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Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes
27 reviews
cranshrooms's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, and Pregnancy
justagremlin's review
- 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? Yes
3.25
3.25/5
Recommended For: Fans of darkly humorous dark academia set in the past
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
homophobia transphobia racism:peggyluwho's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Alcohol
rachaeljs's review
- 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? No
3.0
The book is set in the 1950s and while I imagine the author would justify his choices with that explanation, in the year 2023 there's just no reason to make trans women out to be dangerous, queerness out to be shameful, or suggest an unborn fetus is a whole person. Not to mention a cartoonishly evil woman is granted a second chance just because she's pregnant, to which I say- her unborn kid is better off never meeting her. There are also a few micro-aggresive descriptions of one of the non-white characters, saying her darker skin would help her blend in the dark?? and adding that her complexion would be "helpful for once" which maybe was supposed to be a commentary on racism but the author is a white dude... what compelled him to suggest a woman of color's skin is a negative in her life is beyond me. On top of all of this the book hinges on the idea that McMasters is a top secret institution that will kill you if you let the word out about it, but people are yapping about it the whole book. The rule only sometimes applies and the ending is so corny that even for a corny book, I had a hard time suspending my disbelief.
OH and after a very convoluted murder plot is executed by our (annoyingly perfect) main character, I couldn't help but notice a major hole in the plan that is never addressed. He makes it look like his boss committed suicide with the help of a two page typed suicide note...a typed note is suspicious regardless of context, but they establish moments before that his boss doesn't really know how to type. So much complicated thought went into this plan and it's honestly hard to follow at times, but the book overlooks that obvious blunder.
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
cmrams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Homophobia
larnrosemurgy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
bigheadcam's review
- 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
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!
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
a_little_teacup's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Homophobia and Suicide
bzliz's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
The manner is which the story is told could be confusing for anyone not in the right headspace. Primarily it is a manuscript written by the Dean of a university for would-be murderers (aka deletists)- telling the story of three students of the school, all angling to kill their employers, and we learn that one of them will not be successful. Cliff Iverson’s story is told primarily through journal entries as he must document his studies for his sponsor, whereas Gemma Lindley’s and Doria Maye’s (aka Dulcie Mown) stories are told primarily through a third person omniscient narrator. It is implied that these omniscient sections are retellings of their events from undercover agents and former graduates of McMasters. Additionally, the book is split in two clear parts. The first takes place at the school where our student heroes are learning all the skills they need to become well-rounded deletists; the second is their return to the real world where they must complete their thesis (murder) in order to graduate and failure will result in their own deletion.
The only reason I cannot give this a full five stars is the tendency to use underlines to ensure a pun, double entendre, joke, etc lands correctly. It was distracting for me. I will still readily recommend this to anyone looking for a mystery book that takes an unconventional approach to the subject.
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Transphobia, and Alcohol
Death, murder:janae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
However, the second half of the book makes up for that in spades as we build up to the promised deletions. It’s interesting and definitely satisfying, although I will say the “shock value” of one of the nursery was, in my opinion, based on played out homophobic tropes. Sure, this is all set in the fifties so it’s plenty realistic but I don’t know that that makes it right.
I found that I was rarely truly surprised by events that happened, although before reading the page I couldn’t have guessed. I think that means the mystery was well built so that few things came out of left field while still being interesting. The biggest surprise for me was the “postscript” ending.
As for the characters, I found them lovable but shallow. Not at by any means, just lacking depth of character. I think that works for this book because the whole thing is filled with jokes and puns and a sense of levity, so very deep characters might have been out of place.
Regarding diversity, I marked it’s complicated because while there is a main character of color, and some diverse side characters overall the book is very white centric. Which is fine but there was just enough lack that I couldn’t honestly mark it as diverse.
Finally, I would reccommend this book to anyone who wants a light, fun, campy mystery. This is for lovers of puns and slapstick. If you don’t like dramatic, self aware humor based narration then this won’t be for you.
Moderate: Homophobia and Murder