Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

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

11 reviews

dexkit10's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Medical trauma

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. 

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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

neens_m's review

funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Sexual assault

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"

honeyenbee's review

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Racism

Minor: Chronic illness, Animal death, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Homophobia, and Grief

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

bekah1210's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Suicide

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

savvylit's review

adventurous dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This clever and immersive book takes readers deep within the clandestine world of McMasters, a university that trains students in the fine arts of homicide. The curriculum includes classes on disguises, seduction, stalking, poisons, and just about every other potentially lethal topic under the sun. Cliff, Gemma, and Doria are each enrolled at McMasters to achieve one purpose: the murder of their employers. Murder Your Employer recounts their academic journeys and the execution of their final thesis.

Though at first, it took some time to adjust to the world of McMasters, I ultimately found myself thoroughly entertained by this novel. Rupert Holmes is an immensely talented and clever author. McMasters Conservatory is a fully-realized setting peopled by a delightful cast of characters and home to humorous, deadly escapades. Holmes has populated this book with exaggerations and caricatures but that's what ultimately makes it work so well. All in all, Murder Your Employer is both a dark academia romp and a fun deconstruction of classic murder mystery tropes.

Thank you to @avidreaderpress for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia