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abrownb15's review
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
3.75
Interesting, confusing murder mystery set over 17 years, names of characters POVs wouldβve helped. Great way to restart reading though, and good plot to drive the narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Eating disorder and Cancer
internationalreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Classism, Death, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Grief, Kidnapping, Gore, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, and Mental illness
thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This is a book about the people left behind after a horrific unsolved murder.
Each chapter has a different narrator in a different time after the murder. They tell of the anger, dispair, sadness, and so many more emotions that the characters feel because of the incident.
It does become confusing with each chapter as the narrators aren't obvious. But Lemon is a beautiful and emotional story that will get to you.
Each chapter has a different narrator in a different time after the murder. They tell of the anger, dispair, sadness, and so many more emotions that the characters feel because of the incident.
It does become confusing with each chapter as the narrators aren't obvious. But Lemon is a beautiful and emotional story that will get to you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Grief, and Kidnapping
sarah984's review against another edition
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. Iβd 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism, Rape, and Stalking
whatellisreadnext's review
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
ππͺπ§π¦ π£π¦π¨πͺπ―π΄ πΈπͺπ΅π©π°πΆπ΅ π³π¦π’π΄π°π―, π’π―π₯ π¦π―π₯π΄ πΈπͺπ΅π©π°πΆπ΅ π³π¦π’π΄π°π―.
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)
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)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Body shaming, Child death, Car accident, Death of parent, Death, Eating disorder, and Grief
anitaxlit's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this book thinking it would be a tale of murder and revenge, and those themes appealed to me as we approach the darker months of the year. That's not what this book is. Lemon offered something surprising and, in many ways, better.
Narrated by three women touched in some measure by the murder of Hae-on when she was a teenager, Lemon is the story of the ones left behind. It's about spiraling uncontrollably and grief that looks very, very ugly. Despite the dark topic, Kwon Yeo-Sun's prose is beautiful in a disconcerting way that made me squirm in my seat.
It struck me how little we know of Hae-on considering she is an all consuming presence in the book. Who was she? Was she really as aloof and unconcerned as the women in her life believed her to be? And why did she leave the house the day of her murder? When it came to Da-on, the main narrator, I was divided. At times I felt compassion and sadness for her traumatic experiences, and others I was astonished to feel suspicious of her. Da-on's grief doesn't feel genuine all the time. Her obsession with Hae-on's murder seems to be inseparable from her self-centered personality. The thought I most often had while reading was: Did she ever truly care for her sister?
As you can see, this book left me with many unanswered questions. If you want clear-cut answers, Lemon might not be for you. I personally don't mind this that much, and though I finished it thinking it could have done with a little more closure, it's a good reminder that sometimes there can be none, no matter how hard we look for it.
I requested this book thinking it would be a tale of murder and revenge, and those themes appealed to me as we approach the darker months of the year. That's not what this book is. Lemon offered something surprising and, in many ways, better.
Narrated by three women touched in some measure by the murder of Hae-on when she was a teenager, Lemon is the story of the ones left behind. It's about spiraling uncontrollably and grief that looks very, very ugly. Despite the dark topic, Kwon Yeo-Sun's prose is beautiful in a disconcerting way that made me squirm in my seat.
It struck me how little we know of Hae-on considering she is an all consuming presence in the book. Who was she? Was she really as aloof and unconcerned as the women in her life believed her to be? And why did she leave the house the day of her murder? When it came to Da-on, the main narrator, I was divided. At times I felt compassion and sadness for her traumatic experiences, and others I was astonished to feel suspicious of her. Da-on's grief doesn't feel genuine all the time. Her obsession with Hae-on's murder seems to be inseparable from her self-centered personality. The thought I most often had while reading was: Did she ever truly care for her sister?
As you can see, this book left me with many unanswered questions. If you want clear-cut answers, Lemon might not be for you. I personally don't mind this that much, and though I finished it thinking it could have done with a little more closure, it's a good reminder that sometimes there can be none, no matter how hard we look for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, and Mental illness
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Physical abuse
Minor: Ableism and Car accident
sarahsbooklife's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Disclaimer: I received an ARC copy of this through a giveaway, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I thought that this was a very interesting thriller and I liked that it was told from three different female perspectives. This book mainly focuses on the trauma, grief and the way that Hae-on's death affected those closest to her and round her rather than the murder itself. Which I thought was really interesting as a lot of thriller mysteries focus on the crime and figuring out who did. This story is told over seventeen years, from 2002 to 2019, and nearly all of it is about what happens after Hae-on's murder.
This book doesn't actually tell you who killed Hae-on, even though there are multiple suspects, and I did feel a little dissatisfied by this. Because I was hoping that Da-on, Hae-on's younger sister, would figure it out and revealed it by the end.I do think that the most likely person was Taerim; as she was jealous of Hae-on being with Shin Jeongjun (her high school boyfriend that she later marries) the day she was killed. Also she is the only one that isn't investigated for an alibi because Han Manu doesn't tell the police that she's with him and was the one to actually see Hae-on in Shin Jeonjun's car. And by the time he does the detective doesn't believe him. Both boys have alibis for where they were whereas we don't hear about where Taerim went after getting off of Han Manu's scooter. I think she's the most likely one to have killed Hae-on but it could have easily been someone else.
I thought that this story was very well written, the plot and characters were all very fleshed out despite this being a novella. And each of the narrators had distinct voices. I did find the parts told by Yun Taerim to be a bit strange. As they are all one-side of conversations she has with a doctor, as she is mentally very unwell, years later but she is still very affected by what happened to Hae-on and often refers to her (not by name) when talking about her now husband Shin Jeongjun, who was one of the original suspects and possibly the last person to see Hae-on alive. Also the three of them are unreliable narrators with chunks missing in each of their narratives keeping elements of the story hidden away from the reader. But I found that as I read the book I was able to piece together different pieces of evidence and information from each of them to come to my own conclusion for who I thought had killed Hae-on.
I thought that this was a well written, thought provoking, and clever story. I just wish that the murder had been revealed or that there had been more closure by the end of the story as it's left very open ended with few things resolved or revealed.
I thought that this was a very interesting thriller and I liked that it was told from three different female perspectives. This book mainly focuses on the trauma, grief and the way that Hae-on's death affected those closest to her and round her rather than the murder itself. Which I thought was really interesting as a lot of thriller mysteries focus on the crime and figuring out who did. This story is told over seventeen years, from 2002 to 2019, and nearly all of it is about what happens after Hae-on's murder.
This book doesn't actually tell you who killed Hae-on, even though there are multiple suspects, and I did feel a little dissatisfied by this. Because I was hoping that Da-on, Hae-on's younger sister, would figure it out and revealed it by the end.
I thought that this story was very well written, the plot and characters were all very fleshed out despite this being a novella. And each of the narrators had distinct voices. I did find the parts told by Yun Taerim to be a bit strange. As they are all one-side of conversations she has with a doctor, as she is mentally very unwell, years later but she is still very affected by what happened to Hae-on and often refers to her (not by name) when talking about her now husband Shin Jeongjun, who was one of the original suspects and possibly the last person to see Hae-on alive. Also the three of them are unreliable narrators with chunks missing in each of their narratives keeping elements of the story hidden away from the reader. But I found that as I read the book I was able to piece together different pieces of evidence and information from each of them to come to my own conclusion for who I thought had killed Hae-on.
I thought that this was a well written, thought provoking, and clever story. I just wish that the murder had been revealed or that there had been more closure by the end of the story as it's left very open ended with few things resolved or revealed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Kidnapping and Medical content
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