lemon, by kwon yeo-sun & janet hong
i received a copy of this book from harper collins nz, in exchange for an honest review.
star rating
lemon review
lemon follows the death of hae-on, a beautiful school girl. the book follows various characters who all knew her or were somehow involved in her murder. described as a murder mystery, there wasn’t much mystery. this book focuses mainly on how each character handles the events – through anger, grief, and acceptance.
the hardest part of this book for me, is the cultural difference. asia has a different way of telling and reading stories. unfortunately, this one didn’t quite work for me, and i think the cultural difference is why.
each chapter is from a different year, and another character. majority of these characters are a mystery. we don’t know a lot about them. towards the end, we start to see previous characters return for a chapter. it becomes a bit confusing at this point, as none of the chapters are named (some of the characters aren’t either).
lemon handles some heavy topics, and does a good job of it. the author shows how complex the mind can be when dealing with a trauma such as murder. i like how each character reacted differently to the situation and how it affected their lives.
i also really enjoyed how the translator included little footnotes to explain what the author meant during certain parts (explanations of various social events, etc.)
Kaya @ afictionalbookworm
awww, i’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this one! it can be hard to really be able to properly appreciate and enjoy books when they come from completely different💜
yourbookishfriend
agreed! and i understand that other cultures have different ways of telling their stories!
Varietats
I love the cover, a shame that you didn’t enjoyed it!
yourbookishfriend
honestly, the cover is stunning!!
Cherelle @ A Bolt out of the Book
i was intrigued by the cover and the premise, sorry the narration didn’t work for you! nevertheless, the themes sound meaningful, i’ll be checking lemon out, thank you for the review <3
yourbookishfriend
thank you! and i hope you enjoy it more than me.
Anoushka
Wow, the cover is so unique! And the premise sounds so good too!!! Sorry you didn’t enjoy this, i hate it when the characters are shown only for some time and we don’t get to know each one properly, either. But I think I’ll still give it a try, because THAT PREMISE!!
yourbookishfriend
i think it’s a very good story – i just don’t think i’m the target audience. anyone expecting the answers to be handed to you in a pretty bow will be disappointed. it requires some thought. i hope you enjoy it, i’ve got some friends who did!
(and yes, that cover is stunning!!)
Tanaz Masaba
Oooh this cover is gorgeous! I am really sorry you didn’t like it, it can be hard to enjoy a book if you are not the intended audience. I am definitely adding this to my TBR though as it sounds really good!
BTW this is the first time I found your blog and I am so glad I did! You have a beautiful website and I love the way you have presented the content <3
yourbookishfriend
thank you so much!! i really appreciate that.
and i really hope you enjoy it more than i did!