anything I've read before, which was interesting. There were parts that lagged for me, but the novelty of it kept me on my toes. It was also really clever, which I liked. The uniqueness of this book will probably have me checking out future books by this author.

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flower_mail's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

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blackeyedraptor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.75

This is a comedically dark book that I enjoyed quite a bit. Told from many excerpts of journal entries and record-keeping, it was a really clever and unique way to make you feel like the McMaster school was a real place. The eventual and unavoidable murders were cleverly done, and it was like watching a movie like The Prestige where you have to finish it to know how it all comes together in the end.

Definitely a brain twister book, but I'll definitely be reading it again and look forward to reading any sequels.

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goeagles91n's review against another edition

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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

4.25

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