Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Lemon

An interesting exploration of grief, guilt, and the lasting impact of the death of a teenager on various people who knew her. I thought that the concept was intriguing but I expected it to be a somewhat different book, more of a murder mystery, but instead it focuses much more on the fallout of the murder rather than the murder itself. There are some lines that really pack a punch, and I particularly like the chapters where the narration is in the form of a one-sided conversation as you can get a real sense of character. I wouldn’t say that I really enjoyed this book as I just felt that something was missing from it, but I am glad that I read it nonetheless.

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kcelena's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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katiewhocanread's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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sarah984's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

"Lemon" is a novel that revolves around a murder, but finding the identity of the perpetrator (who is pretty obvious right from the start) isn't really the goal. The book describes the way the murder affects the surviving characters and the ways they construct their own actions and see themselves. I’d have rated it 5 stars but there were some aspects of describing the girl who was murdered that are pivotal to the plot but I found them really grating. Overall though, if you like true crime or crime novels (though this isn't really a thriller) I think you will enjoy this.

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whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯.

Hae-on was murdered at 19, the case was left unsolved. Da-on, her sister, trying to recover from this loss, sets out to find the truth.

Lemon is a short, dark and captivating novel about a sister trying to find justice. I read this today within a few hours, I just couldn't turn the pages quick enough.

We get multiple perspectives, and it's not stated who they are immediately, like a lot of the novel you have to come to your own conclusions. Which I loved. When everything slid into place at the end I did a little gasp. It's pretty evident fairly early on who the murderer is, but that wasn't the shocking part.

For such a short book, this goes to some super dark places, it reminded me a lot of The Vegetarian by Han Kang, and how as the reader we're just forced to just go with the flow.

I highly recommend this if you love mysteries and short translated fiction. Thanks so much to Head of Zeus for the gifted copy, and for allowing me to be a part of this tour! (AD-PR PRODUCT)

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