Reviews with content warning for Violence - Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

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

20 reviews

khourianya's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful informative medium-paced

4.0

Strangely satisfying. Well worth the read.

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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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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nabecker13's review

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Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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sprossa's review

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3.0

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

Spoiler

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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gabydoesgrowth's review against another edition

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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!

Spoiler

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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zellizabeth8764's review

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dark funny tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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drastichopeful's review

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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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cozyscones's review against another edition

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dark funny tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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emeryboyd's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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toffishay's review

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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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